Devin Faraci at his new site BadAss Digest claims an informant close to the production of 'Star Trek 2' has told him there's no room for the iconic Khan in the sequel, but a villain from the original serieswill indeed return to terrorize the Enterprise crew when filming begins in July. And guess what? You are looking at him. It's one of the above memorable characters. But his source isn't spilling as to who just yet. The Paramount insider says;
Its definitely a character that will make fans of TOS excited. Think along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta. Actually its one of those that I named.. But anyway, it's fun to play the guessing game, so here's a visual representation of those mentioned...
Let's take a look at them; That's Harry Mudd, a notorious con man who appeared in two episodes of the original series. He is little more than a comic relief character, a figure who you imagine would only appear in a supporting role. Think a more jovial Oliver Reed from 'Gladiator', he always has a scam up his sleeve, usually involving women. But of course, they have Simon Pegg for the humour in this series, so one wouldn't expect that he's even needed, in even small dosees. It won't be him.Trelane - An original series version of Q, he is a God-like character who causes mischief and enjoys playing the crew of the Enterprise like puppets on a string. He is goofy, childlike, because well he is. After all, every God needs a creator and when his parents find out what he's been up to, well let's say they aren't too pleased with how he has conducted himself with humans. The story goes he wears 17th century clothing because his culture is a couple of centuries behind everyone else. If the character was to be used in the new canon, I would expect it would be far closer to a Q-like portrayl. Presumably, they could even bring back anyone from the previous 'Trek' reality with this character as it's conceivable his immortal race would have access to all realities. I always did like Q and I was continuously baffled as to why they never pulled the trigger on him as a main villain for a big-screen Picard movie. I'd say there is limitless potential in Trelane appearing but you would need a race of Klingons or Romulans to beef up his story. Gary Mitchell - In the fabulous second pilot episode 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' (which would make a great subtitle by the way) - Mitchell was an old best friend of Captain Kirk and the helmsman of the Enterprise. After an ambitious journey far outside the galaxy (actually further than any spacecraft has traveled, hence the title), an energy field hits Mitchell and gives him God-like powers. Kirk's best friend suddenly becomes a deadly enemy. He was a cracking episode villain and I would love to see him appear in the new movies, but his story feels too sleight to be the 'big bad'. A secondary sub-plot villain, absolutely, but wouldn't they have introduced Mitchell in movie number 1 if that was the direction they wanted to go in? He is a valued crewmember and Kirk's best buddy after all, and you would think screenwriters Orci and Kurtzman have had this sequel planned for a while. I guess if he was used he would be the first human 'Star Trek' movie villain since, well, since when? I guess Malcolm McDowell in 'Star Trek: Generations' was the most human-like, but he was El-Aurian. And I suppose Mitchell is only a bad guy when he is a God. The Talosians are one of the most iconic 'Trek' villains, a genuinely spooky, Prof. X style race that are masters of illusion, telepathy and mind control. They were so memorable in fact that they A) gave me nightmares as a Kid and B) were prominent in the end credits of each episode. I would say out of all the villains on this list, they would be the favourite, as they go all the way back to the original pilot of the show. They also have limitless possibilities with mind control over the crew, and re-utilizing the fate of Captain Pike (where Spock takes a broken Christopher Pike to Talos IV to live out the rest of his days in a 'fake' reality where he is fully healthy) could be fun. The Horta were a silicone based life form that killed miners (and anonymous red shirted crew members) on the planet Janus IV, and were silly villains in a silly episode. They won't be used. Out of the rumoured names, I think the Talosians would make great villains but other than that, I've always suggested that Orci and Kurtzman would be better off coming up with a new villain, and beefing him up with some Klingons or something. And final word on the Khan front - thank God. I want that to be the last mention of Khan in regards to this new 'Star Trek' series for at least the remainder of this decade. His story was expertly told in 'The Wrath of Khan' and if you need your fix of the character, WATCH THAT MOVIE, and let Orci and Kurtzman get on with shaping something new.