More Khan Stories Concerning the Star Trek Sequel

There are still many talks and speculations about whether or not Khan will appear in the Star Trek sequel. If it’s not in the next one, maybe in the one after that, or the one after that. One thing for sure is that it seems inevitable that this fan favourite should and will appear.

JJ Abrams does not reject the idea of having Khan in a future movie at all.

But who would play Khan Noonien Singh?

He was originally played by the late great Ricardo Montalban, who brought dash and flair to Captain Kirk’s greatest Nemesis. The Lex Luthor to his Superman, the Magneto to his Professor X, the Master to his Doctor– you get the picture. Montalban’s Khan first appeared in the Original series episode ''Space Seed'' on board a ship called the Botany Bay, and the character was brought back years late in the second Trek motion picture Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.

The chances of having Khan in a new Trek movie appear to be half and half. An interesting tidbit that Trek Movie reports is:

And if you listen to the commentary on the Star Trek DVD and Blu-ray, producer Damon Lindelof states that they did consider putting in one of those ‘after the credits’ scenes that would have shown the Botany Bay floating in space; something Bob Orci has also talked about here at TrekMovie.com. Bob has made it clear that even though the new film sets out a new timeline, many things from the ‘prime timeline’ are still intact, including the Botany Bay.

I believe that had that scene been added in the movie, Star Trek fans everywhere would have gone completely nuts – with the un-initiated staring blankly at the screen.

Recently io9 published a story claiming Nestor Carbonell may be playing the legendary character, a story that was debunked by TrekMovie: And for this week’s rumors, a trusted source tells TrekMovie that discussions of Carbonell being on some sort of short list is "total BS." Sources do confirm that Khan is still a possibility for the film, but that is not anything new.

However, again the favourite actor to play Khan seems to be spanish actor Javier Bardem, who is better known for his No Country for Old Men movie role here in North America.

One thing for sure is that if Khan is to be in a future Star Trek movie, they need a strong actor in the role. Javier Bardem would certainly fit the bill. For now, since nothing is known about the sequel yet, it is all conjecture.

Source, Source

Writers Orci and Kurtzman on the Star Trek Sequel

Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman also sat for a lenghty Q&A at the same Paramount event wich revealed their plans to reboot Hawaii Five-0, Fringe and more importantly the Star Trek Sequel.

Here are some of the highlights from the session

In the Q&A, we learn that Nurse Christine Chapel was originally planned to appear in the first movie in the early drafts of the script.

Also, when asked if there was ''anything from Enterprise or Next Generation or Deep Space or elements, like the Borg, Cardassians, Bajorans, anything on the top of your list that you might want to throw in to the next movie?'' Roberto Orci answered:

I think we’d think about it, just because we do love The Next Generation…I think our instinct would be to first look at The Original Series, before we considered that. But, all that is on the table.

About the possibility that the next Star Trek would be more allegorical and more in tune with modern issues as well as how they would do that and yet keep the positive future envisioned by Gene Roddenberry, Orci answered:

The torture thing was just a for instance. Someone asked, “Modern day issues like torture?,” and we said, “Yeah, sure, modern day issues,” but, we’re not doing a story about Gitmo as I read on some site that it was going to be about Guantanamo Bay. But, now that we’ve established the characters, we can have a more philosophical allegory, where what’s happening in the future represents our world, like the best versions of it in the ’60’s did, representing women’s rights, racial equality, progressive issues.

Both writers also admitted they were still at the brainstorming stage and that they had not yet figured out a story. And again, the Khan question popped up for the millionth time and Kurtzman responded by saying:

Where we’re starting is, “Okay, where are our characters now? What are interesting complications that we can put in their lives? What feels like an organic emotional place for us to get to? How do we want to test them?” And then, you look at everything and start asking, “Who would be the best foe?”

Go here for the rest of the Q&A where they talk Fringe, Cowboys and Aliens and much, much more.