What Benedict Cumberbatch thinks of Sherlock and playing a villain in Star Trek

One day left till Star Trek Into Darkness is out in theatres and here’s what a little, er, bird told us about JJ Abrams’s second foray into the world of Captain Kirk and his trusty first officer, Mister Spock. Despite the title, “there’s hardly anything dark about Star Trek Into Darkness” and, brace yourselves, Benedict Cumberbatch “kicks ass”.

Thanks to the popularity of the BBC series Sherlock, in which Cumberbatch plays a 21st century Sherlock Holmes, Cumberbatch as the villain in this Star Trek film has been more of a talking point than Chris Pine’s Captain James T Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock.

Cumberbatch

It’s Cumberbatch’s voice you hear in the trailer and there have been reports that the sight of him in the posters – frozen mid-stride and casting smouldering glances towards cinemagoers – put in multiplexes has made many a heartbeat stop momentarily.

In recent interviews, Cumberbatch has spoken about Sherlock Holmes (the third season is currently being filmed in London) and his character in Star Trek: Into Darkness. About Sherlock, Cumberbatch told Sun,

“His appeal is universal. He’s the ultimate outsider hero. He’s a very difficult, odd entity. He’s got a God complex — he suspects he’s not human and therefore everyone else is just a letdown to him. … He’s repressed his sexual drive and a lot of other things in his life, simply because he doesn’t want to waste his time. The man’s too busy to have sex — that’s really what it is. … Not every man has a sex drive that needs to be attended to.”

Cumberbatch also disclosed that a more compassionate side of Holmes may be seen in the third season of Sherlock.

When details of the characters in Star Trek Into Darkness were revealed, Cumberbatch was said to play one John Harrison. Speculation is rife that this is actually a code name for the iconic villain Khan, but we’re maintaining a diplomatic silence on this matter. What we can tell you is that Cumberbatch describes the villain of the film as “a home-grown terrorist”. Here’s more from an interview the actor gave to Uncut:

“He’s somebody who has the most extraordinary proficient ability as a warrior with close hand combat and weaponry. But also with psychological warfare – like a master chessman he can… or I should say chess player, chessman could be a piece I guess! He’s a tactician with the most extraordinary kind of mind and ability to manipulate a situation and get people to trust him and do his bidding almost actually, a Hannibal Lecterish quality I guess.”

Given Cumberbatch’s fan following, we imagine it’s quite easy for him to get at least some people to do his bidding. Look out for our review of Star Trek Into Darkness (out tomorrow) to find out more about the film and its villain.