UPDATE: Writer Simon Pegg has told MTV that he's written a role for Elba, but doesn't know if he's officially signed on: "Idris is an extraordinary actor and we're trying to write him a kickass role. This is the five year mission, we're out there. We don't need to keep bumping into the same five people. It's a massive universe!"
Original story follows below:
There aren't many details to share, but Variety is reporting that Idris Elba is in talks to join the cast of Star Trek 3.
The rumor is that he'd be playing a villain, possibly a Klingon, since until this point these classic Star Trek antagonists have had a pretty minor role in the series.
In the past, Elba has claimed he is "not a massive sci-fi fan" and expressed a lot of displeasure about his nerdy action roles, describing his work as Marvel's Heimdall as "torture" and his work in Pacific Rim as "brutal." Elba appears to be much more interested in his roles as characters like Nelson Mandela, describing the difference between portraying him and Heimdall:
I’m actually falling down from a spaceship, so they had to put me in harness in this green-screen studio. And in between takes I was stuck there, fake hair stuck on to my head with glue, this f------ helmet, while they reset. And I’m thinking: '24 hours ago, I was Mandela.' When I walked into the set the extras called me Madiba.... Then there I was, in this stupid harness, with this wig and this sword and these contact lenses. It ripped my heart out.
Elba seems far from interested in being a sci-fi star, so it'd be surprising to see him in Star Trek. Would you like to see DCI John Luther as a Klingon?