Well Saldana still looks lovely as ever in her uniform I see. Still not crazy about those grey pants or that dorky belt Spock's wearing though. They were about the only design elements from the first movie that I didn't like (and yes, I'm even counting Engineering).
I don't mind the belts so much. The original velcro wraparounds on TOS looked kind of silly and awkward too, and later belts and hip pouches for weapons as late as the TNG era looked impractical or downright awful. Remember those hideous hip-mounted pouches for phasers in episodes of TNG? The props kept popping out every time an actor would bend down to pick up or look at something. At least these belts look like they're competent enough to keep their respective props attached to them.
It looks to me like the sequence of pics with Spock and Cumberbatch fighting when in proper sequence indicate Cbatch first grabbing Spock in a choke with Spock then hitting CB with the neck pinch, which slows CB down temporarily but he is then able to power out of it by pure brute force, as indicated in the last pic. Notice that his outfit is in the same position, and he's grabbed the same hand that Spock was pinching him with. Note Spocks hand is still in the pinching position even afer CB grabs it.
Or I suppose the choke on Spock could come after he's broken the neck pinch. Either way, seems awfully *cough* superhuman *cough* that someone could break the neck pinch. Spock's even put horses down with it before. :P
He's not Khan, though. Humans with immense surges of anger and adrenaline have been known to break free of a Vulcan's grip without being genetically-engineered supermen. Cumberbatch's character is riding a wave of anger and hate and is thus able to counter Spock's thrusts and blows.
Granted, but take a look at the pics of him and Uhura. It's hard to tell for sure from the pics, but it would appear that CB doesn't have the mark on his right cheek in those pics, indicating that this sequence could possibly come before he tangles with Spock. This would mean he's already taken a phaser blast prior. Pure speculation, of course, but a theory which happens to fit what's shown. Also, Kirk was riding a wave of anger in the last movie when Spock got him in the neck pinch, and he dropped like a sack of potatoes lol. I'd say that these pics indicate more that he is Khan than that he isn't. Not going to go so far as to say for sure either way though, of course.
My take on that image sequence: We've joined the combat with Spock trying to take down Cumberbatch's character. Cumberbatch goes down, but not out and begins rallying: He over-powers Spock: Grabs him by the throat: Does something that requires a stunt stand-in: Spock is now down. But Uhura pulls a "Dodge this" moment: And Cumberbatch ... doesn't:
Look closely, guys. I see a Starfleet delta emblem on the left breast of Cumberbatch's black shirt. My theory is that he's a rogue Starfleet officer who is in league with or at the very least sympathizes with the villain(s) in the new film and is trying to aid them by fighting against the Enterprise crew. Or not. Who the hell knows. But I'm about 99.9% sure it isn't Khan.
It's hard to tell, like I said, from these pics, but it really looks like the scuff mark is absent from his right cheek in the pics with Uhura and is there in the ones with Spock. I'm definitely not saying it is for sure Khan. There could be a thousand reasons why he could break free of the neck pinch, but him being Khan can't be excluded from those reasons. I'll also grant you, Spock did successfully neck pinch one of Khan's followers in Space Seed, if memory serves. I could be mistaken or am possibly confusing it with another episode though. Haven't watched Space Seed in some time. Definitely going to be a blast trying to put all the pieces together though! But if it is Khan, it's a possibility that he and his followers don't have any clothes on at all if and when they are found in cryogenic freeze. I can't imagine being frozen with clothes on. (Yes they had clothes on in Space Seed, but that was network TV). Seems at least plausible. That would explain the borrowed uniform. Based only on the tidbit we've been shown so far, it would be a logical fallacy to be 99.9% sure of anything other than Spock and Uhura are tangling with a baddie of some sort who is able to overpower a Vulcan administering the neck pinch even after, presumably, having taken a phaser blast at some point prior.
His uniform look like a old type starfleet uniform, either from the 21 or 22 century. I don't think he's Khan, but I do think he's kind of like Khan, not from the same time period as Khan from. More likely from the time period when the Federation banned section 31, because they had done something that the Federation didn't like and wasn't please about it. Anyway, he could be four type of people? Romulan, Kilingon, Genetic engineered human or someone like Lt.Com. Gary Mitchell. If he is like Gary Mitchell? Which mean that he a crewmember from the Valiant. He escape the Valiant before it captain blow the ship up. The escape pod put him in cryogenic type sleep, but didn't wake up until the 23 century.
I thought the pics would scratch my itch but like rashy itching it has spread all over the body. Fuck this! I want this movie NOWWWWWWW.
Whatever race he is, he has red blood, as is evident from the scuff on his face and the injury to his left thigh. Also looks as if the piece of clothing around his torso could be blood soaked. Possibly from Uhura's phaser blast? The picture of her after the apparent phaser blast doesn't appear to be pointed at his abdomen, but her phaser could be recoiling from the shot itself, and he does seem to be clutching that area in the pic. It looks as if he could possibly be attempting to field dress the wound when Spock hits him with the neck pinch from behind.
This is true! Adrenaline rush? Most likely. But Spock would likely be pretty amped up himself as well. Of course we can't make that conclusion for sure because we're not that familiar with Vulcan anatomy, but we can say with certainty that Vulcans are not a race that an average human should willingly pick a fist fight with. This leads us to conclude, also, that CBatch is super strong here for some reason or another.
Who ever he is? We will just have to wait until it comes to the theaters, dvd and blue ray to find out.
You're right, yenny, but we can also enjoy the detective work that we get to do over the next year or so as well. :-)
Of course, the next frame might be Spock easily breaking away from Cumberbatch's ineffectual surprise grab at his throat (accomplished only by virtue of being unexpected by Spock) and, only to discover that the patented Vulcan Neck Pinch™ is not effective on Cumberbatch, so he then gets out of the way so that Uhura can instead zap his ass with her phaser. All the sequence implies is that Cumberbatch's character seems to be resistant to the neck pinch. Which in Trek has a number of possible explanations, other than him being a Eugenically Bred Superman. He could be an android, ala Dr Kirby; a salt-vampire in one of it's Nancy-Crater-ish human guises; or maybe it has something to do with the secret properties of the sparkly sport-coat he's wearing?