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Three English actors have joined the cast of big-budget fantasy feature John Carter of Mars, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dominic West, best known for playing hard-drinking cop Jimmy McNulty in The Wire, has been cast as Sab Than -- prince of the Zodangans -- who believes he is entitled to rule Mars.

Samantha Morton, who has starred in the likes of Minority Report and Enduring Love, will play Sola -- a gentle soul who must hide her soft side from her warmongering race.

And Rome star Polly Walker will play the polar opposite -- a merciless, tyrannical Thark called Sarkoja.

The home-grown thesps join Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins and Willem Dafoe in the ever-expanding cast.

Based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs series of books, John Carter of Mars follows the adventures of a Civil War soldier who becomes stranded on Mars and embroiled in the planet's ongoing war.

Pixar veteran Andrew Stanton directs from a script he wrote with Mark Andrews, with the film due in cinemas in 2012.