Benedict Cumberbatch Playing Khan Or Gary Mitchell?, Plus Other Things Caught In The STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Teaser

We finally got our first glimpse of Benedict Cumberbatch as the mysterious villain in Stark Trek Into Darkness. There had been a ton of speculation of who he's been playing in the film. The two villains it's really come down to is Gary Mitchell and the legendary Khan from the epic Wrath of Khan. A few things that had also been rumored have been sort of confirmed here with the Klingons appearing and Alice Eve very likely playing Kirk's love interest Dr. Carol Marcus.

Carol had mothered a child (David) of Kirk's which was revealed in Wrath. While she survived the original film doing the same through this film will be in question. While Carol has connections with Khan she also has links to other villain Gary Mitchell. The best friend of Kirk who develops powers and becomes a conflicted villain.

Klingons have been mentioned since the first roll out of the Star Trek sequel rumors. We saw J.J. Abrams earlier in the year speaking on MTV while an image of Klingon was in the background on a screen. The alien warriors had been featured in the first film but ultimately cut-out but have been linked to this new film a few times. Finally, there is confirmation they'll be in the film as Benedict Cumberbatch is shown in a few scenes in the trailer clobbering a couple of Klingons.

While we have zero idea of the villain's motivation for his "vengeance" he has exceptional abilities which could fall inline with a super-human like Khan. The original talk of Khan came from LatinoReview which had previously broke that Joker (Dark Knight), Loki/Thanos (Avengers), Mandarin (Iron Man 3), General Zod (Man of Steel) and Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes 2) would be villains in their respected films. It's a solid track record that gives the impression along with this footage that Benedict is playing the iconic Khan in the film. However, the site has removed the original article.

In the Japanese version of the teaser there is a bonus fifteen seconds of footage which features a scene similar to the death of Spock in Wrath of Khan. Nothing says he's actually dying or will "stay" dead but it's another in a long line of things pointing to Cumberbatch is playing Khan.

Benedict Cumberbatch Playing Gary Mitchell In 'STAR TREK 2'?

It's been a steady stream of crazy speculation when it comes to what the hell is going on with the Star Trek sequel. Most importantly the film doesn't even have an official title which would likely give away a lot of it's direction. Any who, what we do know for sure is that Benedict Cumberbatch is playing the villain. It's been rumored since day one he would be in the role of Trek baddie superhuman Khan but what happens if he's not?

Simon Pegg has come out to again confirm that Cumberbatch won't be playing Khan via TrekMovie. The only real detail here is that Pegg confirms that Cumberbatch is human. It's possible that the Khan rumor development when the thought of a series villain or human would be the villain of the sequel. So if Khan isn't on the table it doesn't leave a lot of room for human villains. Harry Mudd and Charlie Evans seem unlikely because Benedict is clearly wearing Federation gear in the set images that have leaked. There aren't a lot of Federation based villains but one does come to mind and would become a large conflict for Kirk and the crew.

Pegg is full of praise for Cumberbatch’s baddy, whom he describes [as] “not just another disgruntled alien. It’s a really interesting… sort of… thing,” he squirms. “Obviously I can’t talk about it.”

“It’s not Khan,” replies Pegg, annoyed. “That’s a myth. Everyone’s saying it is, but it’s not.”

Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell and Kirk become friends at Starfleet Academy and Gary ends up on the Enterprise. During this time Kirk is still on his way to become the captain which would fall inline with rumors of Peter Weller (Robocop) playing the new Enterprise captain. Gary ends up developing alien superpowers and turns on the crew. It's a solid enough conflict as Gary would become an enemy from within the Enterprise.

If this is true it would mean that Alice Eve's character could be the ship's psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Eve's haircut for the film is very similar to the actress from the original series. Dehner was featured in the episode with Mitchell and could end up a new addition to the Enterprise crew since they clearly lacking another female character.