Star Trek Into Darkness: Cumberbatch Channeling The Joker, Hannibal

During a new interview in support of Star Trek Into Darkness, Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays the villain “John Harrison” in the film) heaped praise on J.J. Abrams and the previous Star Trek, as well as giving some insight into the development of his character.”[Abrams] described the role in movie terms as a mixture of Hannibal Lecter, Jack in The Shining and The Joker in Batman. There are sorts of levels to pitch in amongst quite a high bar as well to succeed in comparison to. It was a framework to understand this character before I saw the whole script,” the actor said, according to Trek Movie, who did the transcription.The Sherlock star added, “He’s someone who has extraordinary physical strength, he is someone who is incredibly dangerous as both a physical entity and as a user of various technologies and weapons. He performs acts of terrorism but he’s also a psychological master. He manipulates the minds of those around him to do his bidding in a very, very subtle way. It was a wonderful game of mental chess.”Star Trek Into Darkness will be in theaters on May 17.