Star Trek 3 seems to be recovering from it's director shake-up quite well. With Justin Lin in place to replace Roberto Orci, and Simon Pegg and Doug Jung furiously hurrying to complete a screenplay, it sounds like shooting is going to begin this April as planned. Though, this has not been officially confirmed by Bad Robot or Paramount Pictures just yet. FilmDivider has the update, and they claim Bryan Cranston is being sought for the new villain, with three all-new female characters being created for the movie as well.

The villain is described as 'Bryan Cranston-like', though no further details have been revealed. Does this mean he's a drug dealing kingpin lurking in the far reaches of space? We just don't know. Its reported that the actor himself has had talks with the studio about playing the main bad guy. Its not known if this is a character that already exists in the Star Trek universe, or if Simon Pegg and Doug Jung are creating someone from scratch. The studio is reportedly holding out for Bryan Cranston, but nothing has been confirmed at this point.

Taking a decidedly different approach from Star Trek Into Darkness, which didn't give it's new female characters much to do, Star Trek 3 will feature three all-new female characters that have substantial roles to play in the story. One of the characters will be the captain of a second Federation ship, another will be The President of the United Federation of Planets, and the third character, who may be most interesting to longtime fans, is Dr. Bones' ex-wife.

If this rumor is true, Star Trek 3 will serve as the first time a female President of the United Federation of Planets has been seen on-screen. While no one is rumored to be taking on the role at this time, it is said that Paramount is searching for a 'heavy-hitting character actor' for the part. As for the role of the Federation Ship Captain, which would be the first female captain to be presented in this particular timeline, it is said that Paramount is searching for a Jennifer Lawrence-type who can go toe-to-toe with star Chris Pine. No names are in contention yet, though.

As far as Doctor McCoy's ex-wife is concerned, it is not known of this is Pamela Branch or Jocelyn Treadaway, or a completely new character created just for the movie, as it's possible Bones has never met either of these woman in the timeline that he now exists in. Again, no casting has been mentioned in terms of who may eventually play the role. In facts, it's not even known if any of these characters actually exist in the script just yet. If this report is true, though, what do you think? Does it sound like Star Trek 3 is heading in the right direction?