Benicio Del Toro is STAR TREK 2 Villain!

No word on the plot or what kind of baddie he'll be playing but J.J. Abrams is set to meet this weekend with Benicio Del Toro where he will formally offer him the main villain role in his Star Trek sequel. Variety says Del Toro does not yet know the particulars of the part himself as Abrams is probably the most secretive of all director's but he says it's for our own good. Del Toro as a Star Trek villain? Bring it on, bring it on! It's quite an amazing coup for Abrams if he gets him. Del Toro has only done three productions in six years (The Wolfman, Che & Things We Lost In The Fire) with a fourth (Oliver Stone's Savages) coming next year and he picks his projects carefully. He hasn't had the greatest luck with tentpole movies in recent years (see The Wolf Man... though he did have a memorable cameo in Sin City) but he's become an amazing actor in this last decade and his choices are never predictable and always intriguing. This is the guy who won an Oscar for his supporting turn in Traffic, should have got more recognition for his tour-de-force performance in Che and has an indelible screen presence. Of course fanboys being the way they are, they have speculated that Del Toro would be stepping into the shoes of the late, great Ricardo Montalbán to play Khan, the most memorable Trek villain in history from the original Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan. A lot of people are convinced co-writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof will be heading in that direction soon enough but personally let's hope not. Original stories with this new crew, please. Let Del Toro create a truly great villain for a new generation. Let's hope the writers are laughing at the fanboyish suggestions that they would even consider going in that direction. I'm still hopeful for a Klingon story, it's been too long since we've seen a good one. Star Trek 2 will begin filming very early next year for a release June 2013.