Star Trek 2 Adds 2 New Cast Members
Posted 01.05.12 by Ryan
When Benicio del Toro was first reported to be the up for a role in Star Trek 2, it was believed that del Toro would play the villain in the movie. This set off online rumors that the Traffic actor would play Khan Noonien Singh, the memorable villain portrayed by the late Ricardo Montalbán in a 1967 episode of the original Star Trek series episode and again in the 1982 movie sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Director J.J. Abrams publicly revealed that the rumors were "not true," but the rumors persisted. Once del Toro dropped out, actors Édgar Ramírez (Carlos, Vantage Point) and Jordi Mollà (Colombiana) were both being considered to replace del Toro. Finally, the Khan rumors
may be officially over, as Variety reports that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock, War Horse) has landed the role Ramírez auditioned for and, by extension, del Toro was initially offered.
Of course, there's some debate over whether Cumberbatch is the villain in the movie. Deadline reports that there's "no word yet" whether Cumberbatch's role is a hero or a villain, while The Hollywood Reporter reports that "it is believed" that Cumberbatch's role is a villainous one. Once the nature of Cumberbatch's role is settled, perhaps more details about the role will be revealed. Star Trek producer Bryan Burk has publicly said that the Star Trek 2 villain will be "original and unique," so we hope that no "Cumberbatch as Khan" rumors are to follow.
Cumberbatch will join fellow Star Trek newcomers Peter Weller (Robocop, Dexter) and Alice Eve (She's Out of My League), who were both initially reported to be cast in unspecified roles, though Weller's agent revealed that the actor's part was "a substantial role and that Peter is playing a C.E.O." They will be joined by a fourth actor, who again has been cast in an unspecified role.
Variety reports that another British actor, Noel Clarke, has been cast in the sequel. Well known to fans of BBC's Dr. Who series, Clarke recently starred in period action movie Centurion and wrote, directed and starred in the thriller 4.3.2.1. While the exact details of Clarke's role are unknown, the report does reveal that the actor-writer-director will play "a family man with a wife and young daughter."
Obviously, there's been plenty of secrecy revolving around Star Trek 2 due to the massive success of the 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise and the (often) obsessive nature of Star Trek fans. This much is for sure: the crew of the Enterprise — Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Bones (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), Chekov (Anton Yelchin) and Scotty (Simon Pegg) will be back in another adventure, written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. Production is supposed to start his month and last until June.
Next Showing: Star Trek 2 will open in 3-D on May 17, 2013