We’ve known since the end of this past summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse that one of the biggest X-villains from the comics, the evil scientist Mr. Sinister, was on his way in the movie universe soon. (Spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse follow.) The post-credits tag for Apocalypse showed members of something called “Essex Corps” swarm the Weapon X facility were Wolverine was created, cleaning up the mess he’d made when the X-Men released him from his jailers. Fans of the comics knew that Essex Corps was a direct reference to Nathaniel Essex, the human alias of Mr. Sinister. The question was: in which film would we see Sinister?

Thanks to Cinemablend, we’ve learned that according to the X-Men: Apocalypse digital editiion audio commentary from director Bryan Singer and producer Simon Kinberg, Sinister will be the villain for next March’s Wolverine 3. There have been rumors for some time that Wolverine 3′s main villain (Boyd Holbrook) might in fact be working for Essex Corp, while Richard E. Grant’s “mad scientist” character (as he was described in the official press release) might very likely be none other than Nathaniel Essex himself. Considering the character is an immortal from the Victorian era England, Richard E. Grant would be the perfect actor for the job.

Mr. Sinister first debuted in the pages of the Uncanny X-Men in the late ’80s, and has since taken his place among the most important X-Men villains of all time, right behind Magneto and Apocalypse. Fans have long been clamoring for the character to make his appearance in the movie universe, and now it looks like we won’t have to wait all that long to see him. Wolverine 3, which so far doesn’t have an official title, will be directed by James Mangold and will star Hugh Jackman as the titular Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, presumably both for the very last time. It’s set to be released on March 3, 2017.

What do you think of Sinister making his live-action debut fighting Wolverine and not the full X-Men team? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

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Image: Marvel Comics