With Benicio Del Toro recently dropping out (read all about it here), and the countdown to the January start date ever ticking away, J.J. Abrams and co. are wasting no time in finding his replacement. And furthering the rumours that the villain will be indeed be Khan is the fact that each actor reportedly in talks happens to be of a similar Latin origin to both Del Toro and original Khan Ricardo Montalban.

First up is CARLOS actor Edgar Ramirez (above left), who, according to Variety, will literally phone in his performance… when he screen tests for Bad Robot this weekend via Skype. I guess they are in a rush if this is what they’re resorting to!

Ramirez star is fast on the rise, and will also soon be seen in the recently wrapped WRATH OF THE TITANS. (Another Khan clue or is that going too far? Too far, ok).

Jordi Molla (t’other one), last seen in the Luc Besson produced shoot ‘em up COLUMBIANA, is also being considered. Rumours that he’ll be auditioning by Twitter are yet to be confirmed.

It won’t be long now until an official announcement drops, both in terms of who will be cast, and who’ll they’ll be cast as. We’ll keep you in the loop!

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