Simon Pegg’s new movie A Fantastic Fear of Everything opens next week and while out promoting it, he is talking Star Trek. More specifically he is debunking (and denouncing) spoiler reports about Benedict Cumberbatch’s character in the Star Trek sequel. See below for more, but note article discusses previously reported spoilers.
Simon Pegg: It’s Not Khan
Today Simon Pegg is profiled in the UK’s Telegraph. His new movie A Fantastic Fear of Everything opens up in the UK on June 8th, but the article also covers other aspects of his career, including Star Trek. The article quotes Pegg on his fellow Brit, and co-star. While Pegg confirmed that Cumberbatch is playing a bad guy, he didn’t give any details. Here is an excerpt:
Pegg is full of praise for Cumberbatch’s baddy, whom he describes [as] “not just another disgruntled alien. It’s a really interesting… sort of… thing,” he squirms. “Obviously I can’t talk about it.”
While not wanting to get specific, Pegg did flatly deny reports and rumors that Cumberbatch is playing Khan…
“It’s not Khan,” replies Pegg, annoyed. “That’s a myth. Everyone’s saying it is, but it’s not.”
Pegg also doesn’t mince words when it comes to spoilers, saying:
“It just spoils the film,” he complains. “It masquerades as interest in the movie but really it’s just nosiness and impatience. You just want to say, ‘Oh f— off! Wait for the film!’”
For more see the full profile at telegraph.co.uk.
Simon Pegg in "Star Trek" (2009)
Thanks to Wayne for the tip.
They say that dry land is a myth.
Still will not stop the Khaners
I’m sticking with Khan. Anothy’s inside sources confirmed it.
The Klingon Bird of prey (TSFS) was pretty Romulan up to almost filming. Yet it’s very klingon now, isn’t it?
It doesn’t matter to me whether or not it is Khan. I’m sure that Cumberbatch did a fantastic job!
Toto said it best.
“No remakes. No rehashes.”
Now, bring on the “blinding face melter”…
‘Oh f— off! Wait for the film!’”
We’ve been doing that, sporto. For 4 years we will be waiting for the film. It’s getting old.
It s heartening to know, however, that Simon would like us to “f— off”.
I still believe it is Khan BUT the character may be different from the original one, IMHO.
@8. Yep. Khan essentially, but not Khan.
You would think if it wasn’t Khan they wouldn’t tease us this much. This just sets us up for disapointment when it’s NOT khan.
Remember when Damon Lindelof was saying recently in a interview “to Khan, or not to Khan?”
WHY even say that? Why not just say, “No guys, it aint Khan in this one”
I’m actually hoping it’s Khan. It’s kind of like doing the Joker for Batman. They hype would be intense.
#3 – MJ
“I’m sticking with Khan. Anothy’s inside sources confirmed it.”
Mr. Pegg is definitely an inside source …
So if turns out to be Khan and he is just bluffing,his future credibility is shot. However, what he said does not mean Khan is not in the film in some way, just that Mr. Cumberbatch is not playing him.
Doesn’t eliminate the rumor that he playing one of Khan’s cronies.
Regards,
Still can’t wrap my hands around the logic that it’s Khan, but a new, different Khan. New and improved. Not a bad guy, perhaps….wait, he’s still a bad guy. Not just another pissed off alien….what does that mean, exactly? Not a meglomanic? Not driven by revenge, just a cold blooded killer, perhaps? If he’s a villian, and all similarities end there, then why name him Khan at all? Contrary to what some may think, the public does not think of him like they do JR Ewing or Darth Vader, so what little backstory there is on him will be of no interest to the general moviegoing public. Still can’t shake the feeling that the decision to go this way will rank right up there with New Coke and the Edsel in colossially bad decision making….
I still think its Khan. Simon Pegg is not allowed to reveal anything, so he obviously has to go to great lengths to deny the rumors.
With “GI:Joe: Retaliation” being pushed back into March 2013, I wonder if the “Star Trek” sequel will be delayed yet again. It would explain why they won’t be unveiling anything at ComicCon.
We could be waiting until fall 2013 for the sequel.
No doubt. Is he telling the truth or lying?
Presumably, he’s telling the truth. I hope he is because it makes a huge difference if he is.
Originality is so much better than Khan.
The villain is “Paul”!
I feel like it might still be Khan and he’s just throwing us off the scent? I don’t know. But in all honesty, all this guessing is fun.
The film is done shooting and we have barely any better an idea what it’s about then we did three years ago. Compare that to when The Dark Knight Rises was shooting last year, and every other day there was a set photo of Bane or Catwoman or the new Bat-copter or whatever. I feel as though I’ve all ready seen a lot of that movie, but the Star Trek sequel is still a wonderful, exciting enigma. So I’m on board with Pegg’s comments about spoilers…even though I’ll read anything that leaks. I’m just glad they’ve been as successful as they have at keeping it all secret, even with the photos and rumors and all that.
The first time I saw the Enterprise warp off at the end of the 2009 movie, I grinned from ear to ear (and, I’ll admit, even choked up a bit) because even though I didn’t know where she was going, I knew it would be awesome when we finally caught up with her. And we still don’t know. The whole Trek universe is open for us, still. And that’s pretty cool. I’m game for Khan and I’m game for no-Khan, because I trust the guys at the top after the first movie. I trust them to reveal details at their own pace and I trust them to make a worthy sequel.
I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of moaning, as they’re always is, about how ‘we deserve more’ and ‘need details’ and whatever. But this is one life-long fan who’s just happy there’s more Star Trek coming our way and that it’s in the hands of people who’ve proven (to most of us) that they know what they’re doing. So until opening night comes around, I’m just going to relax and enjoy the ride. Because, to paraphrase Scotty…I like this [guessing game], it’s exciting!
#11.
This has nothing to do with Pegg’s credibility. He is under J.J Abrams’ orders to deny and debunk every rumor as though he is one of the “X-Files” Syndicate members covering up UFO evidence.
The best way to do that is to misdirect everyone to a false flag.
RDR: Wow, if this Trek movie gets pushed back again, I think it could seriously affect it’s success and that of the third sequel.
Anyway, yeah, I’m wondering now if Cumby is some kind of DNA hybrid of Khan mixed with other sources, like maybe Klingon.
#10 To hype the movie, of course. If they say one or two things that hint at Khan, they know that the whole internet will light up. Then if they say one or two things that hint at no Khan, they know the whole internet will light up.
Perhaps it is Zor Kahn, who exiled Zarabeth to the ice age in All Our Yesterdays, rather than Khan Noonian Singh, so both the Khan and No Khan camps are right.
@13. I’m assuming that Iron Man 3 will get a big boost from The Avengers coattails. I’d be suprised if most studions didn’t rearrange their schedules to avoid getting blown out by IM3.
18.VZX “DNA hybrid of Khan mixed with….maybe Klingon”
I can hear the title of the movie now…………..
Star Trek: Klingon, Khan & Ollie!
#17: Unless, the “inside sources” are the ones engaging in willful misdirection, which is entirely possible.
Eh, I believe Pegg. Still don’t think they would cast Cumberbatch as Montalban-Khan, but he could be *a* Khan.
I like the idea that it’s one of the other Augments, adopted by Khan as an heir of sorts/backup leader in case something happened to him (what if Khan’s stasis compartment malfunctioned? Ooooops), who takes the title or name as his own. *flails, writes fanfiction*
Why can’t Cumberbatch be playing a co-hort of Khan’s, also rescued aboard the Botany Bay?
Personally, I think it would be cool if the Klingons find the Botany Bay first. Oof, that could be nice.
That’s if they’re leaning toward eugenics in any way. If it’s done right, they could do something totally original, too.
(I’m still hoping for some sort of Prime Directive plotline, maybe in movie three, I guess. Those debates frequently managed to involve what Star Trek truly is.)
There’s so much talk about Kahn that I would be very surprised is Kahn isn’t at least a theme of the movie. Here’s an idea:
If I were Spcok Prime, one of the things I would be sure to do would be to let them know of the existence of Kahn in the Botany Bay. Since the future is already changed, Spock doesn’t need to worry about the “Temporal Time Directive” as I don’t think that applies anymore. Especially since a different future means that Kahn may get luckier this time around and achieve his goals. So they take action against the Botany Bay, capturing Kahn and his ship.
Cumberbatch may not be playing Kahn, but perhaps another escaped eugenics soldier, or maybe even more interestingly, as Starfleet officer who believes that Kahn may be the best chance Starfleet has at defense against other future threats Spock Prime mentions (such as the Borg). This may even set up Kahn for movie 3.
omg omg i was right it isn’t khan! even though i didn’t guess i was right! i feel so gratified that my 50/50 guess is right and this proves it, omg omg omg, you can all suck it and i am king of the interwebz! All Your Base Are Belong to Us!
I don’t think you can have a “hybrid Khan”. This “Alternate Universe” was created after Nero went back in time. Khan and the Eugenics Wars happened before all of that. It would remain unchanged in the AU.
If a writer were to create a “hybrid Khan’ for this movie then he would demonstrate a complete lack of understanding of his own concept.
Screw all that, Pegg. Are you still freaking around in a brewery, or do we have a proper engineering room this time?
I still just cannot get past that whenever I watch that film. It’s embarrassing.
FWIW, after watching a few more episodes of SHERLOCK, I still think Cumberbatch could have been cast as Spock. Quinto is great, don’t get me wrong, but Cumberbatch could easily pull off Vulcan.
And I still see him as Gary Seven.
Why would Simon Pegg lie?
An actor in the film is a better source than some anonymous “inside” source.
It’s not Khan, and thank God for that.
Now if we can get the Klingons rumor likewise dispelled, we’ll be back on track.
I knew it was all a Khan job!
…
Yeah, sorry; had to be done.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be completely un-Pegg-like to say it’s not Khan just to throw us off. However, I’ve still got my hopes on a cosmetically altered Klingon spy à l’Arne Darvin.
Could also be another augment; maybe this time around, Khan died in the resuscitation process, and some other augment filled the vacuum he left. It’d be fun seeing Ragnar Thorwald, but I’m guessing that Cumberbatch would fit better as Lord Stuffington Featherstonehaugh III; the most cunning gentle-augment this side of Brixton-upon-Smifton!
[Jokes aside, I really wouldn’t mind that; I’m thinking Jeremy Irons playing Charles Ryder, but EVIL.]
…or something completely new; that would be nice.
By the way, was “not just another disgruntled alien.” a jibe at Nero?
Ah- I don’t care if Benedict’s character is “Khan” or not. All I see is Sherlock vs. Spock.
Ought to be a total hoot.
Cumby plays a Tribble!!!
#30.
Pegg isn’t lying. He’s misdirecting us. He’s trying to debunk rumors.
Just because he’s an actor in the movie doesn’t make him a better source.
Jeesh all of these crazy Khan-spiracy theories!
@13
RDR,
The way it looks now, Star Trek would open two weeks after Iron Man 3. If GI Joe opens in March, that’s plenty of time for Star Trek to warp in and be Paramount’s tentpole. Plus I got a feeling that there’s more to GI Joe’s pushback then just a 3D conversion. I mean they spend money promoting it already. GI Joe could be a Cobra bomb. At least the first one was.
Well, I’ve said all along the desire to return to Khan must be irresistible, and I still suspect it is a Khan movie. But I’ll be glad if the Khan story was nothing but Bad Robot misdirection. I’m not a fan of going back to the Khan well this soon in the Trek relaunch, and while I like Cumberbatch, he just isn’t Khan.
I am a Star Trek fan for a long time, but honestly…iam 20 % excited for that right now!! The 80 % goes to Prometheus!!!
I’m inclined to believe him. After devoting an entire movie to establishing a whole new timeline with a whole new cast, I just have a hard time believing Abrams would REALLY want to make the very next movie… a remake of Khan.
Especially when they don’t even NEED to use a gimmick like this to draw people in. After the success of the first movie, the sequel is going to be a huge hit no matter what they do.
Benedict is playing Gary Mitchell. Explains why he is wearing a Starfleet uniform.
AWW Simon…” just nosiness and impatience”…???… tell this to RDR… LOL…
………………………Ok… RDR I’m just kidding…… ;-) :-)
#7: Stop being so melodramatic. For crying out loud. It’s no wonder Trek fans have a reputation for being socially inept.
I’m more interested in the costume photos that just got leaked via some random kid’s IMDB page.
28. Benedict talked about filming in the brewery.
I can see how Pegg would want to misdirect, perhaps under orders from JJ, but if he outright lied,a nd so emphatically, he’d get a LOT of flack later. The most telling thing for me is that he called the Batch’s character “a…thing” and then shut himself up. Can’t be too terribly human…
Bingo! Gary Mitchell. I’ve said it before too.
17–orders or not, if it turns out Pegg is lying, of course it would undermine his credibility. No one would believe a word he says ever again.
There’s no reason to lie either. If it’s not Khan, saying it’s not Khan isn’t that much of a spoiler because it doesn’t say who Cumberbatch is.
That’s fine.
45. One problem with that is that once (and I can’t go find it, was in the middle of that 2000+ comment article, maybe someone else remembers) Bob Orci came on and made one title joke using the word Gary somewhere in it. Seemed really unlikely to me that he would make that joke if it was actually Gary in the film. (Not to mention the thing everyone else always says about him being dealt with in a recent story)
i have been saying Gary Mitchell but Bob O said in so many words that it is not him. Maybe Bob was trying to pull my leg and throw everyone off the trail. I think Gary Mitchell makes perfect sense as well JJ saying that the crew was still coming together. Where no man has gone before shows that as well. Kirk and Spock learning to work with each other and how to play 3d chess. This may also be another reason why no title has been given, becuase if you say Where No one has Gone Before is the title then plot is out of the bag.
Sorry, but Gary Mitchell makes even less sense then Khan.
Maybe it’s both Khan and not-Khan. Maybe Khan was replaced with an impostor somewhere along the Botany Bay’s journey and it is really a shape-shifting alien (Founders?) or an android fashioned into a replica.