It’s possible, if unlikely, that we’re dealing with some spoilers for JJ Abrams’ Star Trek 2, so if you’re ultra purist about the new iteration of the franchise, I’d suggest passing on the entirety of the article. That said, there’s nothing here that won’t be spoiled by a toy or a promo image or a set picture long before the film even cuts a trailer, so I wouldn’t sweat it.
In any event, AICN is reporting new Trek stuff from a source that they say “feels” right. That’s not condescension, that’s their own clarification, along with a big “trust us guys, this could be legit” dance without spoiling their source. So grain of salt and all. Either way, the news their source brings is not monumental, but would definitely confirm some suspicions you may have.
They basically boil down to the idea that Cumberbatch’s villian is, either in name or in spirit, the Kahn of this film, and that Leonard Nimoy will be returning for a significant role. There’s also word that Khan will battle Kirk in flying space suits, and that Nimoy’s costume suggests he’ll have taken on a “stately” role in this new timeline.
That’s it, and while the Cumberbatch as Khan would definitely be a bit of a reveal, I doubt there’s many that haven’t suspected it from day one, in the even that they care at all. As in all things, Batman has 
somehow become the pattern by which all others must follow, and there’s now this sense that branded franchise’s major villain must enter in the second film, be he Moriarty or Sinestro or Kahn or whoever. The thing is… the Joker’s the Joker. Nobody in the mainstream gives a shit about Khan (or Sinestro or Moriarty for that matter), and the success of the new franchise was not built on the supportive shoulders of Trekkies. So while Abrams may certainly exploit one of the franchise’s most interesting villains and also pay tribute to fans simultaneously, I don’t suspect a public mandate would be driving the decision.
So the Kahn thing will just have to develop, but the Nimoy rumors have been bolstered by Leonard’s own brief admission that “we’re talking,” at a NASA event yesterday and a set visit prior to that. He then tweeted today, “I enjoy conversations with JJ Abrams and Zachary Quinto. Keeping up on their work. They are my friends. LLAP” which could be just as easily read as a, “calm down guys, dems my bros and I’m just checking in on shit.” All of that said, he’s going to cameo at the very least, because duh.
My brain already hurts. Live long and rumor less.
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EDIT: As DirtyRatBastard so kindly noted, I very consistently fucked up Khan as “Kahn.” That’s what happens when you proof thinking 2+2=5. Apologies.
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Clearly you don’t give a shit about “Kahn”, Renn…y’know, since you didn’t even bother to spell the character’s name right.
Khan. How hard is that?
I mean…unless you know something that I don’t, and Cumberbatch is an alternate universe version of Madeline Kahn.
Here’s a cheat sheet for you going forward:
Khan: Arab, Indian or other Middle Eastern
Kahn: Jew
Live long and COPYEDIT.
wow, I think we all figured out he wasnt referring to Madeline Kahn. But that would have been awesome.
I haven’t looked into this at AICN (yet) but…Renn what da fuck are you trying to say? How can Cumberbatch be Khan “either by name of spirit”?? He either is Khan or he isn’t. This small detail is the a big fucking deal as far as I’m concerned. If Cumberbatch literally IS playing Khan that’s a whole different bag of controversy than if he is merely playing a Khan-like villain. Please clarify this. It’s kinda important.
Really I’m just allowing for any funky timeline-related shit. Either dude’s name is Khan or it’s not, but who knows what they’ll warp or change or tweak. AICN’s “source” had only “Cumberbatch = Khan” to say.
Hell, Nero was “Khan in spirit”. Planet destroyed? Check. Wife Died? Check. Obsessed with getting revenge on the Hero who let his world be destroyed? Check. Put a weird bug-worm thing in a Federation guy? Check. the Only real difference is he didn’t go around quoting Herman Mellville.
Wow.
AICN is worth maybe a half a grain of salt anymore. It has been a LONG, LONG time since they had anything that resembled a true and actual scoop. They got gamed by the studios long ago and now they have been surpassed by sites (Latino Review) that chose to forgo bribery and stick to that which they set out to do, such as actual spy reports.
It’s sad how much a shade of its former self AICN has become.
IF the movie has Khan in it, that doesn’t mean they have to rehash WoK. They can very easily do a story working off Space Seed, which would might make more sense given that the last movie should have us at some point in time before they ever found Khan’s ship (Botany Bay?).
Honestly, I’d have a hard time accepting that Kirk randomly found a spaceship floating somewhere in the galaxy again in an entirely different timeline. Plus, the availability of real Spock in this timeline would make it pretty easy to avoid the Khan situation.
Needless to say, I really hope it isn’t Kahn. They’ve given themselves an totally clean slate. Just make some new and interesting shit up and go with it.
Khan. My apologies, DirtyRatBastard.
Jeez, don’t be such a Khak.
I seriously doubt they’re going to rehash either of the original Khan story lines, but I could see them making him a Bin Laden-like terrorist that starts a war with a technologically superior alien civilization.
Forgiven
It’s not sad. It’s not sad at all. LOL
So what’s the story with Nimoy? I feared his retirement last year = terminal illness or something.
HA HA HA thank you for this..
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