Given we’re spending a month covering Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s twenty-fifth anniversary, it’s worth sharing this, the trailer for JJ Abrams’ Star Trek: Into Darkness. I’m actually quite looking forward to it, as Benedict Cumberbatch is making quite a name for himself, and he seems perfectly suited to this sort of role.
The trailer plays it a bit coy, refusing to reveal Cumberbatch’s identity. Based off a one-scene-longer Japanese version of the trailer, the internet is going wild with the speculation that he is Khan, the villain from the episode Space Seed and also Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. I can’t see the production team recycling such an obvious character, if only because he’s so iconic to fans as to be sacrosanct, but not easily recognisable to casual movie goers. (Okay, that shot of Kirk screaming “KHANNNNN!” is one of the great movie moments, but beyond that… do casual movie-goers recognise the character in the same way they would Darth Vader or the Joker?)
Personally, I’m hoping that Abrams and his creative team have done something similar to what Meyer did when he drafted Khan into Star Trek II. Meyer reviewed the original series to find a villain who offered the potential for an exciting story and found Khan. I would like to think that an examination of the show might find another. Given his dialogue about revenge against the Federation, I wouldn’t mind seeing Garth of Izar from Whom the Gods Destroy get reimagined, but that’s off the top of my head.
Still, enjoy the trailer and sound off below.
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Abrams, Benedict Cumberbatch, Darkness, J Abrams, jj abrams, khan, Space Seed, star trek, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan |
the m0vie blog 
Garth was exactly who I thought of when I saw the trailer today. And then I did a search to see if anyone else thought so — and found this article.
Thanks Bobbie.
Whom the Gods Destroy was not the strongest episode, but the character has potential. He’s quite similar to Khan – his abondonment generating resentment – but there’s an extra hook.
Khan fixated on Kirk, but Garth’s rage would provide a vehicle to explore the Federation. It’s a benign society, but it sends it’s mentally ill to a strange world so far out of the way that the Enterprise checks in. And then it seems to forget about them. Continuity was never too tight on TOS, so it makes sense he was never mentioned before or after, but you’d imagine a line or two might have been dropped in one of the spin-offs. As a result, he seems like a “dirty little secret” to be sent out of sight and out of mind, and I like the idea that he might return.
I think the character has potential.