Easily the most exciting casting news so far for J.J. Abrams‘ Star Trek sequel was the addition of Benedict Cumberbatch. The geek community knows Benedict for embodying a wholly new Sherlock Holmes on the BBC’s Sherlock series, but now he’ll be playing a villain in space. And judging from the first leaked pics from the set, things get pretty intense.
That’s Zachary Quinto as Spock giving Benedict’s character the ol’ Vulcan nerve pinch, and it looks every bit as painful as my Trekkie friends told me it’s supposed to be. (What? I was a dedicated Star Wars fan.) The Mary Sue points out that Benedict doesn’t seem to be wearing any prosthetics, so he’s probably a human villain as opposed to an alien one.
And if that’s not enough to knock him out, here’s Zoe Saldana as Uhura leveling a phaser at Benedict’s unnamed villain. The untitled movie is set to be released on May 7, 2013.
Photos: Eric Ford/On Location News
