Faran Tahir, who played the the villainous Raza in the first Iron Man, gets to play something in the new Star Trek film that he usually doesn't ... a character that does not have the adjective "villainous" preceding said character's name. Faran discusses his role as Starship Kelvin Captain Robau (warning: minor spoilers) and talks about some persistent Iron Man rumors as well as the future of that franchise.

Mike: In Iron Man, what was it like working with Jon Favreau as a director?

Faran: The great thing about Iron Man was that the people that were involved in it -- Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau, to some extent Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow -- this particular movie was not their genre. Everybody had something personally in it. Everybody wanted to make it work ... no idea was a stupid idea.

Mike: There are rumors circulating that your character might turn out to be Iron Man's arch rival, Mandarin, in the third film.

Faran: I don't know. My answer to that is that we created the character, not by accident, but by design, with a vague future. You can spin it many different ways and it should make sense, was the idea. One is this guy who has a connection to Mandarin at some point... or is this guy someone who might become Mandarin at some point? There's a case to be made -- and a pretty good one -- that two guys, who in the belly of a cave, almost like a womb, emerge out of that womb and one becomes Iron Man and one becomes Mandarin. There's a case to be made for that.

Mike: I kind of hope they go that way; I think the Iron Man fans would like that direction.

Faran: (Laughs) You and me both, my friend.

Mike: Well, you don't want to see "Iron Man 3 with Matthew Mcconaughey as Mandarin." That wouldn't really make sense.

Faran: (Laughs) No, No. I think that's why they left the character open. If you remember the movie, [Raza] doesn't die. The same thing happened to Tony Stark: He gets paralyzed then comes back out of it.

If you're going to do a movie about Iron Man, you will have to, at some point, address Mandarin. We don't know when or how. They had asked me to be available for later times, if need be. So, we will see.

Mike: Are you definitely not in the second Iron Man?

Faran: So far I don't think I'm in it. Things change very quickly. I know the direction that they're going in for the second one and to be very honest, it makes sense.

Mike: And that direction would be?

Faran: They're going in a different direction, a different part of the world, a whole other challenge for Iron Man. If I do end up being in it, it will just to keep that story alive. If they do that.

Mike: Is it tough watching everyone go back to work on Iron Man 2 and you not be able to be with them? I mean, Favreau is on Twitter giving updates everyday.

Faran: That's an interesting point but that's the nature of this particular business ... I miss them because I like them. I'm a big boy, it's not like I'm in a closet crying ... I do hope the second one is a bigger hit than the first one was.

Mike: In Star Trek you're the good guy this time?

Faran: I am. Isn't that funny (laughs)? I'm a good guy and I'm not an alien!

Mike: You're a starship captain. What's the name of your ship?

Faran: The ship's name is Kelvin.

Mike: That's interesting! The Kelvin, which is the same scene Sonita Henry is in...

Faran: Yes. She is on my ship.

Mike: OK, then this is the ship that Jim Kirk's father takes over for 12 minutes?

Faran: Yes, he's my first officer.

Mike: So something bad happens to you?

Faran: Yes. (Laughs) Now you're getting it.

Mike: (Laughs) It's my third Star Trek interview, I'm finally getting some sense to what's going on. So basically something unfortunate happens to your character; Kirk's father takes over; saves the day; but he dies, too, we learn, as Jim Kirk is born on the Kelvin.

Faran: Right. Or, maybe I'm just on a very hot date (laughs).

Mike: I'm just going to assume that happened. Your character's fine... he'll be back. What are the differences between J.J. Abrams style and Favreau's?

Faran: Jon and J.J. are friends. They have a lot of similarities and they know exactly what they want. The thing I loved about both of them was that neither one of them gives you a whole dissertation on your character. They know what words to use to kind of get you there. They know what they want out of you, but they both make it very organic. You never feel like the director is imposing his "vision." It's always better when you feel you got there on your own.

Mike: What's your favorite moment in the movie or on set?

Faran: I think the thing I'm always going to remember -- and it sounds kind of childish because it was a child's fantasy -- was literally walking on to the bridge the first time I got onto the set and saw the bridge of my ship. I was a ten year old boy because my mind was like, "Wow! I am the captain of a ship! I have my own chair!"

Mike: And how long are you captain for?

Faran: That... you will have to find out. But you look around and everything works. It took me ten minutes to soak it all in then I was like, "OK, I guess I have to act now." You felt like doing somersaults, or something.

And the thing I liked about the whole approach was J.J. really wanted these captains to be very competent people. In some of the other movies the other Federation captains end up being slightly less competent than James T. Kirk, for some reason (laughs).

Mike: When I spoke to Sonita she said that Leonard Nimoy was on set at the same time she was. Did you get to meet him?

Faran: Yeah, he was there one day when I was shooting. And that's...

Mike: She compared it to Elvis walking into the building.

Faran: Well, I compare it to Moses walking in (laughs). Literally, I was shooting a scene and this wave kind of went through the entire set. "Nimoy is on the set! Nimoy is on the set!" It was almost as if we were all blessed (laughs). So, yeah, it was a pretty big deal.

"Mike's Pulse" is a column written by transplanted Midwesterner and current New Yorker Mike Ryan. For any compliments or complaints -- preferably the former -- you may contact Mike directly at miker@starpulse.com or submit reader questions for celebrites to Mike on Twitter.