Benicio Del Toro wanted for Star Trek 2 villain

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After much dithering, Star Trek 2 is finally gathering some pace.

And it feels like it's now shifting up a further gear, with the report that JJ Abrams is about to offer the lead villain role to Benicio Del Toro.

The usually reliable Variety has gleaned this info from 'sources close to the the project,' but unsurprisingly for a JJ movie, details are being kept tightly under wraps.

Things have been a little quite for Del Toro recently, with his last memorable role occurring in 2008's Che two-parter (we're blocking The Wolfman from our memories), but he has recently finished work on Oliver Stone's Savages .

It'd be great to see Del Toro on 'big bad' duties for what's guaranteed to be a huge event picture, as he has the right blend of feral intensity and menacing charisma.

The untitled sequel is set to go into production in early 2012, with all of the key cast returning.

Matt Maytum
Editor, Total Film

I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at 12DOVE, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.