It's been at least a day since there was any Star Trek XI casting news, so for those of you experiencing cold turkey, take comfort! It's been announced today that Bruce Greenwood, who's probably still best known for playing JFK in 13 Days, has signed on as Christopher Pike.
For those of you not currently wearing Bajoran earrings or practicing your Klingon past participles, Pike was the original Captain of the Enterprise in the very first Star Trek pilot, later cut into two-parter The Cage. Originally played by Jeffrey Hunter (backed up by - shock horror! - a female Number One), the show didn't find any takers amid the networks and was completely recast, apart from Leonard Nimoy's Mr Spock. Although Pike returned to the show in a later two-part episode, he remains nothing but a footnote in official history and a useful answer for pub quizzes (Number One, incidentally, had the last laugh after being written out. She went on to marry series creator Gene Roddenberry, and has appeared in all the spin-offs as the voice of the computer, Nurse Chapel and Lwaxana Troi. Geek out!).
Greenwood is appearing soon in both I'm Not There and National Treasure: Book Of Secrets, where he plays another President. Look out for him mentoring the young cast, or at least knocking them into shape. Filming starts later this month.