Benedict Cumberbatch Beams Up Villain Role in Star Trek Sequel

While he was an accomplished actor already, in the eyes of many, the name Benedict Cumberbatch drew blank stares. Honestly if you still pull the average guy off the streets and ask if they know who you're talking about, you're still pressed for luck.

But online and in the nerd circles, we all most definitely know him by name after his starring turn on the BBC smash Sherlock as a modernized version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's literary hero. Soon after, calls from movie-land arrived his way from the likes of Tomas Alfredson, Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg.

As UK television watchers are in the middle of series two of Sherlock comes arguably the biggest, most high-profile role for the British actor yet. First reported by Trek Movie and clarified through Variety, Cumberbatch will face off mano-a-mano against the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as the villain of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek sequel.

The same baddie role first offered to Benicio Del Toro and later up in the air for others including Edgar Ramirez - Khan. A creative decision I hated then, and continue to do so now. But we're past my bitching on said subject. It doesn't open until May 2013 so there's plenty of time for that.

That notwithstanding, this will be the first time for him to make an impression on the general movie-going public and that's a good thing.