Benedict Cumberbatch won't appear in Star Wars VII

As preparations are made for the filming of the seventh Star Wars to get going in the UK this May, actor/consulting detective/super space warrior/professional Brit Benedict Cumberbatch has said that he definitely will not be taking on a role in the epic franchise.

We’ve had basically no confirmed castings for Star Wars VII yet (apart from R2, of course), and all of the casting news has either been former stars of the series hinting at their vague interest in being involved, or possible new cast members flatly denying that their names are even in the hat. It looks as though Cumberbatch has now joined the ranks of those pulling their irons out of the fire, as he made this comment during an appearance at Australia’s Oz Comic-Con:

“I would’ve liked a part in J.J.’s new Star Wars, but it won’t happen, sadly.”

Cumberbatch’s name was being linked to Star Wars due to his working with director J.J. Abrams on Star Trek Into Darkness, where he played the part of Khan. Cumberbatch does have a bit of a history of saying he’s not up to something when in fact he is (he denied playing Khan, for example), so you never know; his face may still pop out from underneath a Jedi hood at some point in the future.

However, many have already been complaining that the appointment of J.J. as director of the new Star Wars is giving too much sci-fi power to just one man, seeing as he also took over rebooting Star Trek. Casting the main villain of his last Trek film in his first Wars film would be adding fuel to those fires.

But that’s not to say we wouldn’t love to see Cumberbatch take a role in Star Wars anyway – he’d probably be brilliant. More Star Wars casting news coming your way as soon as there is any to report…