Given that the second of the Star Trek films to feature the original cast, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, is widely considered to be one of the better Star Trek movies (if not the best), talk of an appearance of its central character Khan Noonien Singh in the next installment of Abrams' Star Trek revival is welcome news. Khan was originally played by the late Ricardo Montalban. Now that Abrams' first Star Trek movie, with a bit of time travel side-stepping, has shifted the original characters into a different time line the writers are free to play with Khan (and any other character for that matter) in whatever way they see fit.

"The fun of this is that the destiny of these characters is in their hands," Abrams told SFX magazine. "It's not constrained by the existing films or TV series."

SFX magazine reports that when asked if Khan would make an appearance in Star Trek 2, Abrams didn't rule out the possibility. In fact, he seemed to be seriously considering it along with an appearance by the original actor to play Captain Kirk, William Shatner.

"Believe me, whether it's William Shatner or Khan, it would be ridiculous not to be open to these ideas. Certain people are destined to cross paths and come together, and Khan is out there...even if he doesn't have the same issues."

Will Khan and Kirk meet in some future movie?

The Shatner potential is great too. William Shatner appears to have grown in stature as an actor over the last ten years, with more of a presence than he ever had. Having watched a fair amount of him playing Denny Craig in Boston Legal, this idea doesn't appear as annoying as it would have a few years back. Even a cameo role similar to Leonard Nimoy's as Spock in the first movie would be welcome.

In the same interview, Abrams skuttled rumours that Jack Black had been interviewed to play the part of Harcourt Fentoin Mudd in Star Trek 2. Mudd is an over the top, humourous character who appeared in the original TV series (more comic relief than anything else). Abrams met with Black, but not for that role.