Stephen Merchant Joins Cast Of Wolverine 3

Following hot on the heels of yesterday's announcement that Richard E. Grant had been cast as a villain, Deadline have now reported that Stephen Merchant will also be joining the film in a mystery role.

While Grant's character is said to be a mad scientist type of figure, there's no word on just who Merchant will be playing, or whether he'll be a good guy or a villain (or something in between).

He's certainly an interesting addition to the cast, given he's best known for his comedic roles: creating, writing, and starring in The Office and Extras alongside Ricky Gervais.

It's a natural assumption, then, that he's being brought in to play a similar sort of character - tall, funny, awkward - but that would seem to go against the tone of Wolverine 3, which is rumoured to be based on the Old Man Logan series (which is set in a dystopian future ruled by supervillains) and apparently pushing for a R-rating, although story details are largely being kept under wraps at the moment.

There's certainly going to be British feel to the film, with Patrick Stewart returning alongside Grant and Merchant, while American actor Boyd Holbrook is the main villain for what is Hugh Jackman's last time donning the claws.

Wolverine 3 is scheduled to be released on March 3, 2017.