Jared Harris’s role in the U.N.C.L.E. movie

Jared Harris

So what will Jared Harris be doing in the U.N.C.L.E. movie?

The Sept. 3 WARNER BROS. PRESS RELEASE doesn’t mention the name of the character Harris will play, much less whether he’ll be the film’s villain.

However, the DEADLINE entertainment news Web site, SLASHFILM.COM and WE GOT THIS COVERED all said the character’s name is Sanders.

In the original show, veteran actor George Sanders (1906-72) played G. Emory Partridge, one of the few villains to make a return engagement. Slashfilm.com even posed the question whether the character name is a nod to George Sanders, whose Partridge character appeared in first- and second-season episodes of the 1964-68 TV show.

Neither of the Web sites identifying the character’s name as Sanders say how they obtained the information.

Harris also played Professor Moriarty in 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which was helmed by Guy Ritchie, who’s directing the U.N.C.L.E. film.

Some fans have already speculated whether the U.N.C.L.E. film, which features “a mysterious international criminal organization” might be tied into Moriarty.

As previously noted, ONE OF THE ACE U.N.C.L.E. NOVELS of the 1960s provided an origin for Thrush (the name of the villainous organization in the television show) just such a backstory. Warner Bros. also released the two Ritchie-directed Holmes movies, so such a move could be a possibility.

Or, of course, all of this could be a string of coincidences that will bear little resemblance to the eventual finished film.

Here’s a shoutout to @laneyboggs2001 on Twitter who pointed this blog to the Slashfilm.com post.