'Sherlock' Star Benedict Cumberbatch Is Clued In to 'Star Trek' Role January 5, 2012, 9:33 am The case of the vacant "Star Trek" role appears to be solved - or has it? The "Sherlock" star Benedict Cumberbatch, who offers a contemporary portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, on that BBC and PBS series, has been cast in a key role in a sequel to "Star Trek," the cinematic re-imagining of James T. Kirk's outer-space adventures from J. J. Abrams and his crew. But just what role Mr. Cumberbatch will play in the new movie is a mystery all its own. The Web site Deadline.com wrote that there was "no word yet on whether he'll be a hero or villain" in the "Star Trek" sequel, while the Showblitz blog of Variety wrote that Mr. Cumberbatch wouldl "play the villain," in a role that the "Carlos" star Edgar Ramirez previously auditioned for. The film journalist Devin Faraci wondered if Mr. Cumberbatch would be playing Sybok, who is Spock's half-brother (and apparently named for a random assemblage of Scrabble tiles), though he acknowledged this was highly illogical speculation. Mr. Cumberbatch has also been cast in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of "The Hobbit" as the voice of the dragon Smaug, and recently starred in "Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy," set in the fantasy land of 1970s Europe. Barring the intervention of nefarious Klingons, Vulcans or movie studio executives, the "Star Trek" sequel is planned for a May 17, 2013, release.