Simon Pegg sets his fazer to 'kill' on this rumor...

We still have nearly a year until J.J. Abrams’ highly anticipated Star Trek 2 hits theatres, and already rumors are flying around faster than a Constitution-class Starship traveling at maximum warp. For several weeks now, the biggest rumor to be taken as fact was that Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, The Hobbit) was to be playing Khan Noonien Singh in the next installment of the science fiction series, even though Abrams has been denying it since the release of the first film. For those of you who are new to Star Trek, Khan was an augment, a genetically-enhanced warrior from the late 20th Century, who had at one point ruled over one-quarter of the Earth’s population, and had been sent into deep space in stasis on a prison ship after the Eugenics war. Originally portrayed by Ricardo Mantalban, he was introduced in TOS episode “Space Seed”, and was brought back as the villain for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

However, Simon Pegg, who portrays Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott in Star Trek, has lashed out at such rumors.  In Pegg's own words:

“[Benedict Cumberbatch's character is] not just another disgruntled alien. It’s a really interesting… sort of… thing. Obviously I can’t talk about it… 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. It masquerades as interest in the movie but really it’s just nosiness and impatience. You just want to say, ‘Oh f— off! Wait for the film!’”

While many might shrug this off as simple misdirection on the part of those making the film, Pegg has gained the respect of many fanboys, not only for his portrayal of Scotty, but also for his slacker/zombie fighter character Shaun from Shaun of the Dead and for his turn as the villain The Editor on Doctor Who. His word might indeed be gospel, but it would probably be safer just to wait until the movie comes out to find out who’s right.

In other news, Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation) has recently revealed that he was contacted about a role in the upcoming Trek film, but then told it wouldn’t be happening. While he holds no ill-will toward anyone for it, he does have ambitions to pitch a Captain Worf television movie. According to Dorn:

"I think there is a place for it. Straight to DVD or straight to cable. Who wouldn’t want to have this kind of thing going on? It is going to help their movie. The fans aren’t going 'we are going to see this movie, but we aren’t going to go see the big movie in the theater.'...[Worf] would be captain of a ship – a Federation ship. He is out there in the front lines basically chasing terrorists...I think we will have some of our Star Trek people in it, but mostly new characters. It will be interwoven into the fabric of Star Trek.

It would be a welcome return to the Trek universe for Dorn, who has clocked more hours in it than any other actor. In addition to playing Lieutenant Commander Worf on TNG, he also portrayed him on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine after TNG went off the air, and he was in all of the TNG-related films. He also was the first Trek actor to portray his own character’s ancestor, playing Colonel Worf in the underrated 1991 film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. With the constant talk these days of new Star Trek television projects – and by some pretty big hitters – I certainly hope this comes to fruition.  Worf is one of the most complex and fantastic characters to come out of the Star Trek universe.

See also:

Star Trek 2 to begin filming Thursday, plus a run down of its talent

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