Star Trek Into Darkness Villain Is Still Not Khan

With the release of Star Trek Into Darkness a mere six months away, the Internet is once again abuzz with speculation about just who the hell Benedict Cumberbatch is playing. This week, the man himself has attempted to end the speculation – only to fuel more speculation – by telling us all that he’s playing (drumroll!) … John Harrison!

John who? John Harrison. Some terrorist guy. I don’t know, but that’s what Cumberbatch claims in an interview with Access Hollywood (via The Playlist). Here’s what he had to say about who John Harrison is:

“… [he’s] a terrorist and an extraordinary character in his own right. He’s somebody who is not your two-dimensional cookie cutter villain. He’s got an extraordinary purpose, and I hope that one point or other in the film you might even sympathize with the reasons he’s doing what he’s doing — not necessarily the means and the destruction he causes. But it was a great ride, not just because he’s the bad guy and the antagonist but also because he has a purpose and it’s hard not to see his point of view at certain points.”

All righty then. So all of that Khan speculation, including but not limited to the fact that there’s apparently a Wrath of Khan nod in the Japanese version of the teaser? All of that pussy-footing around who this guy is and the answer is some dude that we’ve never heard of? Nicely played, Cumberbatch.

The sum result of this announcement will of course merely be more speculation. Is Cumberbatch lying? Has Khan taken an alias? Or has J.J. Abrams decided to introduce a totally new villain for the sequel? Does anyone but Trekkies really care?

I’m not a big Star Trek fan, but even I call shenanigans on this one. This is just adding more fuel to the fire, which Abrams has become pretty damn good at.

We’ll all know come May 17, 2013, when Star Trek Into Darkness hits theatres.

If you really can’t wait that long, go to an IMAX 3D showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this weekend and see the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness. But don’t expect to be enlightened. I mean, it has ‘darkness’ right in the title.