Iron Man villain captains a starship in Star Trek
Faran Tahir
Actor Faran Tahir last appeared in a summer blockbuster tormenting Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man as the villainous Raza. This summer, Tahir changes sides, as starship Capt. Richard Robau in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek.”
“You go back to being about 10 years old again the first time you walk out onto the set,” Tahir said in a recent phone interview with The Oklahoman. “My first thought was, I can’t believe it. It’s a pop-culture icon, ‘Star Trek’ is, and we’ve all grown up with it. So, to be in it, and to be a captain of a ship, it was great fun.”
On Robau’s ship, the USS Kelvin, are George and Winona Kirk. Winona is pregnant with future captain of the starship Enterprise, James T. Kirk.
“My first officer is Captain Kirk’s dad, and Captain Kirk is born on my ship while all this hoopla is going on,” Tahir said.
Tahir said Abrams wanted to reach a generation of moviegoers who had missed out on “Star Trek.”
“All the franchise series are gone now, and there hasn’t been a ‘Star Trek’ movie in a while,” Tahir said. “So, he realizes that there’s a lost generation that hasn’t got to own the ‘Star Trek’ saga. And he has created a very smart bridge, by keeping the spirit of the original ‘Star Trek’ alive and updating it, and bringing in the backstory so that a whole new generation can own it.”
One update might be that the future is now a little grimier.
“Everything is very recognizable as far as the ‘Star Trek’ world is concerned, but you will see that things are a little bit more gritty, a little bit more real,” Tahir said. “My ship, what I liked about it was that it wasn’t as pristine and clean as some of the ships have been. It looked like a ship that’s been out there for a while, it has some mileage on it. It gives that real tangible, gritty feeling to it.”
Tahir is used to gritty, after filming desert sequences in 2008′s “Iron Man.” “Iron Man 2″ is filming now, and while Tahir is signed on for sequels, he said he thought if his character were to return, it would more likely be further down the line.
“My character … didn’t die, and that’s part of a bigger story, the Iron Man story,” Tahir said. “The thing that they are trying to figure out is, when and how much of that particular storyline is to be exposed.”
Tahir said his feeling is that the filmmakers don’t want to use all the classic “Iron Man” villains too early.
Tahir’s character Raza appeared to be linked to The Mandarin in the “Iron Man” film. The Mandarin in the comics is perhaps Tony Stark’s greatest nemesis.
“They may want to do more Iron Man movies, and they need to make sure that the larger storylines, that they don’t end up using all their currency in the second one,” he said. “Whether my character is a conduit to Mandarin, or does he become Mandarin at the end? You could develop that story many different ways.”
But for now, Tahir enjoys playing the good guy. He says Abrams’ “Star Trek” continues an optimistic message of the future.
“What Star Trek has always done is, in the end it leaves you with a message of hope, which I think is a great thing,” Tahir said. “You can go through the trials and tribulations, and things may look dark and dismal, but at the end of it, I think it’s a reaffirming thing in life when you see that there is hope.”
- Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
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