Is Benedict Cumberbatch in the New 'Star Wars'?

Ever since news broke that J.J. Abrams would be taking the helm of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens , fans have had mixed opinions about whether or not Abrams would be able to fill such big shoes with this upcoming Star Wars film. Yet now that the trailer for the new Star Wars has finally arrived, it’s been made clear that most fans already approve of what they’ve seen in the making so far: In fact, with most people now onboard, no one is arguing over the quality of the upcoming installment anymore! Instead, it seems fans have moved on to debating a (in my opinion) much more important topic: As in, whether or not Benedict Cumberbatch was secretly cast in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

I know what you’re thinking. And, believe me, I’m equally as excited about the idea of the handsome Englishman potentially being in this movie as you are. But, before you start calling up all your friends and posting GIF parties on your Tumblr, it may be best to go over the details to ensure that it's actually him in the trailer, first. After all, there's been zero confirmation from Abrams that Cumberbatch will appear in the film.

So why does everyone think he will be? Well, apparently, there’s a mysterious cloaked figure in the new trailer that could be Cumberbatch, and there was a short voice-over from a man with a deep British accent not unlike that of some of Cumberbatch's other movie characters (particularly Smaug from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ).

Specifically, as the cloaked figure in question enters into the picture with his red lightsaber (a sign of the dark side, of course), a voice can be heard — which many are assuming is from that same character — saying, “There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it? The dark side and the light.” Though the voice doesn’t quite sound like Cumberbatch’s normal voice, the similarity between this mysterious Star Wars character and that of Smaug from The Hobbit is uncanny. I actually listened to both to make sure.

So yes, it’s possible that Cumberbatch made an appearance in the film as a villain if you consider both the voice and also the height of the cloaked figure in the trailer (aka, super tall), but still — I have my doubts, and I'm not the only one. It seems that Drew McWeeny of HitFix has a different story for us, noting that the voice-over should actually be credited to Andy Serkis, who is confirmed for the film, though it’s unclear what role he’ll be playing.

“[Serkis is] playing a pivotal role in the film, although he will not have a lot of screen time,” McWeeny wrote.

Though we’re all so used to hearing Serkis voice characters like Gollum from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, a voice drastically different from this mysterious character, he’s also voiced Caesar from Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. If you haven’t watched either of those films, you’ll have to take my word for it when I say that Caesar too has an extremely deep voice and, since Serkis himself is a Brit, it's more plasible that he’s probably the Star Wars villain in question — not Cumberbatch.

I hope that I didn’t crush anyone’s dreams — and, of course, there’s still a possibility that the naysayers like myself could be wrong — but, in my opinion, it doesn’t look like we’re going to see Cumberbatch in a Star Wars role anytime soon.

Image: gifhunterress/Tumblr