Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner cast in X-Men: Apocalypse alongside Jennifer Lawrence

Turner plays Sansa Stark in the hit TV series and will now play Jean Grey

Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner has been cast in X-Men: Apocalypse (Getty Images)

Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner will be leaving Westeros temporarily to explore the world of X-Men in upcoming superhero sequel Apocalypse.

The 18-year-old actress plays Sansa Stark in the HBO fantasy series, and will now turn her hand to the role of telepathic mutant Jean Grey in Bryan Singer’s Days of Future Past follow-up.

Singer announced the news on Twitter this morning, also confirming that House of Anubis’ Alexandra Shipp and The Tree of Life’s Tye Sheridan will star as Storm and Cyclops respectively.

Turner tweeted “OMG” around the same time and was met with thousands of retweets and congratulatory replies.

The three new cast members join Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult and Oscar Isaac on the third rebooted X-Men instalment.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen will sadly not be returning to their roles as Professor Xavier and Magneto.

Due out in May 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse will be set in the Eighties and likely see the mutants as slave masters of humanity.