Watch: Cumberbatch and Quinto Reveal Into Darkness Villain Details + Chris Pine Talks Kirk Romance & More

There are more MTV video interviews with Star Trek actors to share. Benedict Cumberbatch reveals some actual details about his villain character and Zachary Quinto reveals some more. Plus Chris Pine talks about whether or not Kirk has time for love in the new Star Trek Into Darkness. We also learn a bit more about Alice Eve’s character. Find out all the goodies below. SPOILER ALERT.

 

Cumberbatch: John Harrison is a Terrorist

Talking to MTV, Benedict Cumberbatch did some reveals about his character John Harrison in Star Trek Into Darkness, saying "he is a terrorist." And fueling to speculation he says "He has extraordinary physical powers, but also mental powers. He can sow an idea, which is as powerful as gunshots or close-hand combat, which he’s masterful in. He tears into the fabric of both the world and the Enterprise family, and he leaves behind him a trail of devastation. It’s quite exciting to watch.”

Quinto: You Should Worry About the Lives Of The Crew

Zachary Quinto says "there is reason to worry" about the crew of the USS Enterprise because Benedict Cumberbatch’s villain is "entirely different" and there is an "insidiousness, a ruthlessness and a fierce intelligence" about him that "almost infiltrates and undermines the connectivity of the crew." 

Pine: No Time For Carol Marcus Hookup But She Does Help Save The Day

With the reveal that Alice Eve is playing Carol Marcus, Chris Pine was asked if he has a love interest in Into Darkness, and Pine said "so much happens, the action and plot is so fast, there really isn’t much time for Kirk do do anything but save the crew." However he did note that "Kirk loves a blonde" so there is some "flirting" at least. But more importantly, Pine revealed that Marcus’ "scientific knowledge" is a key to resolving the crisis posed by Cumberbatch’s John Harrison. 

 

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Khan!

As a terrorist, this villain is also able to sow dissension among the crew. I like the term “insidious” as applied to him.

Not Khan! lol. But seriously, the more I learn about the movie the more excited I am to see it.

Detonate :)

Awwwww man! “He has extraordinary physical powers, but also mental powers.” Back to confusing the issue… I was starting to think he was just a former Starfleet officer or something. Why is May so far away???

Its NOT Khan

Dancing! Star Trek: The Musical. Haha. I love Quinto and Pine. They seem to play off one another pretty well.

“He can sow an idea, which is as powerful as gunshots or close-hand combat, which he’s masterful in.”

I love this quote! Very excited to hand my money over!

If Sybok and Khan had a kid.

Only 9 comments yet?

I Must install flash player :(

Not bothered who the villain is, it’s going to be immense either way. Worried about the crew? Chekov in red? …..

Look forward to all the crow eating to come. I hope they post as ferociously now as when they were claiming to be right.

No matter how great a villain Harrison will be he will pale into insignificance when compared to Ahdar Ru’afo, the man who was willing to engage in genocide just so he could look pretty.

(Ducking and running…)

:)

The only ToS characters that come to mind as successfully sowing dissension among the ranks with their powers of persuasion were Dr. Sevrin and Lokai.

This sounds…. badass?!

Ill say this for Star Trek it has me more excited than Man Of Steel from the one teaser alone! I’m a massive fan of ST and Supes but this looks more fun and not so dreary for crying out loud!

The first movie just plays like a demo reel of what is now possible for a ST movie. I hope this one is more involved and takes us somewhere.

As Spock said to the gatekeeper….

Why must your answers be couched in riddle?

Time for those who have the answers to get

off the pot….rather then sit there – pissing and

moaning about it all…The movie may sail but

it won’t soar majestically – we’d know that.

6.

Saying that won’t make it true! With the revelation about his physical and mental powers, it does sound even more like Khan….Also, the key point about ‘returning’. That’s central to Khan who returned in Space Seed. Mitchell etc did not return. And Khan was a terrorist, of sorts. Mitchell etc weren’t. Moreover, the glass-scene in the Japanese trailer screams Khan – pun intended. This sounds more than ever like Khan: the best single bad guy in Trek. Don’t ruin his legacy.

On Marcus, I just hope they don’t make her a feminist or her being a woman an issue. She should just be accepted. Unfortunately, in Trek 2009, every scene Uhura had was one where she was telling the audience she has a right to be on the ship: replace the useless communications offer, fluent in all dialetc, oral sensitivity, top student, etc. We know; we know. None of the other characters had to tell the audience that they actually deserved to be on the ship…..

“Sorry, this video is unavailable from your location.” :(

Sounds cool, though.

On a funny note if you read this page on an iPhone each video has the play icon over the actors face so they all look the same lol!

How could I have been so stupid?!? Obviously, the enemy is ROJAN of the KELVANS!!!

Think I just hit my spoiler limit! o_O

My excitement for this movie has increased tenfold!

Thank you, Bob Orci, (and the rest of the SC) for giving us something new (and relevant to our times if what these interviews reveal is true). Telling an exciting, allegorical sci-fi tale is what Star Trek is all about.

I agree with folks in some other threads on this website that even if John Harrison is not an actual character from canon, perhaps the origin of his superhuman abilities is! I will have a huge geekgasm if the explanation refers back to something we saw in TOS.

15.
Dr. Sevrin and Lokai!

This film is going to use big, famous villains, not people even fans may have forgotten!

It’s going to be Khan, the Klingons, the Borg, a new villain or a combination.

This is going to be Kirk’s nemesis in the same way that the Joker was used in that other franchise, not the Penguin or the Calendar Man!

Interesting because I have been able to watch all three videos. Normally I can’t see MTV videos. They are a little slow in loading though.

I wonder if young son has signed onto MTV – hmmmm?

Love those actors and their interviews – cool guys. I can see similar happening between Quinto and Pine, as it did three/four years ago, when they were being interviewed together. Good and not so good. Zachary sure can talk…that’s all I will say.

“Sorry, this video is unavailable from your location.”

Can you not copy them to YouTube via TrekMovies account?

Not all Trekkies live in the US …

If its not available, don’t advertise it. #sighs

I can’t watch these videos. Apparently I don’t live in the God Almighty country of US of A. Its the %^$#@! Internet for Christs sake! Its a world wide thing, let me play the &^%$#@! video!!!

Sounds like Sybok. Ugh!

God, Cumberbatch is so articulate and intelligent…

14 – LOL. well there was more to it than that, but yeah.

As for who it is. Seems like Mitchell has been all but eliminated. It could still be Khan, but I think doubtful. I think Garth is a better bet than Khan, but even that sounds not very likely at this point. I’ll be interested to see for what cause he is trying to fight for.

It could perhaps be Augment related I suppose (though not Khan) if he was superior mental and physical abilities. We don’t really know exactly what Carol Marcus’ scientific expertise is in, but the Genesis device would require a mix of physics, chemistry, and biology, specifically genetics I would think (which could come into play if there is an augment angle).

Also, you all are spoiling us with all this information now. I’m sure you can’t keep it up for 6 months and we’ll all go into withdrawal….

I got it… it’s not Khan, but another offspring of the eugenic experiments that spawned Khan. Thus, it may be argued that the character is “in canon.”

Why… all the descriptions of Harrison match those that might be applied to Khan… the physical and mental abilities, quest for vengeance (having been exiled as a ‘failed’ experiment) and something that’s alluded to here, he power of persuasion. Remember in Space Seed, Khan was able to turn an Enterprise crew member against Kirk. Also, one of the trailer depicts Harrison mentioning some type of generic cure… again, an apparent callback to eugenics and Khan.

If Harrision was more of a Gary Mitchell offshoot, surely we would have seen some hint of telekinetic powers at this point.

So, John Harrison can sow thoughts….he’s a Jedi?

‘Terrorist’ is such a popular synonym for ‘bad guy’ these days :-/

It’s one of the Eugencis Warriors — a descendand of Khan. We’re going to get a Khan-centric story here — mark my word.

And don’t be surprised if the movie ends with them finding the Botany Bay.

37 – If Cumberbatch uses the term “terrorist”, he has got good reasons for it. Believe me. He is enormously well read and won’t mistake a baddie for a terrorist.

@37. Terroist and bad guy are not synonyms. A bad guy is someone who steals your wallet and has and affair with your spouse; a terroist blows up your bank and takes your wife hostage. Big difference dude.

Sounds the Mule from Foundation

“WHO IS KHAN”? Carol Marcus in Wrath of Khan.

@ 20. alec – Chekov was also always proving his worth, the only one who could lock on to Kirk and Sulu with the transporters during their fall from the drill. And also being the only one other than Spock who figured out the Titan trick.

As for Uhura, I’d say she wasn’t trying to prove herself because she was a woman, but rather because she was sleeping with her teacher and wanted to prove that she got her grades and position on her own merit, not because she was sleeping with Spock.

I think he could techically be Gary Mitchell. In this is an alternate universe/timeline Gary Mitchell is probably not his friend and is not a crew member. Gary Mitchell didn’t have anything to be angry about either, no need for vengeance. He just became god like and couldn’t deal with it. What if Harrison is the crewmember that has the highest ESP abilities on the Enterprise and the same thing happens to him? Maybe the comic is accurate only in that the same galactic barrier exists. Maybe in this version the person who gets the powers has a reason for vengeance to go with it, unlike Mitchell.

Please enough with the Mitchell stuff — why we he be in Starfleet still with the name of John Harrison if he were Gary Mitchell, who is/was a Starfleet officer? It’s not like he can hide under a fake name — officers he served with and went to the academy with would recognize him.

The Mitchell thing is 99.99% dead now. Just like I predicted two weeks ago, with 75% of the people here not believing me. I TOLD YOU SO!

I’m starting to believe that he’s indeed an Augment. Not Khan, not one of Khan’s followers but a character that might have a history very similar to Khan’s. That would make perfect sense if you take into consideration what Kurtzmann, Orci and Abrams have said about the villain. An Augment who is a Khan-esque character but not Khan himself would in a way pay tribute to the original franchise and canon yet the character could still be as original as possible… or maybe I’m completely wrong, I just hope, that Harrison isn’t too much of a “comic book villain” and that there’s just the right amount of “trekkiness” in him…

I don’t mind this movie being dark, but I do hope it isn’t too dark. Star Trek was always intended to show a bright future, not a bleak, relentlessly gloomy Gotham City-like future.

Maybe Harrison was the captain of the Valiant, that first crossed through the barrier, this time surviving and returning.

With all the possibilities opened by rebooting and reimagining the franchise, BC could still be Khan, or Gary Mitchell, or Gary Khan, or anyone. Think way back to how Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor didn’t take off his wig and become (in physical appearance) the LL we all knew until the very end of Superman: The Motion Picture. In the same way John Harrison might in many ways not “become” Khan (or G.M.) until the movie’s last act. With rebooting, all things are possible, and the film makers probably know that it’s the variations on what we expect that will excite/anger us — in either case, engage us.

@15

“Dr. Sevrin and Lokai.”

I know this isn’t the answer but I’ve been saying that for over a year. At least the Sevrin part. Would be funny for them to draw on one of the most reviled episodes (in most people’s minds, but me) for the movie. I mean, those space hippies almost took down the ship. Soonest, like he said. It starts to chime.