Penguins of Madagascar, sneak peek

                           

Benedict Cumberbatch's newest mission: playing a good-looking and debonair secret agent.

Who also happens to be a wolf.

The British actor voices Classified, head of a covert protective force of animals, in the animated espionage caper The Penguins of Madagascar (due Nov. 26). Directed by Simon J. Smith and Eric Darnell, the comedy stars the quartet of flightless birds from theMadagascar movies.

"I don't know what it's like to be a penguin, but I do know what it's like to be a super-duper-smooth classified agent," Cumberbatch says.

Like many, he digs the cinematic penguins who, even though they seem cuddly, tend toward the personalities of 1950s tough guys.

Penguins gives these commandos with a penchant for trouble a new foe: the disgruntled octopus Octavius Brine (John Malkovich), who also goes by "Dave" and is on a quest to wipe out their species.

The penguins themselves think "there's no one better to save us than us," says executive producer Tom McGrath, who has been voicing the leader, Skipper, since the original 2005Madagascar (which he directed with Darnell).

Along the way, Skipper and his crew — brainy Kowalski (Chris Miller), rugged Rico (John DiMaggio) and young rookie Private (Christopher Knights) — come into conflict and ultimately team with the high-tech animal organization North Wind (its motto: "No one breaks the Wind").

Classified's group includes the seal Short Fuse (Ken Jeong), an explosives expert; snow owl Eva (Annet Mahendru of The Americans), an intelligence analyst with a Russian accent who's the object of Kowalski's affections; and hulking Norwegian bear Corporal (Peter Stormare), who constantly wants to embrace his four new bird friends.

"While North Wind uses all this slick gadgetry, the penguins rely on grit, spit and duct tape," McGrath says.