Has Benedict Cumberbatch's Villain Identity Been Revealed?

STAR TREK was a definite surprise when it came out a couple years ago. I think expectations were that it would be good, but no one could have really predicted how fun and actually great it ended up being. Now we're still a little less than a year away from the sequel, and this film is filled with even more speculation than the first one.

As we reported back in January, WDYMS sweetheart, Benedict Cumberbatch had landed the role of the main villain of the sequel. Ever since that announcement, there's just been rumor after rumor about which villain he would be. Badass Digest first broke that one of the more infamous bad guys in the Star Trek series, Khan, would not be the villain. Instead, their secret source stated this film would focus more on a "classic" Trek character:

It’s definitely a character that will make fans of TOS excited. Think along the lines of Harry Mudd or Trelane or Gary Mitchell or the Talosians or the Horta. Actually it’s one of those that I named.

Then, this interesting info came out today. Karl Urban, who plays Bones in the film, was giving an interview to SFX about his upcoming film, DREDD, and may have let Cumberbatch's identity out of the bag when talking about working with him on the movie:

He’s awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.

Whoops! So if Urban is correct, then Mitchell is an acquaintance of Kirk from the original TV series. Mitchell ends up getting telepathic and telekinetic god-like powers, and in the end, he ends up battling Kirk in a showdown, like you do.

So, did Urban actually let it slip a key bit of information about the sequel? Or is he just being a troll? Good thing we have until next May to speculate!



STAR TREK 2 will be released May 17, 2013 starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Benedict Cumberbatch.


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New Transformers: Dark Of The Moon Villain Revealed Through Stolen Toys

Oh no! It's Javi blogging about new Transformers stuff...again.  It's been a known practice that Chinese workers will steal early copies of upcoming toys and sell them on eBay for toy reviewers.  This has been going on for a few years, and thanks to this rather illegal practice, we now have the first view of the main villain of TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON.

Here is Shockwave courtesy of TFW2005, and ACTOYS.

Compare this image to his previous incarnation to the original 1980's cartoon, you'll see it's a good modernization of his character into the Michael Bay movies.  Unlike a lot of the more iconic characters, such as Starscream or Ironhide, Shockwave actually looks like his original design of a purple cyclops. In the original cartoon he turned into a Space Gun, and he was the Decepticon that stayed behind on Cybertron to keep things in check for Megatron, while the main cast of characters were stuck on earth.  For the movie, his alternate mode has been updated to an alien tank of some sort.

Hilariously, this shows Shockwave holding himself in Space Gun mode. Image courtesy of TFWIKI

What I like about this particular design is, like I stated before, all of his iconic characteristics are intact here.  You have the main purple body, the one-eyed faceless head, one of his arms being a gun and the hose that attaches to his back.  This is almost as close to an homage to the original as movie Optimus Prime was. 

As the main villain of the movie, he'll be a huge character, even if plot details are still rather sparse. We'll just have to wait and see. This is his main character description from TFWIKI: 

"Shockwave has been referred to as "a computer on legs." This is not far from the truth. Logic rules Shockwave's thought processes and is the source of his every inspiration. He sees emotion as a weakness and a distraction. His cold and calculating modus operandi is supported by his frightening and exceptionally powerful form.  Shockwave is possibly even more powerful than Megatron. Perhaps logic may one day dictate that the time to replace Megatron's flawed, emotion-fueled rule is at hand. After all, the only logical choice for Decepticon leader would be Shockwave himself."

TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON comes out July 1, 2011.

It's official: Batman has its villian and villianess

 

Finally, all the casting rumors swirling around The Dark Knight Rises can be put to bed.  This morning LA Times broke the news that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Catwoman.  Christopher Nolan states, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”


 Couldn't agree more!  I, Jonesy, have loved Hathaway since her debut in The Princess Diaries and loved her even more in her raw performance in Rachel Getting Married.  She will put a fresh spin on the role that was made iconic by Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry made Razzie award winning.


 I, Javi, am not all that excited for this casting, but since I trust Nolan, I will be cautiously optimistic about it. My apprehension mostly comes from the type of character that Selina Kyle/Catwoman is, which is one of a seductress and a complete bad-ass.   Catwoman first appeared in Batman #1 back in 1940 and has had a varied history from going from a stereotypical villain where she was a cat thief (ha ha get it?), to an unlikely ally and even romantic interest to Batman.  I know that Hathaway is not all "PRINCESS DIARIES", and she is a very talented actress with a wide range, but it's the fighter/thief side of Catwoman's personality that I find it difficult to believe Hathaway could pull off.

She will be joining Tom Hardy, who has been cast as Batman's other villain, Bane.  Nolan said, I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”  Bane first appeared Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993). He was a prisoner that was experimented on and had a steady supply of venom, which endows him with super strength.  He is most famous as the enemy that broke Batman's back in the mid 1990's, and he has since become one of the more dynamic and rather interesting villains in Batman's Rouge's Gallery. After the atrocity that was committed during BATMAN & ROBIN, it will be interesting to see if Nolan will take advantage of the nuances and complexities of this character.


Finally, I, Javi, will say that it is interesting that both of these characters are first purely antagonistic towards Batman, but at certain points they both become either allies or anti-heroes.  I think that there is a lot of ground to mine from and it will be interesting to see where Nolan goes from here.  




The Dark Knight Rises is set to release July 20, 2012.