It's the rumor that simply won't die. As much as J.J. Abrams has sworn up and down that the villain in his Star Trek sequel is not Khan-- back when Benicio del Toro was pegged for the central villain role, and again when Benedict Cumberbatch was cast instead-- the Internet has been insistent on believing that Captain Kirk and company will be facing off against Khan Noonien Singh. Khan, if you're not up to date on the plot of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, first appeared in the original TV series episode "Space Seed," and as played by Ricardo Montalban in Wrath of Khan was an intelligent, vicious bad guy who brought the Starship Enterprise to the brink of ruin. He's one of the most charismatic and deadly villains the Star Trek universe has ever produced, and you can understand why fans keep hoping for his return.
It was just last month that a rumor surfaced yet again about Cumberbatch playing Khan, but if you ask Simon Pegg-- who plays Scotty, of course-- people who believe that rumor are still barking up the wrong tree. Talking to The Telegraph in the UK, Pegg praised Cumberbatch's performance in the vaguest of terms, as being "not just another disgruntled alien," but he got very specific when asked if Cumberbatch was playing Khan:
It’s not Khan. That’s a myth. Everyone’s saying it is, but it’s not. I think people just want to have a scoop. It annoys me – it’s beyond the point to just ferret around for spoilers all the time to try to be the first to break them."
Ouch! Those are strong words from a self-professed fanboy like Pegg, but you can also get how he's gotten annoyed-- and how J.J. Abrams' love of secrets has probably rubbed off on him. Die-hard believers in the Khan rumor will probably take Pegg's denial as another part of the Abrams secrecy machine, but I'm inclined to believe him, if only because I want as many secrets as possible intact when I finally see Star Trek 2-- or whatever they wind up calling it-- on May 17 next year.
