J.J. Abrams to critics: Here’s Benedict Cumberbatch in the shower!

OK, class. Time for a pop quiz.

Say you’re top Hollywood filmmaker J.J. Abrams and you’re taking heat for including a seemingly gratuitous shot of a scantily clad Alice Eve in your latest blockbuster, “Star Trek: Into the Darkness.” What do you do to silence your critics?

The answer: You go on “Conan” and share a deleted scene of Benedict Cumberbatch in the shower, that’s what.

On Wednesday the director addressed the minor kerfuffle surrounding a scene in which Capt. Kirk, played by Chris Pine, ogles Eve’s character, who is, for no apparent reason, dressed only in her knickers.

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Now before you say “A gratuitous shot of a scantily clad woman in a big summer movie? I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!”, Abrams claimed that there was in fact an artistic motivation for including the scene. It was meant to provide a break “in the middle of all this action and adventure,” he said, and to reinforce the idea of Capt. Kirk as a ladies’ men.

“Some people felt like it was exploiting her. While she is lovely, I can see their point,” he conceded.

Then, in a move that seemed apologetic and defensive all at once, he offered up an equally titillating deleted scene in which the villain played by Cumberbatch takes a steamy shower as the camera glides over his glistening torso.

While the clip will no doubt thrill “Sherlock” fangirls (and boys) around the globe, it hardly proves that Abrams is an equal-opportunity objectifier: After all, the Cumberbatch scene didn’t actually make the cut, while Eve-in-her-skivvies did.

But never mind that because hey, look, there’s Sherlock Holmes in the shower -- and we didn’t have to pay $12.50 to see him!

ALSO:

Alice Eve lingerie in ‘Star Trek’ might be misogynistic, writer says

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’: Benedict Cumberbatch enjoys being villain

Director J.J. Abrams on ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’: ‘Spectacle is irrelevant’

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