Benedict Cumberbatch is John Harrison

[danoyse]

As the movie got closer I thought

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be Khan. Then as the movie went on, there were just more things that lent to it. I mean that **** on Cronos was very Khan like (including the jacket)then once he said he was 300 years old that pretty much did it. Then it was all in the anticipation of him saying Khan. And when he did... well

Spoiler

Some loudmouth on Facebook decided to blurt it out weeks ago, so I got spoiled on that one. I suspected it, since he's probably the most notorious adversary of the Enterprise crew that it seemed likely they would go that route, but I still would have loved to found it out during the movie. That reveal scene was great.

So when my sister asked me if he was Khan, I wouldn't tell her.

 

[BestGirl]

Spoiler

I guessed Cumberbatch was playing Khan just because it seemed so unlikely that a major franchise would build a movie around a no-name villain. Any hesitation vanished after Conan spoiled his role on his show a week or more before STID came out.

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Just saw the film. Hands down one of the most convincingly frightening villains in quite some time.

 

[godisawesome]

Naw not really. I am a noob Star Trek fan and the twist didn't surprise me or anyone in the audience.

For surprise element? You're right. For making the reveal deliciously atmospheric and making it payoff in a manner that wiped away any anger at it? Hell yes.

It's obvious they meant for Trek fans to guess who he was early on, and they played with the tension enough to make it truly gratifying to tally up all the clues and grin when he turns around and says his real name. IM3 was trying to genuinely throw the audience and the main character for a loop; this one was trying to make you have a fangasm.

 

[Destructus86]

Spoiler

I guessed Cumberbatch was playing Khan just because it seemed so unlikely that a major franchise would build a movie around a no-name villain. Any hesitation vanished after Conan spoiled his role on his show a week or more before STID came out.

Spoiler

I literally had NO idea he was Khan until I saw the film. I managed to avoid all spoilers.
As I was watching the film I suspected...but wasn't sure until the reveal.

 

[Matt]

One of my biggest gripes with the movie isn't Cumberbatch's acting, but rather the writing for the role. He wasn't really evil. There was no indication that if Kirk had not betrayed him, that he wouldn't have just gone on his way with his people after taking his revenge on Marcus. Yes, he blew up the Archive and killed [blackout]Pike[/blackout], but that felt more like collateral damage than anything else. There was never any indication that Khan had sinister motivations, other than Nemoy-Spock saying that Khan is evil but considering it is an alternate timeline, him being evil in the new timeline isn't set in stone. I feel like the development could've been a bit better.

 

[godisawesome]

"Harrison" is clearly carrying out a personal war against Starfleet, though, and doesn't care about collateral damage. Remember, he says his initial attack was reactive to the imagined execution of his previous crew. So he did effectively go rogue without complete provocation. His attack on the command meeting targets a lot of people who have no idea who he is, and his last action is to try and copy 9/11.

There's no way the Enterprise should trust him, as he may make them pawns for revenge like he did with a chain crewman in an older film, and he's trying to end up the lone commander of a super-starship with his crew.

He may not be quite as blatantly evil as a regular super villain, or as psychotic and insane as Nero, but he is in his own words a savage. And just like his previous characterization, he believes in overkill and preemptive assaults. He justifies his actions as either repayment for insults and injuries on himself or his people, or as a necessary act in order to achieve his destiny as ruler over everyone inferior. He always had some sympathetic and sane qualities, but very few of his rivals ever outlived him...

 

[Drizzle]

As the movie got closer I thought

Spoiler

I wouldn't be surprised if he turned out to be Khan. Then as the movie went on, there were just more things that lent to it. I mean that **** on Cronos was very Khan like (including the jacket)then once he said he was 300 years old that pretty much did it. Then it was all in the anticipation of him saying Khan. And when he did... well

Spoiler

Some loudmouth on Facebook decided to blurt it out weeks ago, so I got spoiled on that one. I suspected it, since he's probably the most notorious adversary of the Enterprise crew that it seemed likely they would go that route, but I still would have loved to found it out during the movie. That reveal scene was great.

So when my sister asked me if he was Khan, I wouldn't tell her.

I knew about the twist for a while, but it really wasn't the best kept secret. As I recall, I think Entertainment Weekly spilled the beans months ago. It didn't ruin the movie at all for me, because it becomes more obvious as the film goes on, even for a guy like me who's only a fan of the Abrams ST films and Wrath of Khan. But as awesome as the big reveal was, the real "holy ****" moment of the movie for me was [BLACKOUT]Kirk's death[/BLACKOUT].

 

[chamber-music]

I knew he was probably

Spoiler

khan

.

Cumberbatch was so badass when he

Spoiler

went on his crazy rampage breaking Carol Marcus leg and crushing her dad's head

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

Sometimes the best villains are the ones who you know aren't truly evil at their core. If you can feel for both their cause and that of the protagonist, you've got a compelling story unraveling before you. Benedict's tearful recollection of how Admiral Marcus took advantage of him made me sympathetic towards him for awhile...almost rooting for him to win. He's what we'd call a tragic hero on the wrong side of the law.

Thinking about it, both Harrison and the original Khan in of themselves weren't truly wicked individuals. They BECAME evil via manipulative circumstances. Khan's entire vendetta against Kirk Prime was all about the death of his wife. Similarly, Benedict's Khan is driven by a desire to free his people from a Starfleet Admiral who has gone rogue.

By the way, the discovery of the bodies buried in the torpedos was kinda chilling for me as well.

 

[The Caped Knight]

I knew he was probably

Spoiler

khan

.

Cumberbatch was so badass when he

Spoiler

went on his crazy rampage breaking Carol Marcus leg and crushing her dad's head

[blackout]and beating the crap out of Kirk before beaming Kirk, Scotty & Carol unto the brig of the Enterprise[/blackout].

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

One of the best moments for me was when Uhura beamed down

Spoiler

to assist her boyfriend in beating the crap out of Khan. She knew Spock was in danger, but also knew that his anger would move him to actually kill Khan if allowed. I don't think she was thinking about that when she urged him to "go get him." And the need to bring Khan back for Kirk's medical needs made it clear to Uhura that she was the only one who could stop Spock from a raging murder.

The fist fight shows just how superhuman Khan's strength was because it took ridiculously repeated attempts of phaser fire from Uhura to render him weak enough for Spock to finish him off. And at that point, I was reminded from the first film just how vengeful and raging Spock's fury can be. In that respect, he was actually equal to Khan in the "Anger Management Required" category!

 

[The Caped Knight]

"No Ship should go down without her Captain" - [blackout]Khan[/blackout]

 

[Lightning Strykez!]

^ Yep! He was definitely a complex and sadistic SOB!

 

[chamber-music]

One of my biggest gripes with the movie isn't Cumberbatch's acting, but rather the writing for the role. He wasn't really evil. There was no indication that if Kirk had not betrayed him, that he wouldn't have just gone on his way with his people after taking his revenge on Marcus. Yes, he blew up the Archive and killed [blackout]Pike[/blackout], but that felt more like collateral damage than anything else. There was never any indication that Khan had sinister motivations, other than Nemoy-Spock saying that Khan is evil but considering it is an alternate timeline, him being evil in the new timeline isn't set in stone. I feel like the development could've been a bit better.

Spoiler

I thought they said this Khan and his superhuman crew like his other counterpart viewed other species inferior and would wipe out any lifeforms unworthy. He was out for revenge but after he had done that he would kill everyone anyway.

 

[The Caped Knight]

^ Yep! He was definitely a complex and sadistic SOB!

When [blackout]Khan[/blackout] told Kirk and Spock his reason for doing all the evil acts as a result of manipulation before he shared a tear was a powerful scene and Benedict showed great acting.

"Marcus took my crew from me, he used my friends to control me. I tried to smuggle them to safety by concealing them in the very weapons I had designed. But I was discovered I had no choice but to escape alone and when I did I had every reason to suspect that Marcus had killed everyone I held most dear. So I responded in kind my crew is my family Kirk is their anything you wouldn't do for your family?"

 

[DrCosmic]

For surprise element? You're right. For making the reveal deliciously atmospheric and making it payoff in a manner that wiped away any anger at it? Hell yes.

It's obvious they meant for Trek fans to guess who he was early on, and they played with the tension enough to make it truly gratifying to tally up all the clues and grin when he turns around and says his real name. IM3 was trying to genuinely throw the audience and the main character for a loop; this one was trying to make you have a fangasm.

This.

 

[Octoberist]

I just Benedict to be in Star Wars. That's all!

 

[Warhammer]

It's crazy. Unless you're already a fan of Sherlock or was one of the four people who watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, everyone's a Cumberb**** now.

 

[Tony Stark]

Spoiler

I literally had NO idea he was Khan until I saw the film. I managed to avoid all spoilers.
As I was watching the film I suspected...but wasn't sure until the reveal.

Spoiler

I also avoided all the spoilers, and I thought the reveal was pretty cool. I thought that they were trying to create a villain like khan, but not khan himself. Khan is supposed to be of Hindi descent, so casting Cumberbatch, threw me off.

 

[Octoberist]

It's crazy. Unless you're already a fan of Sherlock or was one of the four people who watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, everyone's a Cumberb**** now.

Did you accidentally replace the 'a' with an 'i' or was it..intentionally you sonnaboob!

 

[Warhammer]

Did you accidentally replace the 'a' with an 'i' or was it..intentionally you sonnaboob!

Oh yes, it was intentional. Any UK member here can confirm that term.

 

[Octoberist]

Long live Cumberbatch!

 

[Warhammer]

Long live Cumberbatch!

I'm right there with you.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Spoiler

I also avoided all the spoilers, and I thought the reveal was pretty cool. I thought that they were trying to create a villain like khan, but not khan himself. Khan is supposed to be of Hindi descent, so casting Cumberbatch, threw me off.

Spoiler

Montalban is about as Hindi as Cumberbatch is. That's why I never really had an issue of this.

It's crazy. Unless you're already a fan of Sherlock or was one of the four people who watched Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, everyone's a Cumberb**** now.

Proud Cumberbatch hipster since 2010. Whoop whoop.

Sometimes the best villains are the ones who you know aren't truly evil at their core. If you can feel for both their cause and that of the protagonist, you've got a compelling story unraveling before you. Benedict's tearful recollection of how Admiral Marcus took advantage of him made me sympathetic towards him for awhile...almost rooting for him to win. He's what we'd call a tragic hero on the wrong side of the law.

Thinking about it, both Harrison and the original Khan in of themselves weren't truly wicked individuals. They BECAME evil via manipulative circumstances. Khan's entire vendetta against Kirk Prime was all about the death of his wife. Similarly, Benedict's Khan is driven by a desire to free his people from a Starfleet Admiral who has gone rogue.

By the way, the discovery of the bodies buried in the torpedos was kinda chilling for me as well.

That's why I loved

Spoiler

Khan's usage in the movie. Instead of him just being a villain, by that point in the cell and Marcus' reveal as the villain, I actually thought, "Wow, Khan really isn't the evil one here." They played the sympathetic card a bit more than WOK did. And of course I loved when Khan was working with Kirk. As much as I was suspicious, when he was still working with them, he was very convincing.

See that's why I don't have a problem with Khan being in this movie. Just his usage gives him a pass. It's not a rehash of WOK which was relieving.

Besides, did anyone else really love how

Spoiler

Khan crushed Carol's leg as much as I did? Just the unsympathetic brutality. You don't see that kind of sheer quick dispatch/force against women in movies that much. It wasn't a gunshot, she wasn't blown up, she got her leg ****ing crushed by a madman in the act of vengeance. That entire scene was superb.

"You should have let me sleep." So deliciously evil.