Nu-Trek III Update – Idris is a Complex Villian

I’m still trying to work out whether or not tiny little splashes of news are better than no news at all?

While I get my head around whether or not I should be frustrated or just plain happy, let me share with you another ridiculously small update from writer and star, Simon Pegg.

While speaking to MTV on a press tour to promote Mission: Impossible III, Simon had this to say about Idris Elba’s character in the upcoming Nu-Trek III:

“It’s a really interesting, complex character, and will be different from Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.  Only because it would be a retread.  What we don’t want to do is have the same kind of villain with the same motivation.”

Khan’s motivation in Into Darkness was to save what he perceived to be his family – the other augments from the 20th Century.  In addition to that, he wanted revenge on Admiral Marcus.  So… does Pegg’s statement mean we won’t have a revenge driven bad guy?  That would be good.  Nero was driven by revenge too.  And does Pegg’s statement also mean that we won’t have a character that’s already been established in Trek lore?

All we really know so far is that he won’t be a Klingon – which is a shame.  I was over Klingon’s after Deep Space Nine and thought they’d been used to death, but Into Darkness re-sparked my interest in them because suddenly they were vicious, mysterious and threatening.  They were nothing like the ” I’m drowning in honour and gagh” Klingons of Next Gen and DS9 which just got a wee bit too much.

As I’ve tried to put myself in the shoes of Pegg and Jung (the writers of Star Trek Beyond) and imagine what the story might be, I had thought the Klingons would make a sensible “jumping off point” because the Federation trespassed into their Empire in the last film.  Seems my guesses were wrong and I’m going to have go away and think of some other possibilities to keep myself amused until the new film is released next year.

I, for one, am pretty excited Idris Elba is in the film and I can’t wait to see him in action in the Trekverse no matter who or what he plays.

So, do any of you have any ideas you’d like to share on who or what Idris might be playing?  We can probably rule out the Romulans and it’s way too early for Q, so who does that leave and how might it tie in to the promise that this Trek will go out into deep space and be less Earth-centric?