 Following the box office success of J. J. Abrams ' Star Trek reboot and the announcement that actors Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto had tentatively agreed to appear in two sequels , Internet rumors began circulating about the plot of the second film . Abrams hinted that because of the alternate timeline created in the first film , reintroducing Khan into Star Trek lore remained a possibility . Abrams told MTV , " [ Khan and Kirk ] exist — and while their history may not be exactly as people are familiar with , I would argue that a person 's character is what it is , " Abrams said of the notion that his Khan could be just as evil , even if Kirk never stranded him on Ceti Alpha V. " Certain people are destined to cross paths and come together , and Khan is out there ... even if he doesn 't have the same issues . " Writer Damon Lindelof declared that Khan 's " intense gravity , " particularly regarding the character 's delivery of monologues , made him an obligatory character to use , even if its iconic status made the crew afraid of the fan reaction . Lindelof jokingly stated that " it was never really a ' Should we or shouldn 't we ? ' as much as it was ' We really have to do this but if we don 't get it right people are going to kill us . ' " 
