Damon Lindelof Talks STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS And Keeping Villain's Identity A Secret
Star Trek Into Darkness co-writer Damon Lindelof discusses the anticipated sequel, and talks about keeping the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's villain a mystery rather than spoiling it early on.
By Paul Romano - 3/12/2013
Speaking with Hero Complex late last year at Bad Robot, screenwriter Damon Lindelof talks more about Paramount's highly anticipated sequel Star Trek Into Darkness. Of course, he remained mum on details for the J.J. Abrams-directed film, but he had this to say about the movie's title and how the storyline influences it. "If the first movie was about meeting and introductions, this movie is about becoming a family. The title of the movie is not just about the mission that the Enterprise is going on but what happens when you get to know each other a little better and the hurdles you must jump over in order to truly become family."
Arguably the biggest secret surrounding the film is the true identity of Benedict Cumberbatch's villain. Despite being named 'John Harrison', rumors suggest that he's actually playing a more obvious antagonist such as Khan. Lindelof shares his thoughts on not spoiling the villain' identity, and why it's best to keep these things a secret. "The audience needs to have the same experience that the crew is having. Kirk, you’re Spock, you’re McCoy, so if they don’t know who the bad guy is going to be in the movie, then you shouldn’t know. It’s not just keeping the secret for secrecy’s sake. It’s not giving the audience information that the characters don’t have.
"I feel like I’m constantly planning the surprise party — instead of it just being for one person in my life, it’s for all these people,” Lindelof said. “I’m working on a bunch of different projects, and I even have to keep secrets about one project from the people I’m working with on the other project. They’ll say, ‘So, seriously, who’s Benedict playing?’ I’ll say, ‘Do you really want to know?’ Then they go, ‘No, no, no, I don’t.’ They know that if I said it to them,” he continued, “they would have a five-second rush of exhilaration followed by four months of being completely and totally bummed out that they can’t tell anybody else and that when it gets revealed in the movie, it will have been spoiled for them. That’s why they’re called ‘spoilers,’ they’re not called ‘awesomes.’"
Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve and Anton Yelchin. The film is set to hit theaters May 17th.
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