Worlds Without End Blog

Is it official that Khan is the bad guy in this? That trailer looks good, and Khan is a great character, but as an old-school “original series” fan, I was hoping they’d avoid the one series character that was already used in the movies. There are so many other possibilities for an alternate history of the Kirk era. Crashing the ship is consistent with the “action movie” take on Trek of the last film, but those moments get emphasized in trailers, so hopefully it’s not all about things blowing up. And I assume the blonde is Yeoman Rand? That would be a nice touch…

The last I investigated, the best theory for Cumberbatch’s character was that he would be Gary Mitchell, from the pilot. I’d love to see Khan, but to start the continuing adventures with a reboot of the original pilot…that’s genius!

Also, the blonde at 0:41 has the exact same hairstyle and uniform color as Elizabeth Dehner from the pilot.

That clinches it for me.

So what is he having his vengeance for? This Japanese trailer has an extra scene at the end that looks like a firm nod towards Khan:

Well, my theory, off the top of my head, would be that Kirk succeeds in marooning Mitchell on that planet at the edge of the galaxy (as was his initial plan in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), and that Mitchell somehow returns to Earth (given his godlike powers, that shouldn’t be too difficult) and gets his revenge, much the way he attempted revenge in that pilot episode.

At any rate, if it were Khan, there would be no reason for revenge, because this is still the five year mission. Khan is the young man from “Space Seed,” presumably still asleep in the 1990s built Botany Bay. He wouldn’t even know who Kirk is, let alone have a vendetta against him.

Also, look:

Also, the hands-touching-through-glass thing is SO iconic of Wrath of Khan, that it *must* have been placed there to mislead. I can’t imagine they’d do a rote repeat of that scene, which would be inappropriate, anyway, since this Kirk and Spock aren’t old friends (yet).

I thought of Rand because of an image about 17 seconds in that shows the actress smilingly handing something to Kirk, as he looks up at her. This reminded me of his first meeting with Rand in the series, when she hands him a clipboard, and Kirk is bemused to have been assigned a “female Yeoman.” (I think it was The Corbomite Maneuver.) Of course, these guys know the fans will be picking it apart like this, so misdirection is to be expected… I would prefer Mitchell to yet another outing for Khan, and that hairstyle is undeniable…

I hadn’t considered Yeoman Rand. The hairstyle is all wrong for her, of course, but I can’t imagine a rebooted Janice having that original beehive.

She’s Carol Marcus.