J.J. Abrams And Benedict Cumberbatch Talk 'John Harrison' In STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS
The director of next year's Star Trek Into Darkness talks in detail about John Harrison's role in the sequel, teasing a "horriffic attack" in London. Stars Chris Pine (James Kirk) and Harrison himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, also weigh in with their thoughts on the villain.
"In Benedict Cumberbatch we have a much more emotionally and intellectually challenging villain than we had in the last film," Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams told Empire Magazine in a recent interview when asked about how 'John Harrison' will stand apart from what has come before. "Eric Bana did a great job, but Nero was a much simpler, raving sort of furious dude. The first movie was an origin story. The characters were all new to each other, so all they needed was a scary threat to face. It didn't need to be complex or nuanced. Just by default, given the number of characters and the structure of it, we could only go so deep. By necessity, it had to stop at a certain level. It had a ceiling. And now there is no ceiling."
As for what exactly we should expect from Benedict Cumberbatch's 'John Harrison' (despite him finally being given a name, speculation is still running rampant that the Sherlock star is in fact playing 'Khan'), the director had this to say about the character, making it clear just how evil a protagonist he'll make for the Enterprise crew. "He was within Starfleet and has now turned against the organisation and is hell-bent on revenge. He's responsible for a very violent, horrific attack in London and then one in the States. He believes he and others were wronged and is focused on destruction. He's an incredibly brilliant strategist who is aware of various truths that Kirk is not privy to."
Actor Chris Pine (James Kirk) meanwhile was quick to emphasise just how much of a challenge Kirk and the rest of the crew will face when they go up against the villain. "He is Kirk's shadow of death, his Achilles' heel. He is a big mirror reflecting all of Kirk's insecurities back at him. He is just as intelligent and logical as Spock, but is also one very very bad mother[frick]er." That's something which Benedict Cumberbatch seems to relish, as he describes the villain he will bring to life on the big screen next year. "He's sort of superhuman, pretty much unbeatable. Brainy and brawny. He manipulates situations. he's incarcrated when Kirk is talking to him and yet he still gets Kirk to do his work for him. He pushes him into a corner where the only route to salvation is cooperation. There is a real Hannibal Lecter quality to him. "
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
STARRING:
Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto as Spock
Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison
Alice Eve as Dr. Carol Marcus
Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura
Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov
John Cho as Hikaru Sulu
Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott
Bruce Greenwood as Admiral Christopher Pike
RELEASE DATE: May 17th, 2013
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