The third X-Men film is really rolling now, in a sprint to beat Singer’s Superman movie into theaters. Hot on the heels of hearing that the film finally has a director (Layer Cake helmer Matthew Vaughn) comes a rumor from Aint-It-Cool-News claiming knowledge of which new X-characters will be added to the story this time out.

According to AICN’s Moriarity, they’re adding three new characters this time. That’s quite a hefty number, which makes me wonder if they’re bringing in so many to replace other characters who won’t be returning. Here’s the full rundown of which new Uncanny characters Mori says you’ll see in X3:

Beast - He’s already had a very brief cameo in the other X-movies as Dr. Hank McCoy, but now we’ll see him in full on blue fur mode. He’ll add a nice dynamic to the team. A scholar, he’s prone to the use of big words and will probably be used to replace Jean in the med-lab since the last movie left her under several million gallons of water.

Gambit - A fan favorite, but often hated by the comic-snob. He’s a gambler and a Cajun. He has a tendency to wear trench coats and flaunt the rules. His power gives him the ability to charge up any object and cause it to explode. His primary weapons are playing cards which he charges with kinetic energy and throws, as well as a retractable bowstaff… useful for popping off Sentinel heads.

Angel - This one is the weirdest. In X-Men lore, Angel is a billionaire blonde MALE with wings that resemble those of an angel. But according to AICN, Angel will be female. Ok, I can see their need to add another female character to balance things out, but why not just use one of the dozens of major female characters already existing in the X-Men universe? Heck, Jubilee has cameoed in both of the previous X-Men movies, why not bring her to the forefront? This one’s a bit confusing, and we’ll have to wait for more information to understand what’s going on.

I’m actually a little surprised that Colossus isn’t on this list. He’s another character that we saw as a cameo in the other films. It would have been natural to see him step up into a bigger role in the third movie.

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UPDATED!!!!!!! It’s a game of he said she said now. IGN is claiming that they have the real scoop on X-Men 3. According to the info IGN’s Stax just sent me, he’s super double secret anonymous source (hate those) says that Angel is in fact not a woman, Angel is good old Warren Worthington III. If that’s true, someone start a petition to get Ryan Phillipe hired. He’s perfect.

IGN offers further information on Beast, claiming that he will be in his transformed, blue, fuzzy state, and will not be played by Steve Bacic, who handled the role of Hank McCoy in X2.

On Gambit, IGN puts him as only an extremely minor character, which conflicts with AICN’s report that a big name actor will be cast in the role. I suppose the “big name” could be in just for a cameo, but that’d certainly be a waste.

What’s most disappointing to me is that IGN’s rumor pegs Cyclops as being in the film… but not as a major character! If that’s true, and they’re still doing the Phoenix saga as we’ve all assumed, that’s a HUGE mistake. Cyclops is integral to that tale. Minimizing him is the sort of thing that could quickly send the whole thing crashing down.