Sherlock star Martin Freeman is swapping his detective duties for an action role in Captain America 3.

The 43-year-old actor, who has won a Bafta for his portrayal of Doctor John Watson in the BBC series, will make his Marvel debut in the third instalment of the Captain America franchise, alongside Chris Evans as the superhero.

Producer Kevin Feige said: "From his roles as Bilbo Baggins and Doctor Watson to Tim in The Office, Martin's range from the dramatic to the comedic has consistently impressed us. We couldn't be more honoured or excited to have such a talented actor join the Marvel Cinematic Universe."

Freeman - who also played Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Hobbit films and Lester Nygaard in dark drama Fargo - will join Robert Downey Jr (Tony Stark/Iron Man), Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow) and Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon) in the movie, which will be directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo.

Captain America 3, which will also star Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman and Daniel Bruhl, sees Captain America and Iron Man leading opposing superhero teams.

The film will be released in May 2016.

Freeman would be the latest British star to appear in the Marvel movies, following in the footsteps of Sir Ben Kingsley, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Paul Bettany, Idris Elba, Hayley Atwell and Tom Hiddleston.