Benicio Del Toro will not play Khan in ‘Star Trek’ sequel as Peter Weller cast in major role

Two major news items related to J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek film after his successful 2009 reboot of the series were reported over the weekend. First, contrary to a report, Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro will not play Kahn, Captain Kirk’s nemesis in Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. The second is that Peter Weller, star of the original Robocop, has been cast in a major role.

The rumor that Del Toro would play Kahn started when an unnamed source broke the news to The Latino Review. Del Toro has already been confirmed as the film’s villain, but this report suggested that he would play the role that Ricardo Montalban made famous in the “Space Seed” episode of the original series and later in the 1982 film.

However, Abrams quickly denied the report. He told Hit Fix simply that the report was “not true.” However, he remained quiet on who Del Toro would actually play.

Meanwhile, Variety reports that Robocop star Peter Weller has joined the cast. Weller, who has appeared in 24, Fringe and Dexter recently, also did two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005.

Deadline reports that the unnamed Star Trek film will be released on May 17, 2013. Both Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock will return. Last week, Alice Eve was reported to be in negotiations to appear in the film.