While promoting his new book, S., co-authored by Doug Dorst, director J.J. Abrams commented on the controversial villain of STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and expressed regret in keeping his identity a secret until the film's premiere. Khan, as portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film, was a reimagined version of the same character from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, and was kept hush-hush throughout the marketing of the film in the name of maintaining surprise. Or so we thought. Abrams' reveals that there was a little more to it and says he wishes it would've happened differently.
"The truth is I think it probably would have been smarter just to say upfront 'This is who it is.' It was only trying to preserve the fun of it, and it might have given more time to acclimate and accept that's what the thing was. The truth is because it was so important to the studio that we not angle this thing for existing fans. If we said it was Khan, it would feel like you've really got to know what 'Star Trek' is about to see this movie. That would have been limiting. I can understand their argument to try to keep that quiet, but I do wonder if it would have seemed a little bit less like an attempt at deception if we had just come out with it."
So, it sounds like some studio pressure to make the film more "commercial" and open for a wider audience, rather than a niche one, played a part. From a business standpoint that makes some sense, but ultimately I think it backfired, mostly because everyone was so insistent that it wasn't Khan during the promotional push, instead saying that it was his alias, John Harrison. I think a clever wink would've worked wonders instead of blatant deception, but that's just me. Either way, I enjoyed STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, regardless of the Khan "secret."
Abrams briefly commented on the next STAR TREK film, particularly on whether or not Joe Cornish (ATTACK THE BLOCK) was on board to direct or not. "I don't know if Joe Cornish is the guy. My guess is that's up in the air. I adore him and love him and can't wait to see what he does next."
Well, at least he's not trying to deceive us, right?
Abrams is curently jumping into another Star-verse with STAR WARS: EPISODE VII, slated for release on December 18, 2015, while STAR TREK 3 is still in the very early stages. More to follow on that.