'Star Trek' Sequel Throws Kirk & Co. Another Nemesis

Seriously? More "Star Trek" villain talk?

Just how much is really being thrown Capt. James T. Kirk's way in 2013?

Benedict Cumberbatch - who's starred most recently in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "War Horse," and will also be a part of Peter Jackson's upcomign "The Hobbit" adaptation - has also signed up to join the cast of director J.J. Abrams' untitled "Star Trek" sequel.

Variety has no details concerning just what role Cumberbatch will play except that he'll be joining the cast as a villain. It was also previously reported that the original 1987 "RoboCop" Peter Weller would be joining the cast in an antagonist role, later confirmed by his agent Todd Eisner to be a "C.E.O." This has all followed early talks to have Benicio Del Toro join the bad-guy party - igniting speculation that this "Star Trek" installment would heavily feature a redux of the war of attrition between Christopher Pine's Kirk and nemisis of nemeses Khan - until talks broke down between Del Toro and producers.

Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have previously said "We're looking at a lot of old episodes for inspiration." So even the most vaguely Vulcan of logic dictates that since the original series was where the late Ricardo Montalban's Khan originated, it's entirely possible he could be in the cards yet.

Come to think - could that be Cumberbatch's role after all, kept nicely under-wraps?

Even without Del Toro, this isn't a cast wanting for star power. Abrams has successfully reunited the entire main cast from his hit 2009 reboot, including Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Spock), Simon Pegg (Montgomery Scott), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), Anton Yelchin (Chekov) and John Cho (Sulu).

Production is set to begin a little later this month, with the film set to hit theaters May 17, 2013.