Benedict Cumberbatch Denies He’ll Be in Star Wars, Does Anyone Believe Him?

Fans who’ve been following rumors about Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the next Star Wars movie may find themselves disappointed to learn that he’s denied involvement with the film… until they remember that he also said he wasn’t playing Khan in J.J. Abrams’ last Star Trek movie. So, yeah, don’t count out the possibility just yet.

The news came in a Q&A session at Oz Comic Con in Australia, where Cumberbatch also mentioned that he’ll never play the Doctor or anyone else in the Who-niverse. I don’t know if he just wanted to see how big of a fan meltdown he could cause in one Q&A session, but he certainly went for it with two of the biggest sci-fi fandoms in existence.

According to The Iris, when asked about Star Wars, Cumberbatch responded, “I would’ve liked a part in J.J.’s new Star Wars, but it won’t happen, sadly.”

Aside from the possibility that this just plain isn’t true, which wouldn’t be the first time Cumberbatch threw out some misinformation to keep secrets about a J.J. Abrams project, there’s always the possibility that he’ll get involved in another move later on in the franchise. He left it ambiguous as to whether he’s ruled out an appearance in Episode VII or the franchise as a whole.

When talking about the possibility of an appearance in Doctor Who, he was a little more definitive about the franchise as a while, saying, “I’m never gonna play the Doctor—and nothing to do with the Whoniverse.” Sorry, Doctor Who/Sherlock crossover dreamers. Unless he’s just flat out lying, you won’t ever get to see Peter Capaldi battle it out with Cumberbatch in Doctor Who.

At least you’ll always have Wholock. As far as Star Wars, Abrams and the production as a whole are pretty secretive, so we’ll have to wait and see if the boy who cried, “I’m not Khan,” is telling the truth.

(via BBC America, image via Fat Les)

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