Just yesterday, we got the news that Peter Weller, the original RoboCop, had joined the new additions to the cast of JJ Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek sequel, along with Alice Eve and Benicio del Toro. (You can catch up on all our Star Trek-related coverage right here.)
Del Toro was the first of the new additions to be announced last month, and over the past few days there’s been some speculation as to what villain he’d be playing, with Khan surfacing as a possibility. Abrams was thought to have denied that del Toro would be playing Khan, but Vulture, via The Playlist, are now reporting that his wording was a slight technicality, in that del Toro is now exiting the project, and that the film’s villain is indeed set to be that of Khan.
I must confess that I’ve never seen any of the Star Trek films, including Abrams’ first film in 2009, but I’m a big fan of del Toro’s work, and thought that he was a brilliant addition to the original cast, which is headed up by Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Anton Yelchin.
Unfortunately, it looks as though that’s no longer the case, with the report citing issues over wages being the breaking point for negotiations, which is a real shame. The show, of course, must go on, and so the search will no doubt be on to re-cast the villain’s role in del Toro’s place. With production scheduled to start next month, for a release date currently set at 17th March, 2013, it’s not unreasonable to expect an announcement coming soon, hopefully in time for Christmas.
