And the Next 'Star Trek' Movie Villain Is...

Everybody's asking the question: "Who's going to serve as the villain or villains in the sequel to last summer's Star Trek?" Now that we're in an alternate Trek timeline, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are free to tell stories that incorporate familiar faces but combine them in new and interesting ways.


Which got us thinking: who's likely to make the short list, and what sort of possible stories/combinations might we see? Will the filmmakers choose to go the route of borrowing once more from canon...or will they elect to craft an entirely new story with entirely new antagonists?

Since new antagonists are impossible to predict, we decided to look to the original canon and have offered a list of possible villains from which Orci and Kurtzman could choose. We've divided the categories up into four groups:

THE HEAVY HITTERS
THE MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDERS
THE INDIVIDUAL NARCISSISTS

And finally:

IN A CLASS OF ONE

Basically, the less sarcastic our remarks, the greater the likelihood we see of said individual(s) appearing in a Star Trek sequel film. Simple, huh?

Well, let's see (and remember, we're anxious to hear your reaction to our thoughts, as well as offering any ideas of your own—we're sure there's lots of potentials we've missed)...


THE HEAVY HITTERS
These are perhaps 'Star Trek's' most recognized alien adversaries, three of which have already transitioned to the big screen, and one of which we've already seen in JJ Abrams' Star Trek last summer...

The Romulans
Knee-jerk reaction: been there, done that. While these "space Romans" are among Trek's two most famous protagonist groups (the other being the Klingons), they've never been the most colorful—full of potential that's never been fully realized. Abrams' Trek, and the truly forgettable Star Trek: Nemesis before it didn't really capitalize on the Romulans as effectively as they might have. The Vulcan's pointy-eared cousins have certainly been portrayed as having the intellectual chops, but we've never really been given a sense of the Empire's epic scale or intent. Perhaps Trek writers should extend the Roman inspiration further...

Meanwhile, we can't see the Romulans getting much more than an honorable mention or a support role in the next film...if that.

* * *

The Klingons
Here we have possibly the richest tapestry from which to draw. Far and away the most colorful and layered of Trek's villains; they're part Cold War Russians, part honorable Samurai Warriors...and a lot of Visigoth nastiness.

Any forthcoming 'Star Trek' film that utilizes them will, of course, have to find a way to integrate/reconcile the altered mythology from the original Star Trek to The Next Generation, which, of course, saw the Klingons get more money...and thus a more interesting physical look. By Next Generation's second season, the Klingons sported a more fully realized aesthetic first established in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and a far more realized cultural mystique.

One answer might be to further explore the story background detailed in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's episode, "Trials and Tribblelations", where Worf explained that the early, "non-turtle head" Klingons are, in fact, Klingons, but that they "do not speak of it." This could even be an interesting subplot of a larger Klingon story, though it seems unlikely that Orci and Kurtzman will get too caught up in the sort of canon esoterica that keeps fans up at night.

Overall, a society dominated by a gothic warrior caste is tasty stuff, however, and while many felt that the Klingon's rich culture — largely fleshed out by Ron Moore during his tenure at 'Star Trek' — was perhaps a bit overplayed (and overwrought), we tend to disagree. It rocked then and it would rock in a movie today, especially if the filmmakers created a truly mesmerizing Klingon lead character. A reinterpretation of Kor, anyone?

* * *

The Borg
Duh. Best...Star Trek villains...ever. (Even William Shatner agrees.) Of course, there is that little matter of canon, isn't there? Or is there? The recent Star Trek film wasn't shy about bending those rules, so why should the next film worry about it?

These folks can't be reasoned with, bought off or defeated in any conventional way. A pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms who's only purpose is to assimilate and absorb everything in their path would look fantastic for another outing on the screen, but there's a problem here—and it doesn't have anything to do with canon, either.

It has to do with a group of collective automatons not providing a very colorful antagonist for a one-to-one battle with Kirk and Co. Sure, they'd look great and be cinematically cool, but you have to have a single, central villain for the dramatic structure to work. Hence, why Q first introduced Picard to the Borg...and why a Borg Queen was created for Star Trek: First Contact. Star Wars' storm troopers looked very cool when first we saw them, but without Vader, a leader, to command them, they're narratively inert.

* * *

The Dominion
Very unlikely to happen since the writers would have to cross two gulfs: the timeline (Bajor isn't yet discovered by the Federation during the time of Kirk and Spock) AND the discovery of the wormhole to the distant Gamma Quadrant. And without access to the Gamma Quadrant, no-one from the Federation can have a first encounter with the Dominion shapeshifters or the Jem'Hadar—the ruthless shock troops who protect their changeling masters.

That being said, next to the Klingons and the Borg, the Jem'Hadar are terrific baddies, with their Komodo Dragon-like bodies and their addiction to narcotics (used by the shapeshifters to control them). More than a match in hand-to-hand combat for even the Klingons, they're tough, aggressive, fearless and possess advanced technology.

Sadly, they probably also won't appear in any Abrams-produced 'Star Trek' film.


THE MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDERS
Not as well known, perhaps, but at least one is kinda sexy. These folks are far less likely to show up in future 'Star Trek' movies as anything more than bit players, but then again, you never know...


The Gorn
Forget the rubber lizard suit worn by actor Bobby Clark in the classic Trek episode "Arena", the Gorn can now be depicted in a much more menacing and fluid way, thanks to the incredible advances in CGI technology. The example to your left from the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" hints at what's possible—but a feature version would doubtless look that much better still.

But are the Gorn an adversary that can sustain an entire film? Unfortunately, they suffer from the necessity of being created in CG to capture any sort of realism, and thus lack the expressive dramatic reality necessary to a proper villain that Kirk and Co. must overcome.

Now, having said that, imagine a Gorn recreated in the same way as what James Cameron has done for Avatar, using motion capture on an actor and then "skinning" him as a highly realistic Gorn. That might solve the aforementioned problem...and how cool would that be? Is there a solid actor out there today who might make a good "motion captured" Gorn commander? We're guessing there are several. We'll leave it to you to debate that in the comments section below.

Meanwhile, we doubt Paramount is prepared to invest the time or money to make a choice like this, though once the technology becomes more mainstream, we may one day yet see Kirk, or others, battling far more lifelike Gorn in the future. It's an intriguing possibility, actually.

* * *

The Tholians
While the Tholians have been referred to numerous times in 'Star Trek' — including Deep Space Nine — they've only been directly featured three times: once in the original series in the episode "The Tholian Web", a second time in an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise entitled "Future Tense", and a third, more completely, in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly".

From "The Tholian Web" we know they're an extremely territorial race, and from "In a Mirror Darkly" we also know that they have crystalline bodies, two arms, and six legs. They dwell in an environment of extreme heat by human standards (207 °C).

Given their esoteric nature and strongly alien aesthetic, we can safely say that we don't expect to see them show up in a 'Star Trek' movie, though whenever a cool sounding alien race's name needs to be dropped to fill some dialogue, expect them to continue to be used as the "go-to" guys for many years to come.

* * *

The Ferengi
Really? Seriously? How'd they get in here...?

With the exception of Deep Space Nine's Quark, the Ferengi were quite possibly the worst abomination of an alien race that Gene Roddenberry ever cooked up, and almost cheapened the whole series. He introduced them in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation as a spacefaring example of mercantilism run amok, and the audience paid for it during every subsequent episode that featured them thereafter. Only the introduction of the uber-cool Borg by writer Maurice Hurley in Season 2 balanced out this blemish on an otherwise phenomenal show.

And no, of course we don't want to see them in a 'Star Trek' movie. Any 'Star Trek' movie. Ever. Period. End of story.

And neither do Orci and Kurtzman. Right guys...?

We can only hope that in the new alternate Star Trek timeline, the Ferengi homeworld was pulverized by a nearby supernova.

* * *

The Cardassians
Introduced in the 1991 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Wounded", The Cardassians later played a key role in the storyline for Deep Space Nine, where they were allies of the Dominion in the Dominion War. Two Cardassian characters, Garek (Andy Robinson) and Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), were featured prominently, and both were some of the best characters 'Star Trek' has ever seen; one deliciously villainous, the other a thousand shades of duplicity.

As villains for the original crew, however, there are better choices for a second film. Despite two of the best Trek characters ever — as previously mentioned — taken as a whole, the Cardassian Union doesn't offer enough distinguishing qualities as an adversarial race that couldn't be better accomplished utilizing the Klingons (on top of which, the Cardassian ship designs suck—though this could always be changed).

Of course, we'd take them over the Ferengi in a heartbeat. But then, we'd take rabid spacefaring squirrels over the Ferengi (no, we're not talking about Neelix, Voyager fans, so just relax).

THE INDIVIDUAL NARCISSISTS
Ahh, what would 'Star Trek' be without self-absorbed megalomaniacs? And there's been a bevy of them. For your consideration...


Khan
Far and away the most interesting — and likely — contender is, of course, Khan Noonien Sing (as first portrayed by the late, wonderful Ricardo Montalban). We loved him in the original series episode, "Space Seed" (one of the series' best). And Trek fans almost unanimously voted Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) their favorite of all the 'Star Trek' films because it continued the compelling feud between Khan and Kirk.

Is it any wonder we love this character?

Here you have a fascinating individual with a complex background, a colorful and magnetic personality...and the embodiment of contemporary technology that really doesn't seem all that far fetched. The idea of a group of genetically engineered supermen wreaking havoc around the globe is something that resonates as much today as it did in 1967, because it's well within the realm of possibility.

And think about this: Whilst filmmakers might traditionally shy away from a younger Khan story nowadays to sidestep the obvious errors of a Eugenics War on Earth in the late 1990s (obviously there wasn't any such war), the modified timeline could be worked by Orci and Kurtzman to suggest that the Eugenics war in this new Trek took place later...and perhaps so did Khan's flight into space.

Hah. Problem solved.

Rumors have already begun to swirl around the interwebs that should Oric and Kurtzman go this route, that Javier Bardem would make a wonderful Khan, and we have to say, it's not a bad idea. Most of us are very attached to Montalban's exquisite portrayal of the character, but if he must be resurrected, Bardem is an obvious candidate.

"Khaaaaaaaaan...!"

Garth of Izar
A lot of you who aren't traditional 'Star Trek' fans but have stuck it out this far from sheer curiosity — or because you're sick of toiling further on that report at your work computer — are thinking, "Huh? Who?" right about now. That fact alone probably speaks volumes as to why Garth will never show up in a film, but his potential could be mined as a tangential character.

Allow us to quickly enlighten you. First seen in the third season episode of the original Star Trek series (yeah, the picture to the left is a bit of a dead giveaway, isn't it?) entitled "Whom Gods Destroy", Garth of Izar was a famous starship fleet captain and one of Kirk's personal heroes. In the character's backstory, Captain Garth received horrible injuries during a rescue mission, injuries which he learned to heal after the indigenous peoples of the planet Antos taught him to shapeshift. The trauma of the injuries and his newfound shapeshifting abilities eventually drove Captain Garth to insanity, and he tried to attack the very inhabitants of the planet Antos who had helped him. This led his crew to mutiny against Captain Garth and take him into custody.

We're not really sure how this could be reworked into a story — frankly the character isn't compelling enough — but a cameo of the fleet captain in the next 'Star Trek' movie would be an easy throwaway and a nice easter egg for fans, provided he could be given something semi-interesting to do. But as a primary protagonist, naw.

* * *

Gary Mitchell
This could be potentially one of the more interesting canonical characters to be mined. First featured in the second original Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", Mitchell — as portrayed by Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) — was an Academy friend of James T. Kirk, stemming back to the time when the then-lieutenant Kirk was serving as an instructor and Mitchell was a first-year cadet.

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the Enterprise penetrated the galactic barrier at the edge of the galaxy. Shortly thereafter, Mitchell began to exhibit a widening array of extraordinary psionic abilities that altered his personality, making him emotionally distant, ruthless and convinced of his own omniscience.

It would be fun to see Mitchell show up in the next 'Star Trek' film, even if it were merely an introduction that led to a bigger role in a subsequent film. Given the alternate timeline, the way Kirk and Mitchell's relationship plays out could be altered, but the eventual fracture in the friendship and ultimate betrayal would be fascinating to watch and could make for a strong personal narrative, particularly if set against a larger story. The journey into the galactic barrier could still take place, as could Mitchell's transformation, but it might serve as a cliffhanger at the end of another story, for example.

This idea is definitely rife with possibilities. The concept of one's closest friend and apprentice being transformed into a ruthless god-like being...and the thought that one has no choice but to destroy him, is the stuff of Shakespeare.

IN A CLASS OF ONE
What do you say about the one character in the Star Trek universe who is omnipotent—or essentially the next closest thing to it? Well, if you value your existence, something nice. And therein lies the fascination with the character...as well as the conundrum. Read on...


Q
How do you fight a being so powerful he can destroy you by simply wishing you out of existence? Answer: You challenge him with your intellect and appeal to his vanity so that he'll be intrigued and not tire of you. If your name is Jean Luc Picard, that's easy peasy. On the other hand, if your name is James T. Kirk, more accustomed to using fisticuffs to solve interstellar diplomacy crises, it might be tough (though many forget that Kirk could pull off the occasional dazzling feat of logic or clever manipulation from time to time...don't forget the "Gamesters of Triskelion").

Still, Q would honestly see a young Kirk and Co. heavily overmatched. The omniscient being would have little time for their simian antics, and if he felt like judging humanity to determine whether it deserved to exist during Picard's century, one can only imagine how annoyed he'd be with the 23rd century (though we're thinking he might hold a sneaking admiration for Kirk's Kobayashi Maru "no-win" solution).

Q is arrogant, impish, temperamental and provocative, yet endearing at the same time. Certainly one of the most entertaining villains in the 'Star Trek' canon, it'd be fun to see him show up, but he's a better foil for Picard's Enterprise than Kirk's, and casting anyone other than John DeLancie would seem strange (though come to think of it, Kevin Spacey would make a great Q).

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