Benedict Cumberbatch has been in many franchises, but he is yet to join the Star Wars franchise. He has played Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series, regularly played Doctor Strange in the MCU, and also ventured into the Kelvin timeline in Star Trek to play Khan. However, the actor is reportedly not interested in doing one role in the Star Wars franchise.

Cumberbatch has been a popular fan cast for Grand Admiral Thrawn, the blue-faced Chiss leader of the Imperial Navy in Star Wars. While he finally made his grand entrance in live-action with Ahsoka, with Lars Mikkelsen playing the part, Cumberbatch was a popular choice from fans after he was teased in The Mandalorian.

Benedict Cumberbatch is in most franchises. From playing the greatest detective of all time (no, not Batman) to being the Sorcerer Supreme, to even being an agent with the Penguins of Madagascar, the Brit has done it all. He even played Smaug, the dragon, in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

Cumberbatch has been one of the most sought-after stars in Hollywood right now, and while he is yet to be confirmed in Avengers: Doomsday, he is plenty busy. The actor, however, has yet to play a role in Star Wars. But that seems to be his own doing, as the actor vehemently rejected a popular fan cast in the franchise.

Cumberbatch was a top choice by fans to play the role of Grand Admiral Thrawn in live action, especially in the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, after the character was teased in the show. The Sherlock star, however, said no to the role because of the blue makeup. He said to Collider,

That’s a straight no from me, right now. There’s no way I want to be turned blue. I turned the air blue very recently. No, no, seriously, I have precious time with my children, and I think sitting in a makeup chair and being painted blue, and the amount of time it would take to do that and then take it off at the end of the day might just… It’s not the right time in my life for that.

The character made his live-action debut in Ahsoka, and it was played by Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock co-star Lars Mikkelsen, who played Charles Augustus Magnussen in the BBC series.

Benedict Cumberbatch may not be a part of Star Wars anytime soon (but hey, fans have Ryan Gosling for now), but he has already played a menacing role in its competitor, Star Trek. Before J.J. Abrams revived the Star Wars movies with the sequel trilogy, he rebooted Star Trek for the big screen and came up with the Kelvin timeline.

While the films have been lukewarm, one of the most controversial decisions taken by the director was to keep Cumberbatch’s character in Star Trek Into Darkness a secret before its release to surprise the audience. In short, the plan did not work, and fans saw the twist of him paying Khan from miles away.

Cumberbatch mentioned in hindsight that though it worked for some, it was a logistical problem to keep it a secret. He said (via THR),

It’s logistics, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s a bad or a good thing; it was his call, and I was fine with it. I like the idea [of it]…the intention was to have a reveal in the audience that was going to be thrilling, that people would [gasp and ask] ‘Really?’ And that worked to an extent, because not everybody what they were in for when they went into the theater…

The film was a hit nonetheless and promoted a sequel, Star Trek Beyond, though neither Abrams nor Cumberbatch returned for the third film.