Six years ago a then up-and-coming young Irish actor named Barry Keoghan tweeted Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame saying: "Please make me a superhero."

Now he has got his wish, although Keoghan will play the villain rather than the hero in the new movie 'The Eternals', the next chapter in the Marvel film franchise.

The new film, which is due to be released in November 2020, also stars Angelina Jolie.

At the weekend, Keoghan (26) was announced as one of the cast members alongside Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, and 'Game of Thrones' actors Kit Harington and Richard Madden. Keoghan will play the villain Druig, a member of the Eternals with supernatural powers.

Following the announcement, he shared his earlier tweet from January 2013 to the now deceased Stan Lee with the caption "the power of belief".

Back in 2013, Keoghan was appearing as a baby-faced cat-killer in TV hit 'Love/Hate'.

However, he is officially no longer on the rise but is firmly on the A-list having starred with Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell in 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' and in Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk'.

Irish Independent