Star Trek: The Actors Who Almost Played Khan Instead Of Benedict Cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch may have been a certified scene-stealer as Khan in the 2013 J.J. Abrams film "Star Trek Into Darkness," but he wasn't the director's first choice to play the iconic villain. Academy Award-winning Puerto Rican actor Benicio del Toro was originally offered the role and had apparently been interested enough to enter negotiating talks with the studio, but ultimately, the two parties couldn't come to an agreement on del Toro's compensation and the talks ended.

Shortly afterward, two other actors were announced to be in consideration: Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramírez, who had received various accolades for his turn as real-life terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sánchez in the lauded 2010 French-German miniseries "Carlos," and Spanish actor Jordi Mollà, who had appeared in the two-part Steven Soderbergh biographical drama "Che" with del Toro (though was best known for his role in "Bad Boys II").

Months later, it was revealed that Mexican actor Demián Bichir had also been in consideration. Of course, for whatever reason, the role eventually went to Cumberbatch, sparking controversy among fans of the franchise.

The main reason so many "Star Trek" fans took issue with Benedict Cumberbatch's casting was that he'd be whitewashing one of the few popular characters of color in science fiction. On the original series, Khan (Mexican actor Ricardo Montalbán) is of Indian descent, with Lt. Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue) speculating that he might be Sikh. Though the production had attempted to hide the true identity of his "Star Trek" villain, audiences knew that Cumberbatch would be playing Khan Noonien Singh, and "Star Trek Into Darkness" ultimately fumbled its Khan mystery.

To this day, fans on Reddit are still perplexed as to why "Star Trek Into Darkness" seemingly never seriously considered any Indian actors for the role. Some have charitably argued that this was an instance of color-conscious casting, with J.J. Abrams not wanting to depict someone from South Asia as a terrorist. However, u/Azselendor alleged that Cumberbatch's hiring came as a consequence of a studio mandate that the villain be name talent (at the time, Cumberbatch had made waves in both the U.S. and the U.K. for his work on "Sherlock").

While Benicio del Toro would have satisfied this requirement, it appears he wasn't willing to agree to the pay Cumberbatch did. Though there's no official record of how much either actor was offered for the role, it isn't hard to imagine that del Toro — a two-time Oscar nominee — was more expensive than a rising star from across the pond. That said, even if Cumberbatch was a more cost-effective solution to the production's problem, that likely won't excuse the whitewashing for most fans.