Will another wildly popular British actor go bad for Star Trek? Actor Idris Elba is apparently in early talks to play the villain in Star Trek 3, following in Benedict Cumberbatch’s footsteps. If Elba does join the cast, he will play against series regulars Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, and John Cho.

With the last film, Star Trek into Darkness, the producers felt the need to hold the villain card very close to the vest, repeatedly denouncing the idea that Cumberbatch was playing classic Trek villain Khan. Whether they decide to go that route again remains to be seen, but the popular rumor floating around now is that Klingons will play the antagonists.

Elba first jumped on the scene stateside thanks to his role as Stringer Bell on The Wire. He also toplined the BBC cop drama Luther, appeared as Heimdall in the Thor films and starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim and Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. He most recently appeared on the big screen alongside Sean Penn in The Gunman and will be Heimdall once again in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Star Trek actor-turned-sequel screenwriter Simon Pegg told Collider recently that the script has a hard deadline set for June. Details about the film — including Elba’s potential part — remain under wraps, but Pegg did say that he and co-writer Doug Jung take the job of penning the script seriously.

“Obviously, I always treat things with respect, by I have to abide by certain rules and do right by the original series, and not be too post-modern with it and not be too aware of itself,” Pegg said. “I have to try to take on the spirit of the show, rather than fill it with stuff that people will just go, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s from episode something or other.’ It’s more than that.”

Though Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness co-writer Roberto Orci was attached to pick up directing duties after J.J. Abrams jumped spaceship for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Justin Lin is now sitting at the helm of the Enterprise. The film is currently scheduled to jump into theaters on July 8, 2016.