There may not be much that’s angelic about Ben Hardy‘s Angel in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’.
“Angel is very angry and he casts his shadow of Death across the land”
This is according to Ben Hardy who takes on the role of the soaring X-Man in the new film. The character starts with the mutation of bird-like feather wings but has those transformed by Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac) into more deadly metal wings with razor-sharp feathers that can be fired as projectiles. Said Hardy, “I will say that it’s a really awesome transformation scene.”
Angel a.k.a. Archangel a.k.a. Warren Worthington III was previously showcased in ‘X-Men 3: The Last Stand’ played by another Ben, Ben Foster, but don’t expect many similarities between their depictions.
As Hardy said:
“The characters are a little different. I’d seen all the ‘X-Men’ films and watched the cartoon growing up but I hadn’t read many comics. I have done since getting the role and learnt a lot. As the timeline has completely warped and while I did watch X-Men: The Last Stand, I went into playing Angel as a brand new character altogether.
“I’m drawing on Angel’s character as dictated by the script and my own interpretation of him, without worrying too much about past appearances.”
Hardy’s Angel takes the spotlight in this short new clip. You can watch below:
For an even better look at Angel in action, check out the following clip of him battling Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) in an underground cage fight in Berlin. Jennifer Lawrence also appears as Mystique and she doesn’t seem pleased by this mutant vs. mutant sideshow.
Check it out below:
Hardy also spoke to ‘Fault‘ magazine (and posed for a photo layout) about his role in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’
On working with so many CGI effects:
“It was pretty weird. I’m like, ‘OH GREAT! I get to see the X-Mansion’ and I get in there and it’s one platform and green screen [laughs]. My wings are always CGI so I’m on set flapping my arms about a lot.”
On the new cast “taking over” for the established ‘X-Men’ cast:
“As far as I know, the original X-Men actors will remain in the franchise. But I think there is a great young cast in Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Alex Shipp and Lana Condor, who have so much talent to bring to X-Men in the future.”
You can also check out his photos below:
Are you ready to watch this Angel soar? Had Mystique not intervened, who would have won, Angel or Nightcrawler?
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ starring Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Hardy, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Lana Condor, Olivia Munn, and Oscar Isaac opens in theaters on May 27, 2016.
