Benicio Del Toro Out; Khan Back In for Trek Sequel?

NY Magazine's Vulture blog reports that Benicio Del Toro will not be playing the big bad of the Star Trek sequel. It seems contract negotiations fell through last Wednesday due terms of payment. This brings up a few questions. Does this mean Peter Weller is his replacement or doing a different role? Does this mean that Khan is back in play as the film's big bad?

This past Friday news broke that Khan was confirmed by various sources as the bad guy of the film but this was shortly shot down by J.J. Abrams with a short "not true" statement. However, Abrams loves his secrets. He doesn't lie to fans or reporters but he will either go with a non-answer or an answer that can be interpreted in different ways. In this case, it could be "not true" to Del Toro playing Khan instead of "not true" to Khan being in the film. As usual time will tell.

I think the production dodged a bullet with Benicio Del Toro backing out of the film. Based on his role choices during his career, the world of sci-fi would be an ugly fit. At the very least I seriously doubt he would be able to embrace Trekkies and anything associated with fandom. As for Khan, I still maintain that the Trek "Supreme Court" of Abrams and the writers are going to want to strike out in their own direction and try to create an original story that may have little easter eggs to past Trek stories but not rely completely on it like a Khan story would.

Benicio Del Toro Not Playing Khan

It seems that the Latino Review jumped the gun when it declared that Benicio Del Toro would be playing Khan Noonien Singh for the sequel to 2009's Star Trek. The site made the declaration only citing sources but apparently the sites' "El Mayimbe" hit ratio in the rumor department is high enough that the report was considered credible enough to need verification. As a result Hitflix was able to reach out to Star Trek 2 directory JJ Abrams' who responded with a simple "not true."

This isn't really a surprise as the writers of the script have been dropping hints for a while that they were going to "trek" out on their own and not use Khan for sequel. I believe they are going to use a completely new character as this will be the first chance for everyone to truly plant their own flag on Star Trek without having to use any characters or stories from before. At most I am betting there will be hints and nods to previous series things but there will be no direct lifts of previous stories or major characters (like Khan). (via TrekMovie)

Benicio Del Toro for Star Trek 2 Villain

Its seems that JJ Abrams love of secrets is already in full bloom when it comes to Star Trek 2. No news on a finished script, when principle photography begin, or even when the film will be released. Yet it seems casting is in full swing as Variety reports that Abrams has found his "big bad" for the film.

Sources close to the project tell Variety that Benicio Del Toro is expected to be offered the part, possibly before the weekend is out. Insiders say Del Toro has met with Abrams but, in an effort to keep the role a secret, still doesn't know exactly what it is. Par and Skydance had no comment on the casting process.

Variety tends to not publish unless the news is all but confirmed so have to take this news seriously. This will be an unusual choice for Del Toro who is more known for very serious, Oscar bait type films like The Usual Suspects and Traffic. Choosing to do what will likely a 2013 Summer tent pole movie is not the norm for this actor. Actually looking at his IMDB profile, he has never done such a thing. The closest he has even got to sci-fi is "The Wolfman". Personally I have never been much of a fan of the actor so hoping he decides to pass.