Paramount recently released a new image of the up coming J.J. Abrams film STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS. The image shows Chirs Pine as Kirk, Zachery Quinto as Spock, and the mysterious new villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch as he is being held in the brig. The image itself doesn’t give much away as it’s in the trailer, BUT it was the caption provided by paramount that has the Trek forms going to red alert. The character’s name is….. John Harrison. Wait what ? Who’s that? So I did some digging and the closest I could find was… John Harriman.
John Harriman who was the captain of the Excelsior-class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B (which became active on 2293 shortly after the events of STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY) shown in the film STAR TREK: GENERATIONS. Problem there is, John Harriman was in grad school when Enterprise-A went on the first 5 year mission (2266) with Kirk and Spock in the non J.J. Abrams timeline. So either Paramount slipped up (which I doubt) or they put a name out there to mislead us.
Other candidates for the villain are : Khan Noonien Singh
At this point in the assumed timeline Khan would still be frozen aboard the S.S. Botany Bay and wont be found by Kirk until Stardate 3141.9 (2267) during the events of “space seed” episode 22 season 1 of the original series. On the other hand, it could be Khan due to the fact that Carol Marcus played by Alice Sophia Eve is in the newer film. She was Kirk’s old flame in the late 2250’s early 2260’s, and unknown to him, the mother of his son David Marcus (2261-2285). She also was the head of the “Project Genesis” which played a major part of the movie STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. There’s also the shot at the end of the trailer where you have Kirk and Spock saying goodbye to one another much like they did in STAR TREK II when Spock is dying from radiation poisoning.
The other candidate could be Gary Mitchell
Long time friend of Kirk from the days at the academy when Kirk was a lieutenant and instructor there. In episode 3 season 1 “Where No Man Has Gone Before” he is hit with a galactic barrier that gives him god like abilities. When Mitchell becomes violent and dangerous Kirk is forced to strand him on the plant Delta Vega. But the plan fails and in the end Kirk kills Mitchell. Or did he? The problem here is the timeline again. Due to the events of the newest movie, Kirk becomes Captain at the end of that story, which means Kirk and Mitchell never meet.
In any case, I’m super excited for the new film to see who this character actually is. Tell us what your thoughts and feelings are on the identity of the mysterious villain.
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS lands in theaters May 17th 2013
Till more news, live long and prosper.
