Emmerdale actor Darcy Grey has hinted that there's more to Marcus Dean than meets the eye... and there's a dark side to his character that hasn't yet been explored.
He also teased that Marcus is hiding a secret, which looks set to be exposed during the soap's 50th anniversary episode.
Viewers will discover more about his backstory and exactly what his relationship had been like with late father - and rapist-turned killer - Pierce.
Speaking to the Mirror on the British Soap Awards red carpet on Saturday, Darcy revealed that bosses had warned him that they weren't sure how fans would react to his character at first.
"I remember the guys going, 'be careful, because we're not sure how the audience are going to react to you' because obviously the history between me and my dad," he said. "Let's just say everyone's been really, really nice and positive. I think everyone's expecting Marcus to be maybe a little bit more evil than they expected but time will tell about how that will unfold."
Quizzed on what fans could expect from the 50th episode, he said: "I mean, we have to make something special, we have to do something important to show this part of British culture and history. So we want to make sure we keep the fans happy in that sense. It's a soap opera - it's big and it's loud and that's all I can say."
Asked whether he was involved, the actor coyly replied: "I'm somewhat involved, maybe. I'll keep adding to this mysterious allure."
When probed on whether it could be linked to his past secret, he replied vaguely with a grin: " I don't know, maybe! Good thoughts though, I like it."
Darcy admitted that he was sad he didn't get to have anymore scenes with Jonathan Wrather, who played his dad Pierce: "I think everybody wants to see it, I think everybody would love to see it. I'm upset we didn't get to spend more onscreen time together at the time, so we'll see."
He also hinted that Marcus and Ethan could break up in the near-future.
"I would say it's a very fast-paced relationship, we dedicated our love to each other very fast," he said. "I've been in many relationships like that, I think many people can relate to that fast, buzzy nature of the relationship and I think we all know the outcome of those kind of stories as well. But again, only time will tell. The lips are verbally sealed each and every time!"
With a new family member set to join Ethan and Charles, will Marcus feel pushed out?
"I think any human would feel that," Darcy replied. "It's like when someone comes into your space you feel quite protective, especially with partners. We don't know where she's come from with her story and her background. In my head, Marcus has experienced a lot of bad things so there's going to be that aspect of who is she?
"I'm excited for her to come on - I think it's going to create a really good dynamic within the family and it will tick lots of boxes, that's for sure."
Could Marcus have any more family join the Dales?
"Well, I feel very alone in the village - everyone's amazing and they're very welcoming and they took me in well but I feel very alone and Ethan is the only person I've got - that stronghold. So yeah, obviously family around us is always a good thing," he said. "With Marcus, he's got such a lot of backstory that I still don't know about and it just makes for interesting future possibilities I think."
Quizzed on whether he would like to explore more of Marcus' dark side, he replied: "Dark side as an actor is always an exciting thing to do because it comes from the gut, it comes from a good place... he's a Gemini, he's got two faces going on, the yin and the yang, he's got two things going on. And at the moment we're seeing him relax into the village and explore that nicer side of him. But yeah, look, darkness is always exciting.... let's wait to see how bad Marcus is..."
*British Soap Awards is available to watch on ITV Hub
