Revenge is a dish best served as left-overs.

Look out Internet, a nerd is about to chime in on the rumor that Benicio Del Toro has been cast in the 3D sequel to 2009's alt-boot-re-imaginating of Star Trek, possibly as Khan. Oh and by the way, with the new movie put off 'till 2013, be ready for like two more years of geeky speculation and obsessing. It's what we do.

Del Toro would have his work cut out for him as Ricardo Montalbon's subtle,
nuanced acting and shiny, over-exposed pecs will be hard to top.

1996, whatta year. The Eugenics Wars
and Alanis Morissette won a Grammy.

"But who the hell is Khan?" you ask. Congratulations, you clearly live a well-rounded life full of healthy relationships and outdoor activities, so I'll explain. On the original Star Trek, Khan was the leader of a bunch of genetically engineered super-humans who ruled the Earth in the then-future year of 1996. He tried to take over the ship once, so Kirk's stunt double dropkicked him all over the engine room and then marooned him and his followers on some planet. It was a decent episode of the show, but it set up Khan as the vengeance-crazed bad-guy of 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

"Really guys? The Borg? Again? Ok..."

-Janeway, every third goddamn episode

Bringing back Khan probably seems like a safe bet for the studio. STII: TWOK (acronym!) consistently ranks as one of everyone's favorite Trek movies. On the other hand, TWOK's popularity has resulted in Trek writers paying homage (ripping it off) a lot over the years. Star Trek eating itself was kind of what killed it in the first place. The Borg and Q episodes on Voyager, the fourth season of Enterprise and terrible Star Trek: Nemesis all borrowed shamelessly from better entries in the series. Star Trek 2: The Re-Wrath of Khan: in 3D might come-off as just another trip to the well.

Either Dr. Sam Beckett just leapt into Kirk's body during the trial scene from Star Trek 6,
or Enterprise's writers were up against a deadline.

Yup. Abraham Lincoln. It happened.

J.J. Abrams has denied that Del Toro will play Khan, and the rumor is just that he'll play a 'pre-existing' character rather than a new one so maybe they'll surprise us by bringing back someone unexpected like the Gorn or Abraham Lincoln. Or maybe they'll get really creative and forgo the villain thing all together. Some of the best examples of Star Trek involved the crew facing off against things like the Whale-Probe, that life-sucking Snow-Flake and Moya from Farscape. Who wouldn't pay money to watch Chris Pine talk a Del Toro-voiced god-computer to death?


Hey J.J. Abrams, gimmie a call, I've got some awesome and totally not lazy casting ideas for your movie: