COLOSSUS CONFIRMED FOR ‘X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST’ [UPDATED WITH NEW CHARACTERS!]

-Men: Days of Future Past‘ continues to bring back some old cast members from the original trilogy as today director Bryan Singer confirmed what we all hoped: Colossus is back!

One of the best parts of ‘X2′ was the raid on the X Mansion by Col. Stryker’s team with Wolverine and Colossus coming to the defense of the rest of the kids. We still remember sitting in the theater and hearing the whole crowd go nuts (think Hulk in ‘Avengers’) when actor Daniel Cudmore transformed into the metal-bodied Colossus and threw some dude through a wall. So needless to say we were pretty excited today when Bryan Singer announced he’d be returning.

Considering how integral a part Colossus plays in the “Days of Future Past” comic storyline – he’s married to Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) who’s essentially the lead character – it’s no surprise that Singer made sure he’d return.

As has been the case throughout pre-production, Singer announced the news on Twitter via a photo of the cast tacked up on their office wall with the caption “Now let’s blow s**t up!” If you’re keeping track (and as you can see in the photo below), ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ stars Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellan, Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, Peter Dinklage, Nicholas Hoult, Halle Berry, Shawn Ashmore, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

[UPDATE: Now confirmed, the two mysterious faces in the photo below are Fan Bingbing and Boo Boo Stewart ('Twilight'). The Hollywood Reporter says Bingbing is playing Blink, a relatively lesser known character but were originally told that character was Psylocke, which makes a lot more sense. Is Singer trying to keep the identity of that character secret? No word yet on who Stewart is playing in the film.]

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ hits theaters on July 18, 2014.