By I went ape-poopie for the Star Trek reboot. I was probably one of my favorite movies of that year; it offered the kind of fun that hasn’t been seen in the Star Trek franchise in a long time. Maybe since First Contact. Despite the sequel being a ways off, there’s been a lot of speculation as to what threat the crew of the Enterprise will have to overcome. One of the biggest rumors has been the return of Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Now, Badass Digest is reporting that Khan will not be the villain in Star Trek II, and the film “won’t be focused on a traditional ‘villain’ type at all.” The source Badass Digest got the story from goes on to say that the villain will be “along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta. Actually, it’s one of those that I named.”
More thoughts below the jump.
[Via Badass Digest]First off, I cannot contain my joy at the fact that Khan isn’t going to be in Star Trek 2. Khan in Wrath is one of the perfect cinematic villains. You know what that means? If they did try to use him again, that poor dude playing him would be going up against Ricardo F***ing Montalban. Even with a command performance, it’d be like recasting Darth Vader with a whiny teen. You guys see what I did there?
The Star Trek reboot, with the huge changes in continuity that came out of it, has the opportunity to go back to the old Trek tradition of “strange new worlds.” If the writers are up to it, we can see some truly original, strange as all hell things, and that’s a very, very good thing.
That said, if the villain is one of those named above, I hope it’s Gary Mitchell. He was an old friend of Kirk’s that, upon contact with strange energies at the galactic barrier, became god-like. This sort of villain offers a huge threat to both the Enterprise and the galaxy at large while still being a villain with a deeply personal connection to Kirk. Frankly, he’d be awesome.