Ray Winstone's turn as the Greek god of war was left on Percy Jackson's cutting-room floor, so here's hoping Edgar Ramirez fares better as Ares in **Wrath of the Titans, Jonathan Liebesman's follow-up to last year's Clash of same. The Venezuelan actor is on the verge of signing to star opposite Sam Worthington's Perseus.
Fans of mythology, or of hack-n-slash PS2 games, will know Ares as the son of Zeus and Hera, the half-brother (and enemy) of Athena, and the squeeze of luuurve goddess Aphrodite (the lucky git). He presides over masculinity, courage and male passion; his violence is somewhat less organised than war-goddess Athena's, who's more about strategy.
Ares was played in the 2010 Clash by Tamer Hassan, who would appear to have left the building. His replacement Ramirez has plenty of experience to bring to the role, having played assassin Paz in The Bourne Ultimatum, and Carlos the Jackal in last year's awesome five-hour mini-series.
Wrath of the Titans, which Worthington promises will be an improvement on the last one, starts shooting in March, for a projected release in the spring of 2012.