British actor Ben Hardy is in talks for an unidentified role in 20th Century Fox's superhero sequel X-Men: Apocalypse. The actor was previously in contention to play Cyclops, a role which eventually went to Tye Sheridan, and The Wrap reports that he was also up for the Angel role. While he isn't playing either of those characters, the site's sources say he has been cast as an important Marvel character.

Ben Hardy joins new cast members Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler. X-Men: Days of Future Past stars James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Ian McKellen (old Magneto) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) are all reprising their roles, along with X-Men: First Class star Rose Byrne (Moira McTaggert). No other cast members have been confirmed at this time.

Bryan Singer is directing from a screenplay by Simon Kinberg, based on an original outline he co-wrote with Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. Production is scheduled to begin this April in Montreal, with 20th Century Fox already setting a May 27, 2016 release date. X-Men: Apocalypse will mark Ben Hardy's feature film debut. He currently stars in the British soap opera EastEnders, appearing in nearly 200 episodes over the past two years.