Rumour: Benedict Cumberbatch could play a Sith Lord in STAR WARS: EPISODE VII

Yesterday, a rumour that had been simmering beneath the surface of the interwebs for the last two weeks now finally poked out its head: Benedict Cumberbatch would be reteaming with his Star Trek into Darkness director JJ Abrams for a role in Star Wars: Episode VII. I, as is my usual response to just about anything that isn’t a good, medium rare ribeye steak, immediately made fun of this rumour (you never joke about good steak). But it seems that I may just have a been a tad too hasty in my levity, as some more reputable sources have now climbed aboard this rumour and are even offering some details as to who he would play: A Sith Lord!

Darth Sherlock, anyone? Well, at least that’s what the folks at BadassDigest and Screencrush are saying. Now as I mentioned previously, it seems that all the major Hollywood news publication have been sitting on this story for more than a week already, with nobody willing to commit to it, so as to not look like “those guys” that stir up unnecessary rumours just for the sake of headlines. But now that FilmChronicles have broken the ice, everybody is putting their own horse in the race, mixed metaphorically speaking.

Screencrush are saying that this is the reason why Cumberbatch mysteriously dropped out of Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak recently. It would have taken a pretty significant reason for Cumberbatch to bail on Del Toro, and with his well established love of the Star Wars franchise, and the fact that Episode VII and Crimson Peak‘s shooting schedules overlap quite a bit, it could be that Cumberbatch has decided to bail on the haunted house tale to pursue one of his boyhood dreams instead.

And according to BadassDigest, this would be the role of a, possibly the, major villain, an unnamed Sith Lord, who would go on to appear throughout the new trilogy. Could Abrams really pick Cumberbatch to play the villain again in a huge tentpole, sci-fi extravaganza with the word “Star” in the title? Well, no according to Abrams and Cumberbatch’s agents. The very same agents thought who were just about ready to swear on their mother’s graves that Cumberbatch wasn’t playing a certain character in Star Trek Into Darkness and look how that turned out.

Cumberbatch plays a magnificent villain, with the only possible way to improve on his already magnetic air of malevolence being to give him space superpowers and a laser sword, so hell yes, this gets my vote of approval, even though I still think it might turn out to be nothing but a bunch of sith. So right now, we’re play the waiting (and hoping) game to see whether Disney/Lucasfilm actually confirm this rumour. If they somehow do, I would advise you to watch your step, as the internet will promptly break in half.

Last Updated: September 4, 2013