STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS: Benedict Cumberbatch Shares His Thoughts On J.J. Abrams

We still don't know who Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in Star Trek Into Darkness (rumour has it that he'll bring the villainous 'Gary Mitchell' to the big screen) but he talks here about working with director J.J. Abrams.

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By Josh Wilding - 9/24/2012

The plot of Star Trek Into Darkness is still shrouded in secrecy, and we have yet to see so much as an official still or piece of footage from J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated sequel. With all of the cast members from the last film set to return, and a few new notable additions, fans have an awful lot to look forward to. In a recent interview with The Huffington Post, the villain of the film, Benedict Cumberbatch (whose identity in the follow-up is still unconfirmed) talked about what it was like to work with Abrams.

"It was an amazing experience ... I was bound to say that, but it genuinely was. It was just extraordinary. He's a wonderful human being to be around, J.J. [Abrams] -- on every level, as a dad, as a friend, as a director, as a musician ... He's a polymath, he's a really talented human being. And he has time for everyone and it's all done with a really genuine interest in the story. So for all the bangs for your buck that you're gonna get with the film -- which there are going to be aplenty -- you have an investment, you care about what's happening to these characters, so it was really exciting."

Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller, and is set to be released on May 17th, 2013.

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23 Comments

	ClaireLannister2016 - 9/24/2012, 12:51 PM Login to report abuse I need SOMETHING from this film. A pic, a trailer, ANYTHING!
	DukeAcureds - 9/24/2012, 1:10 PM Login to report abuse So, if he is Gary Mitchell, does this just completely discredit the IDW series? Because I hate when they do that. The changes Dark Horse kept having to make to keep their Aliens comics in continuity were ridiculous.
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 1:22 PM Login to report abuse the only true abridgement between mediums concerning the "modern" star trek is that mini involving the characters from the last film b/c it shows NERO's origins and they wouldnt have had the financing to tell the "entire" story b/c its essentially the last STNG movie.
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 1:24 PM Login to report abuse but other than that? theyre just trying to capitalize on the THIS new craze
	Brady1138 - 9/24/2012, 1:55 PM Login to report abuse Gary Mitchell? That's the most intimidating villain name I've ever heard!
	soberchimera - 9/24/2012, 2:06 PM Login to report abuse @Brady1138 He's playing a new character called Attila, pick a tyrant from history and bam you've got a Star Trek villain. Khan, Nero, Draco, Caligula, Robespierre, Pinochet, Bay.
	DukeAcureds - 9/24/2012, 2:25 PM Login to report abuse Soberchimera@ So, he's not Gary Mitchell? dellamorte@ But they would have us believe it's in-continuity. The old school DC comics abridged movies and all those books were acknowledged and such, so I'd still feel pretty punked if this were contradicting the IDW ongoing.
	InfiniteMonkey - 9/24/2012, 2:58 PM Login to report abuse This bloke's stock is clearly going north and with Star Trek, its going to be a great buy. :D
	ejkousc - 9/24/2012, 5:02 PM Login to report abuse He is playing KHAN people!!! I have two different friends who do stunts/background on the movie. One of them spent an entire week as a Starfleet Security Officer "chasing Benedict Cumberbatch who is playing some guy named Khan" around the halls of starfleet. He doesnt know anything about Khan or Trek really. Just a guy on a job. To him it was just some name being yelled in the hallway on set. He didnt care about the significance. And a few weeks ago on a rooftop party at my building my neighbor did background more recently and excitedly told me that when she was shooting she found out first hand he was playing Khan as well. not knowing I already knew this for months. My buddy also does plenty of stunt background work on Avengers and Transformers and what not.
	ejkousc - 9/24/2012, 5:07 PM Login to report abuse And by the way at first I resisted the idea of him playing Khan but if you have seen BBC's Sherlock you will get a sense of what Abhrams is going for. He is bascially chucking the book out on Ricardo Montalban as you cant really out Khan his Khan. So for better or worse I think he is going a much different but equally valid route with Bumberbatch. Is it respectful to continuity? No. But then again he redesigned the Enterprise even though Nero's arrival in the 23rd century shouldnt have had any effect on fundamental Starfleet architecture. I wouldnt be surprised if Abrahms subtly moved Khans eugenics wars to mid 21st century (rather than late 1990s). But this is just logical speculation given Abrahms penchant (or lack thereof) for dogmatic canon.
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 5:46 PM Login to report abuse you may just feel punked there dude, sorry! if he IS khan? i'll be pissed thats a cop-out/lazy writing. mitchell at least only had one cool episodde KHAN has enough let that concept breathe a lil especially b/c this is the second film of the NEW trek. what will kirk die this time? weak!
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 5:50 PM Login to report abuse the parallel between the two series would be extremely palpable
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 5:55 PM Login to report abuse whats the third? the search for kirk? somehow the gorn get involved? corny
	dellamorte1872 - 9/24/2012, 6:00 PM Login to report abuse MITCHELL + THAT BLOND CHICK OF HIS + KLINGONS sounds contrived but at least interesting and new the concept of MITCHELL would be awesome with the giant backdrop and scope of today's effects
	Jollem - 9/24/2012, 8:03 PM Login to report abuse j.j. is very knowledgeable with the t.v. show and movie making. i wish more people would be as secretive as he is with projects. sucks when you see/know too much beforehand
	pintoman - 9/24/2012, 9:08 PM Login to report abuse Except that JJ can't recognize major plot problems, doesn't understand how to use techno babble, doesn't care that his Spock is too feminine, cannot grasp that bar code scanners should not be on the bridge, thinks flashing lights that cause lens flares = "futureiffic" design, thinks engine rooms of the future look like beer factories, and has the gall to change the Enterprise into an ugly piece of crap.
	Jollem - 9/24/2012, 11:31 PM Login to report abuse i was never the biggest trek fan. watched a bit of everything, voyager the most. i dug the star trek remake/boot/imagining?
	ImnotDaredevil - 9/25/2012, 4:19 AM Login to report abuse Hope we don't get the same marketing as Dredd, come on let's have something soon!
	Nomis1800 - 9/25/2012, 6:13 AM Login to report abuse IMAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see this!!!!!!
	ejkousc - 9/25/2012, 8:24 AM Login to report abuse @dellamorte1872 - Just cause you dont prefer Khan as a choice doesnt mean I am being punked. (by regular old friends no less who wouldnt know Khan from craft services). I am not saying I prefer Khan either. Is it too nice and neat the the Trek 2 in each series has Khan? Of course. Lazy? Sure. Tacky? Probably. Is it probably the very reason they are going for it? I guess so! I also have a friend in marketing for the studio who says that though they don't know who the villain is they have been braindstorming and putting together concepts under the assumption that it is Khan since that is what they are hearing down the pipe. They are trying to be ahead of the curve as they are being given little to work with.
	bhorwith22 - 9/25/2012, 5:35 PM Login to report abuse @pintoman I think they used a brewery because they didn't have the budget to build a real warp core. I remember seeing a concept image, and it looked like a melding of the warp drive from Enterprise and TOS, and the warp core from the TOS movies and TNG. It looked nice and futuristic. As for the designs, you can't blame Abrams for everything. Movies are a huge collaborative effort between hundreds of people. Personally, I thought it looked more futuristic than TOS, but that was to be expected. As for the overall design of the ship, I liked it, but something about the hot rod design put me off a little. It didn't bother me too much though. Actually, I wasn't a fan of the design for TOS either. It was probably really good for it's time, but it looks dated now.
	RexDartEskimoSpy - 9/26/2012, 8:55 AM Login to report abuse @ soberchimera61:
	LP4 - 10/25/2012, 5:20 AM Login to report abuse @ejkousc- First off, shut up about Khan already. Secondly- IF Cumberbatch actually IS playing Khan then that would make Abrams the single biggest douchebag in Hollywood history because rehashing Khan is LAZY writing and would completely discredit Abrams and his crew. Third- It would also make Abrams a [frick]ing douchebag for making everyone wait for so long and keep us all hanging on a leash this long to find out who the new villain is for it to just end up being dumb old khan again