Alex Gonzalez Joins 'X-Men: First Class' As Riptide

There's yet another addition to the ever-expanding cast of Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class, which is currently shooting in the UK. Alex Gonzalez has signed on as Riptide, a character who debuted during the mid-'80s as a henchman to the villain Mr Sinister in the comics.

There was a point where Kevin Bacon was rumored to be playing Mr. Sinister, but we've since had confirmation that he's playing Sebastian Shaw in the '60s-set storyline. That leaves questions open as to what role Riptide will have in the film. But then, the cast is so large at this point that, as in past films in the series, it's possible that many of the ancillary supporting characters will have fairly small roles.

From the Marvel Wiki:

Riptide is a mutant with the ability to spin his body at an incredibly fast rate. Upon reaching his top speed, Riptide then hurls shuriken and other objects created from calcified masses at such high velocity that they can punch through steel.

The original incarnation of the character was killed by Colossus in a rather memorable scene, but was later cloned (of course) and made at least one return to the pages of various X-books from Marvel.

[Fotogramas via ScreenRant]