First off, let’s dispel the rumor of a young Khan once and for all…
Khan is also Indian… Just sayin’…
1) Khan has NO super powers. He is genetically superior to the average human, altered into a Napoleonic genius with a thirst for conquest, but he’s not psychic; he can’t cause mass destruction without a starship or army. The synopsis for INTO DARKNESS calls the villain a “one-man weapon of mass destruction.” That ain’t Khan. Some of the destruction Cumberbatch creates in the teaser is well outside the abilities of Khan.
2) Khan, at least in the original canon, was from 1999 (I believe), one of the genetic “super-humans” (again, in intellect and strength, NO actual superpowers) marooned in space after attempting to conquer Earth. That was long before Kirk or Starfleet’s time. And Cumberbatch’s character seems to want revenge against both.
THIS WOULD NOT HAVE CHANGED IN THIS NEW TIMELINE. After all, it happened long before Nero and Spock returned from the future, changing the fate of Kirk and his crew.
Looks to me to be misdirection… It’s in the trailer, but why do the same scene from the first “Star Trek 2” aka “Wrath of Khan?” That’s Spock on one side, but who says it is Kirk on the other?
3) J.J. and crew would be fools to touch Khan. It’s like redoing the Joker… but Abrams is NO Christopher Nolan. Just watch the steaming pile of SUPER 8.
Now, more reasons (in addition to the ones in my past blog), why it looks to be Mitchell…
The blond from the INTO DARKNESS trailer looks a lot like Dr. Elizabeth Dehner from “Where No Man Has Gone Before”
1) The girl with the blond hair (Alice Eve). Look at her. Though so-far nameless, she looks an awful like Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, the only other Enterprise crew member to receive psychic powers with Mitchell during the magnetic storm encountered while trying to exit the galaxy in THE ORIGINAL SERIES (TOS) episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
Now, Dr. Dehner was not in the IDW comic version of “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which is officially canon with the new timeline, so she never received powers herself. But… she has a history with Mitchell… and Bones… regardless and is key to the original episode. The only reason she is not on the ship at the time of the accident in the comic is because Bones is already the Enterprise’s top physician, at the start of the comic, where in TOS she was his predecessor.
The comic also mentions the two have had a romantic past which is why she and Bones were not both assigned to the same starship.
So what does Mitchell want with Dr. Dehner now (assuming it is Dehner)? She’s powerless. Does he love her? Do his powers allow him to somehow remember the other timeline where they were empowered together? Driving him to seek a way to transform her as well so they can be together? Or does he simply sense the minor TK (LOOPER speak for telekinesis) in her already. Either way, she’s totally in peril at some point… and is featured in the teaser more than many classic crew members.
In the uniform and THE chair!
2) Cumberbatch wears a Starfleet uniform and even is sitting in a Captain’s chair in parts of the trailer. Khan was never a part of, nor never wanted to be in Starfleet. Though he did steal the Enterprise and would destroy the rest the fleet with glee, I can’t see him dressing in uniform of his enemy. On the other hand, Mitchell is a former member of Starfleet and a personal rival of Kirk’s.
What glee it would bring Mitchell to prove he is the better Captain after all.
It’s a little worrisome that Bones is only seen on the “red” planet in the teaser. After all, he’s my favorite crew member…
3) Bones said it. On a press junket for DREDD, Karl Urban aka STAR TREK’s Bones said Cumberbatch is “awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.”
Sure, this could be misdirection, but what are the odds he would plant it months ago only to have the trailer seemingly support his claim? That’s too intricate, even for an Abrams secret.
Loose lips sink starships, Bones McCoy!
4) Mitchell’s been in the IDW comic series that is canon. Khan has not (unless he is the focus of the new “Countdown To Darkness” mini-series, in which case my theories are fucked).
Sure, he dies, but he also has powers no one, not even Spock understands. It’s not outside STAR TREK logic to think Mitchell was already unkillable when Kirk thought he did the deed. In which case, how in the world will they defeat him this time?
Maybe it’s neither Mitchell nor Khan.
What if this is what Abrams wants? All this speculation between Khan and Mitchell when it is someone completely different?
After all, how does this quote from the Japanese teaser apply to Mitchell?
“Is there anything you would not do, for your family?”
The line could simply be Mitchell questioning Kirk’s allegiance to his “family” aka crew, though it almost sounds like an explanation for his own actions. Perhaps this character is not Mitchell and is seeking revenge for his own lost family (though that’s a lil’ similiar to Nero’s plight).
I guess we’ll all know soon enough. There will be 9 minutes of INTO DARKNESS on THE HOBBIT Imax Friday, with a real trailer for the film following on the 17th.
Especially with the cute short-haired blond, and the first officer threads worn by Kirk in STAR TREK (2009). He’s back to wreak havoc on all the puny mortals, for now, Mitchell is a God.
Kirk reacting to the return of an old college? Or the death of a friend (very little Bones in the trailer, which worries me).
I want to start by apologizing if this subject has already been written to death. I’m not all-too-present on the internet these days, but light research suggests very few similar articles/blogs have the same confidence and evidence that Gary Mitchell is the villain in STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS.
“When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.”
STAR TREK ONGOING COMIC BOOK/THE ORIGINAL SERIES SPOILERS AHEAD!
People have suggested this synopsis confirms Gary Mitchell or Khan as the film’s villain, but I think the former is the only serious candidate.
GM as he appeared in TOS
Based on this synopsis, Benedict Cumberbatch (the actor playing the villain) has got to be Gary Mitchell! He’s from their own organization, the federation, and is a “one-man weapon of mass destruction” following his mutation at the edge of the galaxy. Khan matches neither characteristic (unless he is drastically changed… which is possible…).
Both possible villains do have a very personal score to settle.
In the comic series that INTO DARKNESS writer/producer Orci is a consultant on (Orci promised the books would set up characters we would see in the film), Kirk did “kill” Gary Mitchell before he would become too powerful, as Spock feared. So what if Mitchell died in the comic? What if he was actually, already too powerful to kill?
Gary Mitchell as he appears in Orci’s comic.
What if Mitchell returns to Earth, hailed as a first officer feared dead and given a promotion? Kirk, off “going where no man has ever gone before” can’t warn anyone as Mitchell is welcomed back, only to destroy the fleet with his even more evolved powers. The same powers Spock feared may manifest (like in TOS and the comic!).
As previously stated, Orci said the villain and other characters from the sequel would be introduced in the IDW ongoing STAR TREK comic. Gary Mitchell was the subject of issues #1 & #2, just as he was the center of the story in STAR TREK TOS’s second “1st” episode.
Nuff’ Said!
…
The only real doubt the synopsis suggests comes in its final line;
“…sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.”
I thought Kirk’s mother and (half?… step?) brother were still alive? She was simply “off planet” in the first film.
James T. Kirk and “brother.”James T. Kirks’ Pop (AND Thor!)
Will Kirk’s family play into the film, or am I simply reading into it too much?
After all, it could just be a sentimental reminder of the continuing “teamwork/family” theme of STAR TREK. And a reference to Kirk’s dad being dead in this timeline.
OR
Kirk’s family could fall victim first to Mitchell, leaving the Captain only the “real” friends of the Enterprise bridge crew (after all, “real” friends don’t kill other friend’s families and colleges, Gary!).
OR
This character could not be Gary Mitchell, and instead a different villain we’re all overlooking or have never heard of… perhaps a family member?
I suppose whatever is not revealed tomorrow in the trailer will be revealed in the STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS prelude comic from IDW.
Last night, sports geeks gathered around the TV, but the real feast was to be had for cinephiles like myself.
I guess we’ll all know soon enough. There will be 9 minutes of INTO DARKNESS on THE HOBBIT Imax Friday, with a real trailer for the film following on the 17th.
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