Yesterday we reported that Benedict Cumberbatch‘s role in Star Trek Into Darkness had been revealed as John Harrison by Paramount Pictures via the release of a new official still, a revelation that revealed next to nothing about his actual character. Thus the fan speculation continued: he’s really playing Khan….or Gary Mitchell….or Spock’s brother Sybok….and so on and and so on….

Early reports from screenings of the 9-minute preview of the film that will begin playing this weekend before select IMAX 3D screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (full list of IMAX theaters here) have claimed that a selection of Michael Giacchino‘s score for Into Darkness quotes from music composed by James Horner for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, particularly the theme for the movie’s titular villain (played in the 1982 movie and the original series episode “Space Seed” by the late Ricardo Montalban). Today comes the news, courtesy of Silas Lesnick at Coming Soon, that the new character being played by Alice Eve has been confirmed, and it is a name fans of the Star Trek franchise will be very familiar with.

Eve, who’s casting in the film was announced a year ago, will reportedly be playing Carol Marcus. In Wrath of Khan Marcus was the scientist who developed the terra-forming Genesis Project with her son David, who was revealed to be the son she had with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Bibi Besch played Carol Marcus in Wrath of Khan.

So now the speculation that Cumberbatch will either be playing Khan or someone involved with Khan in some way will become even more intense than before. It will be interesting to see how director J.J. Abrams incorporates the characters into the rebooted Trek timeline and if the events of the previous continuity will play out differently this time. There have been some interesting revelations regarding the movie’s characters since the release of the first trailer last week, but it could all be clever misdirection. Then again mysteries surrounding Abrams’ movies usually result in the most obvious and disappointing answers. I will leave it to the director to make good popcorn movies, not game-changing events in cinema.

Star Trek Into Darkness opens on May 17, 2013.

[Source: Coming Soon]

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