The precise details of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel have been shrouded in secrecy up until now. And one of its most commonly discussed aspects is the identity of its villain – who we’ve long known will be played by Benedict Cumberbatch.
For a long time, it was widely thought that Cumberbatch would be playing Khan Noonien Singh – a character first introduced in the 1967 TV episode, Space Seed, and later immortalised in the 1982 movie, The Wrath Of Khan. Khan was such a popular villain, and Ricardo Montalban’s performance so definitive, that the notion of another actor playing the character was met with considerable suspicion by some.
If a slip of the tongue courtesy of Dredd’s Karl Urban is correct, it looks like Cumberbatch won’t be playing Khan after all, but another villain hailing from the original series’ archives. “He’s awesome, he’s a great addition,” Urban told SFX, before blurting (we presume accidentally), “I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.”
Gary Mitchell first appeared in the episode Where No Man Has Gone Before, the third in Star Trek’s original series (and originally shot as a second pilot episode). Mitchell was a member of the Starfleet Academy who was exposed to a magnetic storm aboard the SS Valiant, leaving him with godlike telekinetic powers and a decidedly nasty temper.
As SFX point out, this could all be an elaborate hoax, but Mitchell’s certainly a plausible choice, and one predicted by several fine readers on this very site.
As soon as the identity of Cumberbatch’s villain is confirmed or denied, we’ll be sure to let you know.
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