Ahead of its September 4 premiere, The Boys Season 2 has revealed a very fun addition to its cast: X-Men and X2 alum Shawn Ashmore. To be fair, they knew about this casting decision way before we did. But hey, let us live! This is exciting news no matter which way you slice it with your laser vision.

Thankfully, we know a lot more about Ashmore’s role in The Boys, in addition to the news he’ll be popping up in Season 2. Per a press release, Ashmore will be playing Lamplighter. Lamplighter is described as “a former superstar and a member of the Seven before he left under mysterious circumstances to be replaced by Starlight,” and, in a bigger twist, has ties to The Boys: “He’s actually the reason they broke up 8 years ago. So when he enters their lives again, he dredges up painful memories, pokes at their raw nerves, and changes everything.”

Ashmore is one of the newest cast members on The Boys, in addition to Aya Cash. It will be interesting to see if and/or how Ashmore translates his experience playing Iceman in the ’00s X-Men franchise into this much bloodier, more grisly superhero story. It will also be interesting to see how his character, Lamplighter, affects The Boys’ plan to face off against Homelander (Antony Starr) and the rest of The Seven, hopefully taking the team down once and for all. Given how recent Lamplighter’s departure from The Seven is within the show’s timeline (and how little he or the damage he’s caused has been mentioned by other characters), his return should provide for some shocking twists.

Ashmore shared some comments on his casting and his excitement at digging into the Lamplighter character.

“I watched the show before I was cast, so I sort of knew [Lamplighter] and I was wondering about this character. What was fun for me stepping in is that a lot of the mythology and the backstories are already built, and I was asking myself who is this character? What is this character? There’s going to be a preconceived notion of who this character is based on his actions, based on how people talk about him. What the show does well with everybody including Lamplighter is peel some of those layers back.”

The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke shared an enthusiastic statement on Ashmore’s casting, too, remarking:

“We were thrilled that Shawn — who is, let’s be honest, an OG superhero — wanted to play the crucial part of Lamplighter. He brings so much depth, menace, and world-weary humanity to this former member of the Seven. And Shawn is a really good guy. We’re grateful to have him join our bloody little family.”

The first three episodes of The Boys Season 2 will debut on Amazon Prime on Friday, September 4. New episodes (beginning with Episode 4) will air every Friday thereafter. The Season 2 finale will air on October 9. Additionally, this season fans will also be treated to Prime Rewind: Inside The Boys, an aftershow hosted by Aisha Tyler set to debut on August 28. The after show will continue on September 4 and dig into every new episode of The Boys through the Season 2 finale.

Get your first official look at Shawn Ashmore as Lamplighter below.

via Collider