Benedict Cumberbatch is John Harrison

[nikdavies15]

I'm not believing it yet, though I do feel he's fulfilling the Khan archetype with one major difference. Harrison seems to keep the personal beef with Starfleet as a whole and to dismiss Kirk as an upstart, whole Kirk is the one recklessly pursuing an opponent with a grudge.

Well, for those that didn't want to be majorly spoiled, they are now. You may not believe it, but even the reviewers are being less than candid about who he really is without actually saying it - words to the effect of:

"Strange then that the follow-up movie is, essentially, a remake, and a poor imitation, of a previous movie."

"(Cumberbatch's) scenes with Kirk have none of the power of those seen in the older film this one references."

So - say it with me - on the count of three....1,2,3:

Spoiler

KAAAAAAHHHHHNNNNN....!!!!!!

 

[jmc]

Cumberbatch is freakin awesome in this.

 

[terry78]

Does he beat Mr. Rourke though, is the question.

 

[Captain Villa]

I'm in the UK and saw it last night on opening night.

I was surprised but not, at who Harrison really was. He really was is cast for the race he was playing and could have been a much better Caucasian villain.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

This feels like such an incredibly lazy choice. A lot of my interest in this movie just faded.

 

[Soapy]

That's pretty much how I feel about it.

 

[FreeRadical]

I'm in the UK and saw it last night on opening night.

I was surprised but not, at who Harrison really was. He really was is cast for the race he was playing and could have been a much better Caucasian villain.

Spoiler

I agree, if Khan was one of the frozen 72 (when the face of one of the frozen soldiers was shown, I thought that was Khan) and John was another super-soldier, it would have made sense.

 

[TheFuture]

They are upset because Abrams denied it; but, that goes back to the issue of fan entitlement (having leaks from the studio and images of the production.)

I'd agree with this and I really don't see the big deal. I'm not interested in knowing every little detail and like to go into films with very little knowledge of what's ahead, so I was pretty blown away by the reveal. Fair play to JJ in my opinion.

 

[Closerframe]

I think the main problem isn't the reveal, but the sense of laziness by Abrams and Lindelof because of their need to want to break away from the constraints of the original canon but instead make a sequel that almost deliberately forces the franchise to go backwards. Originally, I was looking forward to who Harrison was and the theories of who he was was exciting. Ultimately, it probably would have been better for him to have been an original villain.

 

[Keyser Soze]

It's almost graceful to see how quickly the tide has changed from "It's so crap that Abrams and co are going to deny obvious fan demand and not just make Benedict Cumberbatch [BLACKOUT]Khan[/BLACKOUT]" to "It'll be so crap if they go the obvious route and just make Benedict Cumberbatch Khan." The grass is always greener, I guess....

 

[Marvin]

It's almost graceful to see how quickly the tide has changed from "It's so crap that Abrams and co are going to deny obvious fan demand and not just make Benedict Cumberbatch Khan" to "It'll be so crap if they go the obvious route and just make Benedict Cumberbatch Khan." The grass is always greener, I guess....

ALWAYSSSS
yea man why some of these directors even bother with fanboys is kinda beyond me. A thankless job(in some ways).

 

[terry78]

I do sometimes hate living in this age of movie geekery when so many people just hate everything, period.

 

[DKDetective]

It's almost graceful to see how quickly the tide has changed from "It's so crap that Abrams and co are going to deny obvious fan demand and not just make Benedict Cumberbatch [BLACKOUT]Khan[/BLACKOUT]" to "It'll be so crap if they go the obvious route and just make Benedict Cumberbatch Khan." The grass is always greener, I guess....

To be fair, some of us have been in the latter camp from the very beginning. God, I love when I'm right. Well, not really, because they did exactly what I hoped they wouldn't do and I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt at first. Oh well. Maybe it will be as slickly made as some have been saying and I won't care.

 

[Avangarde]

I do sometimes hate living in this age of movie geekery when so many people just hate everything, period.

Haters gotta hate.

 

[Soapy]

It's almost graceful to see how quickly the tide has changed from "It's so crap that Abrams and co are going to deny obvious fan demand and not just make Benedict Cumberbatch [BLACKOUT]Khan[/BLACKOUT]" to "It'll be so crap if they go the obvious route and just make Benedict Cumberbatch Khan." The grass is always greener, I guess....

I haven't been following Star Trek Into Darkness super closely until these spoilers started getting out, but did people seriously demand that John Harrison be changed to [BLACKOUT]Khan[/BLACKOUT]? That's hard to believe.

 

[DKDetective]

I haven't been following Star Trek Into Darkness super closely until these spoilers started getting out, but did people seriously demand that John Harrison be changed to Khan? That's hard to believe.

When John Harrison started seeming to have Khan-like characteristics and people speculated that he was an Augment, there were posters who complained that if they were going to a do a Khan type story involving Augments, they might as well use Khan himself and not make up an original character who is a Khan knockoff. It was an understandable argument at the time. From the very beginning, I was against the idea of doing another dark, revenge story involving a Khan type villain. To me, it seemed and still seems like a wasted opportunity. Why create an alternate timeline if you are just going to mimic stories from the original continuity? Use the freedom of a new timeline to tell new and interesting stories using familiar characters rather as an excuse to film glorified remakes.

 

[Soapy]

When John Harrison started seeming to have Khan-like characteristics and people speculated that he was an Augment, there were posters who complained that if they were going to a do a Khan type story involving Augments, they might as well use Khan himself and not make up an original character who is a Khan knockoff. It was an understandable argument at the time.

I seem to remember some early speculation that Cumberbatch might have been secretly playing Gary Mitchell. If they absolutely had to rehash old stuff, that would have been a more interesting direction to go in my opinion.

However, Khan is by far Trek's most recognizable and well-liked villain. I guess his return was an inevitability. Might have been cool for "John Harrison" to be another of the 72 and then tease Khan for the third movie though.

From the very beginning, I was against the idea of doing another dark, revenge story involving a Khan type villain. To me, it seemed and still seems like a wasted opportunity. Why create an alternate timeline if you are just going to mimic stories from the original continuity? Use the freedom of a new timeline to tell new and interesting stories using familiar characters rather as an excuse to film glorified remakes.

I agree with all of that.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Exactly.

I am just going to get it over with and start getting myself ready for the Borg to show up in a movie or two.

 

[Soapy]

Oh ****.

Guys, what if...

Listen...

Guys...

What if in the new timeline the Botany Bay was absorbed by the Collective and Khan became the Borg King? I can't tell if that's an awesome idea or a stupid idea.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Oh ****.

Guys, what if...

Listen...

Guys...

What if in the new timeline the Botany Bay was absorbed by the Collective and Khan became the Borg King? I can't tell if that's an awesome idea or a stupid idea.

Does this mean Seven of Nine joins the Enterprise crew!?

Spoiler

 

[SnarkyLeigh]

It could be alright? I want to hold out optimism but

Spoiler

since Cumberbatch is Khan, that is just so lazy I can't even and then to put salt on the wound they cast a white man to play as him; I know whitewashing is prevalent in Hollywood BUT COME ON.

 

[ShadowBoxer]

It seems this is turning into the controversial Mandarin portrayal arugememt from Iron Man 3.

 

[Ipodman]

When John Harrison was about to say who he was, the subtitles already popped up on the screen. I didn't know what [you know who] was in Chinese but it sounded similar so I think my heart stopped beating for that split second

 

[dario2739]

...and yet there never seems to be this kind of uproar when Arnold Schwarzenegger or Jean Claude Van Damme, for example, play Americans in movies?!

I saw the film on Friday - loved every second of it!
The reveal of who Harrison was suprised me, which is how it should be. I loved all the little nods to previous movies and the TV series... a tribble for gods sake t:! Loved the look of the Klingons, and thought the talk of imminent war gave a great sense of forboding and danger that the previous ST incarnations never gave you. Also loved the special effects, the jumb to warp drive looked great, and the crash into San Fransisco bay was spectacular.
The only one thing I didn't like was the hiding of the Enterprise in an ocean... there was no reasoning behind it - they could just have stayed in orbit surely!

 

[Tanin]

It could be alright? I want to hold out optimism but

Spoiler

since Cumberbatch is Khan, that is just so lazy I can't even and then to put salt on the wound they cast a white man to play as him; I know whitewashing is prevalent in Hollywood BUT COME ON.

Spoiler

You also must take into account that they did the same with the original actor too. Khan was Indian.... yet they hired a Spanish man to play him. I have no problem with the race change since they did it to Khan to begin with. My problem is..... I have already seen a movie involving Augmented Humans and Khan. Tell me how this script is better.