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Reboot This!
A Parallel Universe editorial
A source tells Latino Review that Benicio Del Toro is playing Khan
Noonien Singh -- archnemesis of Capt. James T. Kirk -- in J.J. Abrams' upcoming "Star Trek 2," while Abrams himself tells Hitfix that
this is not true. Latino Review's El Mayimbe has gotten a lot of scoops right,
and a few wrong. Drew McWeeny at Hitfix says he doesn't think Abrams
would straight out lie to him -- but McWeeny has been wrong on a few counts
before as well. So who is telling the truth?
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Filmmakers, especially these days, are particularly secretive about their
projects, so while we don't know Abrams personally, we have to think he's being
disingenuous somehow. After all, haven't recent reports from Variety and others
indicated that Del Toro is being courted to play a villain that "Star Trek" fans will
reportedly be familiar with? Does Klingon commander Kor sound compelling enough
to you?
Now, with all due respect to Kor (first seen in the "Errand of Mercy" episode
of the original series), Kirk's most memorable antagonist was Khan, a genetic
superman from the past who first showed up in the "Space Seed" episode and then
reappeared in the 1982 movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," largely considered
the best of the original "Trek" films. Both times he was played by Ricardo Montalban, who chewed the
scenery ferociously while also giving the impression that he could bust up Kirk
pretty badly (he nearly wrecked the Enterprise in "Star Trek II").
Although Del Toro is potentially the second Latino actor to portray a man of
Indian descent, we have no doubt that he could be a great villain to play
opposite Kirk (Chris Pine). But if Del Toro is
indeed playing Khan, that choice instantly sends our enthusiasm for "Star Trek
2" plummeting, because it's the most creatively bankrupt choice that Abrams and
writers Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman could possibly make,
short of sending Kirk back to Depression-era New York to fall in love with Edith
Keeler again.
It's already been established in the 2009 relaunch of "Star Trek" that this is an alternate timeline,
giving the filmmakers leeway to go outside the canon and continuity of the
original "Trek" to some extent. So why introduce a villain we've already seen?
Sure, they could argue that this is an "alternate" version of Khan, but it's
still fan service at its laziest. No matter how different the scenario in which
they meet, it's still Kirk vs. Khan. There are 200 billion stars in the Milky
Way alone -- surely there's another worthy adversary out there that these guys,
all wealthy and successful Hollywood filmmakers and writers, could come up with?
We're seeing this kind of rebooting of previously popular characters and
stories across the board. Next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" is retelling the
wallcrawler's origin story. 2013's "Man of Steel" appears as if it might include at
least part of Superman's origin (again), while also bringing back "Superman II" villain Gen. Zod. Ridley Scott's upcoming "Prometheus," while it looks visionary, is still
recognizably set in the "Alien" universe. And "Harry Potter" director David
Yates is apparently interested in rebooting "Doctor Who" despite the
fact that the TV series is more successful than ever and has nearly 50 years of
mythology behind it.
By the way, if you plan to accuse us of giving Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" films a pass, the fact is that they are
different case: Batman's origin was never fully explored on film as Nolan did in
"Batman Begins," and any film about Batman's early
years has to eventually include the Joker, as did "The Dark Knight." Nolan is
also restoring villains like Bane and Two-Face after they were treated as jokes
in "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin." But make no
mistake: After Nolan finishes his series, Batman will be rebooted in a few
years, and the idea of another origin story and a rematch with the Joker seems
tiresome.
Studios want to go with safe bets, and filmmakers get infected with that kind
of thinking as well. Gun-shy about turning off the fan base for franchises like
"Star Trek," they go too far in the other direction, repeating a few popular
stories or characters over and over. Here's a better idea: Instead of remaking,
say, the episode "The Doomsday Machine," maybe the new "Trek" brain trust can
spin something else out of that -- like introducing the inventors of the device.
They seem like they might be a pretty ominous bunch, given the kinds of weapons
they leave lying around.
We loved Abrams' "Star Trek" and we're hopeful about "Man of Steel," and we
think bringing the Doctor to the big screen is a great idea. But we don't need
to see the creatives behind these franchises tell the same two or three stories
over and over. So please, Mr. Abrams, leave Khan to his cryosleep -- no need to
thaw him out one more time.
Send us your thoughts on all things sci-fi, horror, etc. Write us at
heymsn@microsoft.com
Don Kaye covers film, TV and entertainment for
MSN.com
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