When it was announced that EastEnders star Ben Hardy would be joining the cast of X-Men: Apocalypse, many speculated that he would play the winged-mutant Angel. It made sense considering he looked a lot like Warren Worthington III, but as to if he would play Angel or the transformed Archangel, that was unclear.

Now director Bryan Singer confirms that the actor is indeed playing as Angel, but added that “he’s not a very nice Angel!” More after the jump, including some concept art.

Here is what Singer told Empire in a recent interview,

What the director may be alluding to is the fact that when Angel had his wings amputated and was nearly murdered, the mutant Apocalypse saved him by grafting onto him techno-organic wings and brainwashing him. He was then given the moniker Archangel, and served as one of the Four Horseman of Apocalypse. In the comics, Archangel is dubbed Death, and serves under the leadership of Apocalypse alongside the other three horseman: War, Famine, and Disease. While it is unclear if he will adopt both monikers Archangel and Death in the film, at least we know Angel is in the film.

The site also unveiled two concept pieces of art to coincide with the casting announcement. One image has an unfurled wings, while the other one doesn’t. Looking at the images, they seem to be more inorganic than organic, which may indicate that the character’s story arc will be close to his comic book counterpart. So if this is true, then there may be a turning point for Angel to redeem himself and be a hero.

Starring James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters, Rose Byrne, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, with Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse, X-Men: Apocalypse opens in theaters on May 16, 2016.

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[Source: Empire]