Girls star Adam Driver is in final negotiations to star as the villain in Star Wars: Episode VII, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Sources confirm to THR that Driver is nearing a deal for the undisclosed role. The role may be the one that Michael Fassbender met for late last year and for which Joel Kinnaman may have tested, according to Star Wars sources.

There is a high level of secrecy surrounding the project, and insiders believe that most of the top casting is quite far along. (The secrecy on Star Wars rivals that of Warners' Batman-Superman movie, and it has created an intense fervor among those following it over even minute developments. Nondisclosure pacts and secret circles of trust are the order of the day for actors under consideration until there is a signed deal.)

The movie is due to start shooting in London in the spring, and some actors will be required to begin physical and Jedi training in advance of the shoot.

It's expected that Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will return, although no official announcements have been made.

Disney and Lucasfilm, as per usual, had no comment.

Driver, the male breakout star of HBO’s Girls, has been generating massive heat. The actor was circling a role in the Batman-Superman project and is finalizing a deal to star with Andrew Garfield in Martin Scorsese’s newest project, Silence.