 As part of the secrecy campaign , Benedict Cumberbatch denied that he was playing Khan during interviews , describing Harrison as simply a terrorist with his own purposes , as well as " someone that 's activated and manufactured in a way by Starfleet , and it 's a scene that has come back to haunt him . " He discussed the character 's moral ambiguity saying it fit the adage " one man 's terrorist is another man 's freedom fighter , " adding parallels to the current world order " whether it 's U.S. foreign policy or the actions of some terrorists . " Into Darkness writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman added that they used the character of Khan not just for his popularity with the fandom — “ It ’ s so easy to fall into the trap of doing something because you think people are going to love it . You must come up with what the movie can be on its own and then , if it turns out the villain maybe can be Khan , then you can do it . But you can ’ t start there . ” — but for fitting the sequel 's theme of " how far will we go to exact vengeance and justice on an enemy that scares us . " 
