STAR TREK 2 (Cast Buzz)

• STARTREK 2

Benico del Toro

Ever since his name first surfaced as thepossible villain in Star Trek 2, Benicio del Toro has gotten a taste of theTrekkies. That just means that the star got himself the hell out of thisfranchise!!

That’s right Del Toro has left thefranchise and will not be part of the new Star Trek film.

This could be a big blow for theproduction, because certainly an actor of Del Toro's caliber should bebeneficial to the Star Trek reboot, which mostly features a younger, lessseasoned cast.

Edgar Ramirez & Jordi Molla

Variety is reporting that Edgar Ramirez isnow a strong contender for the same role. His far from being locked down forthe role, however Jordi Molla is also said to be up for the part.

Ramirez is best known for his leading rolein Olivier Assayas' miniseries, "Carlos" while Molla recently starredin Colombiana.

The news comes on the heels of word thatboth Alice Eve and Peter Weller have signed on for (also undisclosed) parts, joiningJohn Cho, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban andAnton Yelchin.

Recent reports suggest that the role inquestion may be none other than Khan Noonien Singh, iconically brought to lifeby Ricardo Montalbán in the original series episode "Space Seed" andbrought back for the 1982 feature film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Although Montalbán was himself of Latindecent (as are Del Toro, Ramirez and Molla), the character of Khan wasoriginally intended to be of Indian ancestry. In the "Star Trek"universe, Khan was a genetically engineered tyrant who seized control of muchof the Earth in the 1990's during a conflict known as "The EugenicsWars." At the conclusion of his reign, Khan escaped the Earth in astarship, the Botany Bay, and was held in suspended animation with his crewuntil he was found and revived in 2267 by Captain James T. Kirk. As a point ofreference, the first Abrams film takes in 2258, though in a diverging timeline.In theory, Khan could have been awakened as far back as 2233 when Nero (EricBana) first arrived and, from then on, altered history.

All that being said, Khan's appearance inthe sequel should still be considered rumor for the time being. What is knownis that the film will boast a script from Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and DamonLindelof and that it will begin shooting in early 2012, targeting a May 17,2013 release.