It seems like every other day we’re getting news on J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated Star Trek sequel. Until now the biggest piece of news was the possible casting of Benicio Del Toro as the villain of the film, but that was quickly debunked in exchange for Edgar Ramirez possibly taking on the lead villain.
Now, Deadline is reporting that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who was recently seen in Steven Spielberg‘s War Horse and Tomas Alfredson‘s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, has signed on for a leading role in the film.
It’s not confirmed who he will be playing or if he’ll be a hero or a villain. I honestly have no guesses as to who he will be playing. He’s got the looks of a menacing bad guy, but at the same time I could see him aboard the Enterprise next to Spock and Kirk.
Star Trek 2 is currently set to film in 3D and be released in theaters on May 17th, 2013. The film marks the return of Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.