Appartently still looking for a bad guy

[Mark]

Who will be the villain?
No villain character has been confirmed, and indeed, plot details themselves are under wraps at this time. That said, here is a list of possible antagonists:

Khan Noonien Singh J.J. Abrams has hinted that Nero's alterations to the timeline in the previous film may result in Khan's first contact with the Enterprise occurring differently. However, Roberto Orci considers bringing Khan back a risky venture, saying "why take the chance?"

The Borg See above entry for Khan. There is also concern that they were overexposed in Star Trek: Voyager, and/or that the introduction of the Borg Queen robbed them of their original mystique.

Gary Mitchell In the original timeline, Gary Mitchell was Kirk's best friend during his early career. He served with Kirk on the Enterprise, and fixed Kirk up with "a blonde he almost ended up marrying" (many believe this to be Carol Marcus). He became a personal foe for Kirk after he was altered by an alien influence, and Kirk was forced to destroy him. It is unknown how Mitchell's fate will be affected by the new timeline.

Harry Mudd Captain Harcourt Fenton Mudd was a con man and smuggler who filled the role of a greedy comic antagonist, not unlike Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has the distinction of being the only individual antagonist to appear in more than one episode of the original series. Frequent Abrams collaborator Greg Grunberg, whose voice appeared in the first film as Kirk's stepdad, has long expressed a desire to play Mudd in a future Trek film.

Klingons Given their iconic role in most Star Trek productions, few doubt that Klingons will reappear at some point. There is also speculation that when they do reappear, they will be represented by a famliar face, such as Duras or one of the three Da'har Masters (Kang, Kor, or Koloth) from the original series.

Orions The Orion Syndicate is essentially the Mafia of the Star Trek universe, involved in piracy, smuggling, and extortion. They have even been known to sabotage peace conferences which they deem to be bad for business. Though the Syndicate's machinations have figured into episodes of both the original series and Deep Space Nine, and female Orions have been seen fairly frequently (including the previous film), a canonical appearance of male Orions was not established until Star Trek: Enterprise.

Tholians Often mentioned but rarely seen, the mysterious motivations of the Tholians, combined with their alien appearance (they resemble crystalline arachnids), has piqued many a fan's interest.

Unknown force of nature Roberto Orci has previously said they are flirting with the possibility of eschewing the traditional villain archetype and have "nature itself somehow be an adversary."

Found this on a random movie site when looking up info on Star Trek 2. BTW.....they're looking at a 2012 release date.

[Tyyr]

The only real contenders that I can see are Klingon or Gorn. Everyone knows Klingons so they're sort of the traditional enemies in Trek. With their removal from XI they'd be fresh and new in XII. The Gorn, everyone remembers Kirk fighting the big rubber reptile. Enterprise redid the Gorn and turned them from Godzillas with disco ball eyes and into a real threat.

The Tholians and Orions are long shots. Some people remember the little crystal ships weaving a net and again Enterprise made them awesome. Who doesn't remember the green women?

[Lighthawk]

Khan would be the worst choice. They couldn't redo Khan and do him justice, no chance.

[Mark]

Gary Mitchell would be a waste. He and Kirk never had time to forge their relationship since he was make Captain of the Enterprise right out of being a Cadet. I think Klingons would be the best bet. They need to re-establish themselves in New Trek.

Khan is to risky. They could never find anyone to play the role as it was defined by Mr. Montoban. That could to easily flop.

Harry Mudd is a joke. They'd have to make him sinister and therefore wouldn't be Harry Mudd.

[Lighthawk]

Klingons probably would be the best choice. They are the most iconic, especially for the TOS era. I'd love to see the Borg if they could return them to the TNG era variety as the faceless, uncaring, unstoppable force they were before Voy got a hold of them.

[Tyyr]

I dunno. I get the arguments for Klingons but at the same time they are very very built up in Trek. Rebooting them would be almost a disservice. Someone like the Gorn or Tholians are mysterious unknowns. No reboot needed, just turn them into what you want them to be.

[Mark]

Granted, but Klingons are just as an iconic part of Trek as a ship named Enterprise. People who don't know squat about Star Trek know Klingons.

[Lighthawk]

Granted, but Klingons are just as an iconic part of Trek as a ship named Enterprise. People who don't know squat about Star Trek know Klingons.

And that's likely what's going to sell them as the villain. Say Klingon and 90% of people will respond "Star Trek".

[Mark]

Yessir.

The Tholians while one of my personal favorites, most people never heard of. The Gorn, are more popular, but only to those who may have actually SEEN TOS Arena.

My ex wife never watched Star Trek, and still knew of the Klingons.

[Lighthawk]

My ex wife never watched Star Trek, and still knew of the Klingons.

Same. They've been part of pop culture for so long now, and have been referenced, quoted, parodied, and mocked by all varieties of media that it's almost impossible not to have heard of them at some point.

[Tyyr]

I think the Gorn, while people might not know the name, people know Kirk fighting Godzilla.

[SolkaTruesilver]

I also support going for something relatively new. Or have the Klingons Vs. Federation as the two opposing forces, and one bigger threat (Gorns? Tholians?) being the real antagonists that provokes the conflict at hand?

[Mikey]

I think the Gorn, while people might not know the name, people know Kirk fighting Godzilla.

Not people who aren't Trekkies. Out of that list:

Khan - can't rehash him. Not only should that character be untouchable regarding any sort of reboot, but a portrayal by anyone other than Montalban is unthinkable. Unless Abrams has some new tricks we don't know about, that's not going to happen.

Borg - Roddenberry would already be spinning if he knew what VOY made of the Borg. The slight "humanification" of the Borg in FC, and the pussification of them in VOY, means they are right out. Besides, we already have a reboot Borg story that wasn't from ENT.

Gary Mitchell - not bad, but obscure. Mark also makes a good point about the prior relationship not existing in the reboot timeline.

Harry Mudd - seriously?

Klingons - done to death, but iconic. A possibility.

Orions - if the stage is set right, they could work. Although there's a bit less to explore since ENT featured them, I thought the DS9 ep with Miles infiltrating the Orion network was pretty cool. Assuming Martin Scorsese isn't going to consult on the next 'Trek film, however, I'd leave them out.

Tholians - Possibilities are wide open, and I'd love to see them explored... but at the same time, I almost don't want the Tholian mystique taken away.

Unknown force of nature - saw it. It was called TMP.

Other - I sort of like the Gorn... a film could play up the overtly-warlike appearance of the Gorn against the fact that (at least in TOS: "Arena,") it was actually the UFP that was the aggressor and the Gorn were just defending their space.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Oh, I like this. Give a strong aesop, about how you can be an invader without realising it, which makes other people trying to defend themselves.. and that leads to an unfortunate war.

Even if you were the one attacked initially, maybe you were in the wrong anyway, and how sometimes it'd be better to talk to the person shooting at you rather than go full warfare.

(Rather than a colony settlement, how about a mining expedition for precious resources? Let's Drill for Oil Mana Dilithium!)

[Lt. Staplic]

I would like a Gorn/Tholian enemy more for this one I think. Klingons are a bit too overdone. They will need their appearance for sure, but I think that can wait for XIII.