Back in February, we brought you behind the scenes images from the set of director J.J. Abrams‘ as yet Untitled Star Trek Sequel. Some of the photos featured Spock (Zachary Quinto) facing off against the unidentified villain of the film, portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch, who was seen wearing what appeared to be a black version of the Starfleet uniform under his silver overcoat in one of the shots.
In May, after many months of rumors that Benedict Cumberbatch was actually portraying Khan Noonien Singh in the follow-up to 2009′s Star Trek, castmember Simon Pegg described Benedict Cumberbatch’s character as “not just another disgruntled alien“.
“It’s a really interesting… sort of… thing, obviously I can’t talk about it.”
Speaking about the rumors that Cumberbatch is portraying Trek villain Khan:
“It’s not Khan,” replies Pegg, annoyed. “That’s a myth. Everyone’s saying it is, but it’s not.”
At a recent promotional junket for Dredd, actor Karl Urban seems to have revealed the villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the forthcoming Star Trek sequel to SFX. When he was asked about the Sherlock actor, Urban said:
“He’s awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.”
Mitchell, a character who first appeared in the original series episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before” is an academy acquaintance of Kirk who ends up transformed into a wrathful God-like antagonist after encountering the galactic barrier.
While Mitchell has already appeared in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek universe via IDW Publishing‘s Star Trek comic, Trek 2 co-writer and producer Roberto Orci denied his appearance in the sequel, and as SFX points out, Urban could have dropped the villainous Mitchell’s name in the interview to throw everyone off.
The as yet Untitled Star Trek Sequel starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Nazneen Contractor and Noel Clarke is slated to hit theaters on May 17th, 2013.
