Jaguar's cars have long been synonymous with movie bad guys, its vintage MkII sedan models frequently featuring as the getaway transport for villains of the 1960s. The British marque is clearly reveling in its bad boy image and has announced the first three "British Villains" actors to star in its upcoming Super Bowl commercial this February. Sir Ben Kingsley, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Strong will all star in Jaguar's cinematic Rendezvous spot, filmed by Oscar-winning British director Tom Hooper.

Set to air during Super Bowl XLVIII, February 2, the 60-second advert will play on Jaguar's slightly underdog image next to the more typical luxury brands, marking it out as a more left-field, discerning choice than its rivals. Viewers have already had a small taste of Rendezvous, called The Setup, during the NFL Divisional Playoff games on January 11 and 12. A further, 30-second preview will debut online on January 28. The Super Bowl film will be the first step in Jaguar's new campaign, which runs through July. As well as TV spots, the campaign will include print adverts, wrapped subway cars in New York City to advertise the new F-Type Coupe, and a series of media partnerships.

At the Detroit Auto Show, Jaguar's new brand vice-president Jeff Curry explained that the company's goal was to portray Jaguar as "modern British challenger brand" to established German luxury brands--and aims for a little more exclusivity than increasingly ubiquitous rivals like BMW, Mercedes and Audi. To this end, Jaguar has no intentions to launch a smaller sedan model to rival the Audi A3 or Mercedes-Benz CLA--though a challenger for the A4, BMW 3-Series and Mercedes C-Class is still in the works, and set to debut in the next few years.

Followers of the brand can keep up with the new British Villains campaign with the official #GoodToBeBad hashtag.