Ever since Fox revealed that they would be introducing Apocalypse as a villain in the ongoing X-Men series, I secretly hoped that Warren Worthington III – aka, Angel – would get a second chance at cinematic glory. Now, it’s sounding more and more like this is finally going to happen.
Ben Hardy, a young actor associated with the British soap EastEnders, had his name attached to Bryan Singer’s upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, as reported back in February by The Wrap. It was noted that Hardy once tested for the role of young Cyclops, though that gig eventually went to Tye Sheridan of Mud and Joe. We speculated at the time of casting that Hardy might play Angel. Then, this dropped:
That’s The Wrap reporter Jeff Sneider following up on his initial report to reverse course and now say that Ben Hardy "is indeed playing Angel" in next summer’s X-Men sequel. And this is news that basically follows up on (and confirms) the bit of production art Bryan Singer shared through his social media channels that clearly showed a man with Angel-esque wings in a cage of some sort.
Angel -- who appeared on screen in Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand, and was portrayed by Ben Foster -- has a tragic storyline that involves the evil Apocalypse. It involves the hero losing his precious wings, then earning them back by agreeing to be one of Apocalypse’s dreaded Horsemen… leading to the creation of Archangel. This doesn’t have to occur in 2016, in the span of this first movie. (In fact, let’s go on record to state that would be a terrible idea to rush this powerful storyline.) But bringing Angel back for the rebooted timeline and using Apocalypse as a villain lays some interesting seeds in the already amazing X-Men universe.
With Bryan Singer at the helm, we know that X-Men: Apocalypse has the brilliant Oscar Isaac in the villain’s role. He’ll be doing battle against at least four main X-Men from the First Class world in Xavier (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Beast (Nicolas Hoult). The production also has cast younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Jubilee and Storm – and its possible old favorites like Wolverine may cameo. X-Men: Apocalypse opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
