113-566: Khan Noonien Singh is a fictional character in the Star Trek science fiction franchise who first appeared as the main antagonist in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode " Space Seed " (1967), and was portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán , who reprised his role in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . In the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness , he is portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch . Khan controlled more than
226-553: A cult following among Trekkies greater than during its original run; by 1976, the cast described Star Trek as "the most popular series in the world". One sign of the series' growing popularity was the first Star Trek convention , which occurred on January 21–23, 1972 in New York City. Although the original expectation was that a few hundred fans would attend, several thousand turned up. Fans continue to attend similar conventions worldwide. The series' newfound success led to
339-533: A tent pole for the studio when other projects failed. The Next Generation had the highest ratings of any Star Trek series and became the most syndicated show during the last years of its original seven-season run. In response to the Next Generation 's success, Paramount released a spin-off series, Deep Space Nine , in 1993. While never as popular as the Next Generation , the series had sufficient ratings for it to last seven seasons. In January 1995,
452-550: A big fan wanted to meet her while attending an NAACP dinner party: I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, 'Sure.' I looked across the room, and there was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said that Star Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [She told King about her plans to leave
565-550: A campaign reminiscent of the one that saved the third season of the Original Series . Paramount renewed Enterprise for a fourth season, but moved it to the Friday night death slot . Like the Original Series , Enterprise ' s ratings dropped during this time slot, and UPN canceled Enterprise at the end of its fourth season. Enterprise aired its final episode on May 13, 2005. A fan group, "Save Enterprise ", attempted to save
678-411: A censor down to the set to measure a woman's cleavage to make sure too much of her breast wasn't showing." Roddenberry intended the show to have a progressive political agenda reflective of the emerging counter-culture of the youth movement, though he was not fully forthcoming to the networks about this. He wanted Star Trek to show what humanity might develop into, if it would learn from the lessons of
791-485: A contest to build a medical tricorder device was announced in 2012. Ten finalists were selected in 2014, and the winner was to be selected in January 2016. However, no team managed to reach the required criteria. Star Trek also brought teleportation to popular attention with its depiction of "matter-energy transport", with the famously misquoted phrase " Beam me up, Scotty " entering the vernacular. The Star Trek replicator
904-416: A few months after the Next Generation ended, Paramount released a fourth television series, Voyager . Star Trek production reached a peak in the mid-1990s with Deep Space Nine and Voyager airing concurrently and three of the four Next Generation -based feature films released in 1994, 1996, and 1998. By 1998, Star Trek was Paramount's most important property and the profits of "the franchise" funded
1017-477: A five-part series of comic books telling the story of the Into Darkness incarnation of Khan. The first issue in the series acknowledges the discrepancy of Khan's physical appearance compared to that of the previous incarnation. Writer Carey Wilber pitched "Space Seed" to Star Trek producers Roddenberry, Gene Coon, and Robert Justman with an 18-page outline dated August 29, 1966. In the outline, Wilber envisioned
1130-413: A flaw in the character, as no one is completely good or completely evil; while Khan had a rather distorted view of reality and therefore performed acts of evil, he still felt that his vengeance was a noble cause because of the death of his wife. Khan quotes the character of Ahab from Moby-Dick throughout the film, driving home his lust to make Kirk pay for the wrongs he has inflicted upon him. Following
1243-590: A fourth is scheduled for July 2020. The first publisher of Star Trek fiction aimed at adult readers was Bantam Books . James Blish wrote adaptations of episodes of the original series in twelve volumes from 1967 to 1977; in 1970, he wrote the first original Star Trek novel published by Bantam, Spock Must Die! . Pocket Books published subsequent Star Trek novels. Prolific Star Trek novelists include Peter David , Diane Carey , Keith DeCandido , J.M. Dillard , Diane Duane , Michael Jan Friedman , and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens . Several actors from
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#17328688480711356-423: A narrative adventure video game set in the Next Generation era, was released by Dramatic Labs. Star Trek has led directly or indirectly to the creation of a number of magazines which focus either on science fiction or specifically on Star Trek . Starlog was a magazine which was founded in the 1970s. Initially, its focus was on Star Trek actors, but then it expanded its scope. Star Trek: The Magazine
1469-522: A neural gas. Khan heads to engineering and sets the ship's engines to self-destruct, whereupon he is incapacitated by Kirk. Captain Kirk conducts a hearing, sentencing Khan and his followers to exile on an uncolonized world, Ceti Alpha V. Khan accepts Kirk's challenge—invoking the fall of Lucifer in Milton 's Paradise Lost —and McGivers joins Khan rather than face court-martial. Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) wonders what
1582-491: A new cast portraying the crew of the original show. Star Trek was a prequel of the original series set in an alternate timeline , later named the Kelvin Timeline. This gave the film and sequels freedom from the need to conform to the franchise's canonical timeline and minimized the impact these films would have on CBS's portion of the franchise. The eleventh Star Trek film's marketing campaign targeted non-fans, stating in
1695-542: A new set of fans to the franchise. CBS eventually sought to capitalize on this trend, and brought the franchise back to the small screen with the series Star Trek: Discovery to help launch and draw subscribers to its streaming service CBS All Access . Discovery's first season premiered on September 24, 2017. While Discovery is shown in the United States exclusively on Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access), for its first three seasons, Netflix, in exchange for funding
1808-437: A new starship Enterprise a century after the original series; Deep Space Nine and Voyager , set in the same era as the Next Generation ; and Enterprise , set a century before the original series in the early days of human interstellar travel. The adventures of the Next Generation crew continued in four additional feature films. In 2009, the film franchise underwent a reboot , creating an alternate continuity known as
1921-553: A new starship Enterprise with a new crew. Following Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Roddenberry's role was changed from producer to creative consultant, with minimal input to the films, while being heavily involved with the creation of The Next Generation . Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991, giving executive producer Rick Berman control of the franchise. Star Trek had become known to those within Paramount as "the franchise", because of its great success and recurring role as
2034-519: A person of Indian descent should have been given the role instead. Superficially, Khan has been compared to Friedrich Nietzsche 's concept of the " Übermensch " (superman or overman). Khan is mentally and physically superior to any normal human. In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode " Borderland ", Malik, the leader of a group of "supermen" created from the same genetic engineering project as Khan, quotes Nietzsche, telling Archer that "Mankind
2147-479: 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
2260-489: A pilot, " The Cage ", starring Jeffrey Hunter as Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike . NBC rejected "The Cage", but the executives were still impressed with the concept, and made the unusual decision to commission a second pilot: " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". While the show initially enjoyed high ratings, the average rating of the show at the end of its first season dropped to 52nd out of 94 programs. Unhappy with
2373-544: A planet in revolt; later drafts added the "Genesis device", which Khan would steal. Costume designer Robert Fletcher wanted to emphasize the effects of their harsh environment on Khan and his followers. "My intention with Khan was to express the fact that they had been marooned on that planet with no technical infrastructure, so they had to cannibalize from the spaceship whatever they used or wore. Therefore, I tried to make it look as if they had dressed themselves out of pieces of upholstery and electrical equipment that had composed
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#17328688480712486-486: A prequel to the 2009 film, Star Trek: Countdown . In 2012, IDW published the first volume of Star Trek – The Newspaper Strip , featuring the work of Thomas Warkentin. As of 2020, IDW continues to produce new titles. The Star Trek franchise has numerous games in many formats. Beginning in 1967 with a board game based on the original series and continuing through today with online and DVD games, Star Trek games continue to be popular among fans. Video games based on
2599-662: A quarter of the Earth during the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. After being revived from suspended animation in 2267 by the crew of the Starship Enterprise , he attempts to capture the starship but is thwarted by James T. Kirk and exiled to Ceti Alpha V, where he has the chance to create a new society with his people. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , set 15 years after "Space Seed", Khan escapes his exile and sets out to exact revenge on Kirk. In Star Trek Into Darkness , set in
2712-400: A racially diverse crew. In early 1964, Roddenberry presented a brief treatment for a television series to Desilu Productions , calling it "a Wagon Train to the stars". Desilu studio head Lucille Ball was instrumental in approving production of the series. The studio worked with Roddenberry to develop the treatment into a script , which was then pitched to NBC. NBC paid to make
2825-411: A sequel. The studio forced Roddenberry to relinquish creative control of future sequels. The success of the sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , reversed the fortunes of the franchise. While the sequel grossed less than the first movie, The Wrath of Khan ' s lower production costs made it net more profit. Paramount produced six Star Trek feature films between 1979 and 1991, each featuring
2938-420: A series of standalone mini-episodes which air between Discovery and Picard seasons. A new live-action series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , a spinoff of the second season of Discovery and prequel to the original series, premiered on May 5, 2022. Lower Decks , an animated adult comedy series, was released on August 6, 2020, on CBS All Access. Another animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy , premiered on
3051-416: A significant portion of the studio's operations. Voyager became the flagship show of the new United Paramount Network (UPN) and thus the first major network Star Trek series since the original. After Voyager ended, UPN produced Enterprise , a prequel series. Enterprise did not enjoy the high ratings of its predecessors and UPN threatened to cancel it after the series' third season. Fans launched
3164-456: A surprise attack that disables Kirk's ship. Kirk tricks Khan by using a special code to remotely lower Reliant ' s shields, allowing Enterprise to inflict significant damage. Khan is forced to withdraw to make repairs. Using the mind-controlled Terrell and Chekov as spies, Khan captures the Genesis device and leaves Kirk marooned on Regula I . Spock deceives Khan into thinking that Enterprise
3277-641: A television film every two years starting with Section 31 . Many licensed products are based on the Star Trek franchise. Merchandising is very lucrative for both studio and actors; by 1986 Nimoy had earned more than $ 500,000 from royalties. Products include novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon . Star Trek merchandise generated $ 4 billion for Paramount by 2002. Since 1967, hundreds of original novels, short stories, and television and movie adaptations have been published. The first original Star Trek novel
3390-508: A three-episode story arc on Star Trek: Enterprise . In " Borderland ", " Cold Station 12 " and " The Augments ", a 22nd-century scientist is portrayed as having revived genetically engineered embryos from Khan's time and raised them as "Augments". Enterprise producer Manny Coto described these characters as "mini Khan Noonien Singhs". A descendant of Khan, La'an Noonien-Singh, appears in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ; in
3503-474: A time-traveling Romulan agent, attempts to derail human history by assassinating Khan during his youth. She was ultimately stopped by Khan's own descendant, La'an Noonien-Singh ( Christina Chong ), alongside an alternate timeline version of James T. Kirk ( Paul Wesley ), who were sent back in time to preserve the course of history. Khan has been depicted in various novels and comic book publications. As with all non-television and non-film Star Trek material,
Khan Noonien Singh - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-444: 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
3729-452: A wide range of spin-offs including games , figurines, novels , toys, and comics . From 1998 to 2008, there was a Star Trek –themed attraction in Las Vegas . At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The constructed language Klingon was created for the franchise. Several Star Trek parodies have been made, and viewers have produced several fan productions . Star Trek
3842-629: Is a multibillion-dollar industry, owned by Paramount Global. Gene Roddenberry sold Star Trek to NBC as a classic adventure drama; he pitched the show as " Wagon Train to the Stars" and as Horatio Hornblower in Space . The opening line, "to boldly go where no man has gone before", was taken almost verbatim from a U.S. White House booklet on space produced after the Sputnik flight in 1957. Star Trek and its spin-offs have proven highly popular in syndication and
3955-410: Is credited in the scientific literature with inspiring the field of diatom nanotechnology . In 1976, following a letter-writing campaign, NASA named its prototype Space Shuttle Enterprise , after the fictional starship . Later, the introductory sequence to Star Trek: Enterprise included footage of this shuttle which, along with images of a naval sailing vessel called Enterprise , depicted
4068-616: Is crippled, surprising Khan when Enterprise rescues Kirk and escapes to the nearby Mutara Nebula . Goaded into following Kirk, Khan pilots Reliant into the nebula, where shields and sensors are inoperable. Due to Khan's inexperience with three-dimensional space combat, Enterprise defeats Reliant and Khan is fatally wounded. Refusing to accept defeat, Khan activates the Genesis device, intent on killing his foe along with himself. Khan quotes Ahab's words of vengeance from Moby-Dick before dying: "From hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee." Khan appears in
4181-525: Is in pre-production to take the place of one of these series. Star Trek: Prodigy was removed from Paramount+ in June 2023. The series was picked up by Netflix, and season 1 was made available on December 25, 2023. A second season aired later in 2024. Paramount is also planning to create television films for Paramount+ every two years. The first of these movies, Section 31 , will star Michelle Yeoh , reprising her role as Empress Georgiou from Discovery . It
4294-448: Is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also notable for its progressive stances on civil rights . The Original Series included one of the first multiracial casts on US television. As early as 1964, Gene Roddenberry drafted a proposal for the science fiction series that would become Star Trek . Although he publicly marketed it as a Western in outer space —a so-called " Wagon Train to
4407-532: Is presented as having several positive characteristics: he is gracious, smiling, fearless, and generous. He is not threatened by the success of others and encourages their self-esteem. He is also ambitious and desiring a challenge commensurate with his abilities, but this ambition is not tempered by any consideration of the rights of others. Author Paul Cantor asserts that Khan is a mirror image of Kirk, sharing his aggressiveness, ambition, and even his womanizing tendencies, but possessing them in far greater degree. During
4520-450: Is revealed to be a man involved in "The First World Tyranny", named Ragnar Thorwald. The character of Thorwald was more brutal than Khan in the final version, killing guards using a phaser. In the original script, Kirk forgives Ericssen and offers him and his people a chance at a fresh start—something that remained in the final episode—but the character committing murder would have precluded such an ending, as NBC censors would have necessitated
4633-491: Is scheduled to be released in early 2025. Twelve television series make up the Star Trek franchise: The Original Series , The Animated Series , The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , Enterprise , Discovery , Short Treks , Picard , Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Strange New Worlds . All series in total amount to 937 episodes across 49 seasons of television. Paramount Pictures has produced thirteen Star Trek feature films. The first six films continue
Khan Noonien Singh - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-469: Is something to be surpassed". Professor William J. Devlin and coauthor Shai Biderman examined Khan's character compared to the Übermensch and found that Khan's blind pursuit of revenge is against Nietzsche's ideals of transcendence and self-creation of a meaningful life. Instead, the authors offer Spock's self-sacrifice in The Wrath of Khan as a better example of the Übermensch. Montalbán's performance as Khan
4859-507: The Star Wars franchise being rivals in the science fiction genre with many fans and scholars. The Star Trek franchise inspired some designers of technologies, the Palm PDA and the handheld mobile phone. Michael Jones, Chief technologist of Google Earth , has cited the tricorder 's mapping capability as one inspiration in the development of Keyhole/Google Earth. The Tricorder X Prize ,
4972-491: The Botany Bay and realizes their true location. After Khan and his people capture them, Khan confirms that the barren world is in fact Ceti Alpha V; Ceti Alpha VI exploded six months after he and his people had been marooned, and the resulting shock shifted the orbit of their planet. The cataclysm rendered Ceti Alpha V nigh-uninhabitable. Twenty of the survivors, including McGivers, whom Khan had married, were subsequently killed by
5085-472: The Kelvin timeline; three films have been set in this continuity. The newest Star Trek television revival, beginning in 2017, includes the series Discovery , Picard , Short Treks , Lower Decks , Prodigy , and Strange New Worlds , streaming on digital platforms. Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called " Trekkies " or "Trekkers". The franchise spans
5198-404: The Original Series cast in their original roles. In 1987, Paramount responded to the popularity of Star Trek feature films by bringing the franchise back to television with Star Trek: The Next Generation . Paramount chose to distribute the new series as a first-run syndication show rather than a network program. The series was set a century after the original, following the adventures of
5311-408: The Original Series , 11 spin-off television series, and a film franchise ; further adaptations also exist in several media. After the conclusion of the Original Series , the adventures of its characters continued in the 22-episode Star Trek: The Animated Series and six feature films. A television revival beginning in the 1980s saw four spinoff series: The Next Generation , following the crew of
5424-543: The Star Trek franchise beyond Discovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. Kurtzman wanted to "open this world up" and create multiple series set in the same universe but with their own "unique storytelling and distinct cinematic feel", an approach that he compared to the Marvel Cinematic Universe . However, the franchise would not tell a single story across multiple series, allowing audiences to watch each series without having to see all of
5537-508: The "bad guy" be punished for his actions. By the final draft, Khan is Indian; a character guesses that Khan is from Northern India and "probably a Sikh ". Khan's full name was based on that of Kim Noonien Singh, a pilot Gene Roddenberry served with during the Second World War . Roddenberry lost touch with his friend and had hoped that Singh's similar name might attract his attention and renew his old acquaintance. In "Space Seed", Khan
5650-501: The "seed" Kirk has planted will bear in a hundred years. Khan returns as the antagonist in the 1982 feature film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Captain Clark Terrell ( Paul Winfield ) and First Officer Pavel Chekov ( Walter Koenig ) of USS Reliant are searching for an uninhabited world to test the Genesis device, a powerful terraforming tool. They beam down to what they believe is Ceti Alpha VI; however, Chekov soon discovers
5763-556: The 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness , taking place in the alternate timeline established in Star Trek (2009). While the character's backstory remains the same, Khan is revived by Starfleet Admiral Alexander Marcus rather than the crew of Enterprise . Marcus anticipates a war with the Klingons , and forces Khan to develop warships and weapons for Starfleet under the cover identity of John Harrison, holding Khan's shipmates hostage. These developments include advanced long-range torpedoes and
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#17328688480715876-445: The 23rd century, on a mission "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before ". In creating Star Trek , Roddenberry was inspired by C. S. Forester 's Horatio Hornblower series of novels, Jonathan Swift 's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels , the 1956 film Forbidden Planet , and television westerns such as Wagon Train . The Star Trek canon includes
5989-421: The 6th-best character in Star Trek overall. Star Trek Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry , which began with the series of the same name and became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon . Since its creation, the franchise has expanded into various films , television series , video games , novels , and comic books , and it has become one of
6102-405: The 84 crew members of Botany Bay still alive, cryogenically frozen in suspended animation. When Khan's sleep chamber malfunctions, he is transported to Enterprise, where he reawakens and learns he is in the 23rd century. Given spacious quarters while Botany Bay is towed to a starbase, Khan fascinates and charms the ship's historian, Marla McGivers ( Madlyn Rhue ), while using his access to
6215-762: The US space program , working in this quality for NASA from the late 1970s until the late 1980s. In 2020, the US effort to develop a vaccine to protect against COVID-19 was named Operation Warp Speed , which was suggested by a Star Trek fan, Peter Marks. Marks leads the unit at the Food and Drug Administration which approves vaccines and therapies. Clark Terrell This article lists characters from Star Trek in their various canonical incarnations. This includes fictional major characters and fictional minor characters created for Star Trek , fictional characters not originally created for Star Trek , and real-life persons appearing in
6328-582: The activated weapons' warheads aboard Vengeance. Before Khan can attack Enterprise Spock remotely detonates the torpedoes crippling Vengeance. Khan crashes Vengeance in San Francisco in an attempt to destroy Starfleet Headquarters and escape, but is pursued and captured by Spock and Uhura. Khan is placed back into cryogenic sleep along with his crew. Khan appears as a child in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds second season episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", in which Sera ( Adelaide Kane ),
6441-487: The actualization of Star Trek's holodeck in the future by making extensive use of artificial intelligence and cyborgs. Star Trek -based comics have been issued almost continuously since 1967, published by Marvel , DC , Malibu , Wildstorm , and Gold Key , among others. In 2009, Tokyopop produced an anthology of Next Generation -based stories presented in the style of Japanese manga . In 2006, IDW Publishing secured publishing rights to Star Trek comics and issued
6554-434: The advancement of human transportation technology. Beyond Star Trek 's fictional innovations, its contributions to television history included a multicultural and multiracial cast. While more common in subsequent years, in the 1960s it was controversial to feature an Enterprise crew that included a Japanese helmsman, a Russian navigator, and a black female communications officer. Captain Kirk's and Lt. Uhura's kiss, in
6667-523: The adventures of the cast of the Original Series ; the seventh film, Generations , was intended as a transition from original cast to the cast of the Next Generation ; the next three films focused completely on the Next Generation cast. The eleventh film was widely considered to be a reboot of the franchise, despite being a continuation set in an alternate timeline known as the "Kelvin Timeline". Additionally, streaming service Paramount+ intends to release
6780-425: The alternate continuity established in Star Trek (2009), Khan is awakened almost a decade before the events of " Space Seed ". He is given the false identity John Harrison and coerced by Admiral Marcus into building weapons for Section 31 and Starfleet in exchange for the lives of Khan's crew. He ultimately rebels and comes into conflict with the crew of Enterprise . Khan makes his introductory appearance as
6893-511: The ambient I.Q. whenever he's on screen." Christian Blauvelt from website Hollywood.com criticized the casting of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness as being "whitewashed into oblivion". Star Trek: Voyager actor Garrett Wang tweeting, "The casting of Cumberbatch was a mistake on the part of the producers. I am not being critical of the actor or his talent, just the casting." Co-producer and co-screenwriter Roberto Orci addressed
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#17328688480717006-469: The antagonist in the episode " Space Seed ", first broadcast on February 16, 1967. According to the backstory revealed in the episode, Khan is one of a group of genetically engineered superhumans , bred to be free of the usual human mental and physical limitations, who were removed from power after the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. Khan had been both the most successful conqueror and the most benign ruler of
7119-474: The best blockbuster villains in recent memory". Jonathan Romney of The Independent specifically noted Cumberbatch's voice saying it was "So sepulchrally resonant that it could have been synthesised from the combined timbres of Ian McKellen , Patrick Stewart and Alan Rickman holding an elocution contest down a well." The New York Times praised his screen presence saying "He fuses Byronic charisma with an impatient, imperious intelligence that seems to raise
7232-525: 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
7345-475: The box office. CBS turned down several proposals in the mid-2000s to restart the franchise on the small screen. Proposals included pitches from film director Bryan Singer , Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski , and Trek actors Jonathan Frakes and William Shatner. While CBS was not creating new Star Trek for network television, the ease of access to Star Trek content on new streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video introduced
7458-529: The character "one of sci-fi's great villains". In 2002, the Online Film Critics Society's 132 members voted Khan as the 10th-greatest screen villain of all time, the only Star Trek character to appear in the listing. In 2006, Emmy Magazine voted Khan "TV's Most Out-of-This-World Character", beating out other science fiction characters such as the Doctor and Commander Adama . Editors wrote that "Khan
7571-442: The conflicts and political dimensions of Star Trek are allegories of contemporary cultural realities. The Original Series addressed issues of the 1960s, just as later spin-offs have tackled issues of their respective decades. Issues depicted in the various series include war and peace, the value of personal loyalty, authoritarianism , imperialism , class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, sexism , feminism, and
7684-454: 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.'" 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
7797-399: The crew of Botany Bay as criminals sent on a 1,500-year journey to make room on Earth for others. Khan was represented as a Nordic criminal with a "magnificent" body, Harald Ericsson. The producers suggested changes to the outline in a series of memos; in memos dated September 7 and 9, Coon suggested significant changes to Ericsson. "I want to rather do more with him than you have indicated in
7910-673: The end of the second novel, Khan and his followers are placed aboard the Botany Bay by Gary Seven as part of a deal to stop Khan's machinations on Earth. The 2005 follow-up, To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh , relates what happened to Khan and his fellow exiles between the events of "Space Seed" and The Wrath of Khan . A different version of Khan's exile on Ceti Alpha V is depicted in IDW Publishing 's 2010 comic miniseries Khan: Ruling in Hell . From 2013 to 2014, IDW published
8023-405: The episode " Plato's Stepchildren ", was also daring, and is often mis-cited as being American television's first scripted, interracial kiss, even though several other interracial kisses ( e.g. on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ) predated this one. Nichelle Nichols, who played the communications officer, said that the day after she told Roddenberry of her plan to leave the series, she was told
8136-452: The episode, several of the characters express their admiration for the man even as they oppose him, with Kirk referring to him as "the best of the tyrants, and the most dangerous." The character's superhuman appearance and accent (Montalbán was born and raised in Mexico in a Spanish speaking household) strongly differentiate him from most Star Trek characters. After the disappointing response to
8249-453: 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." Some protested Cumberbatch's casting as Khan, believing that
8362-479: The film did not earn as much in the North American box office as its predecessor, internationally, in terms of box office receipts, Into Darkness is the most successful of the franchise. The thirteenth film, Star Trek Beyond , was released on July 22, 2016. The film had many pre-production problems and its script went through several rewrites. While receiving positive reviews, Star Trek Beyond disappointed in
8475-512: The film that Montalbán (who was 61 during filming) is "one strong cookie" and that no prosthetics were applied to the actor's sizeable frame. At no point during The Wrath of Khan are Khan and Kirk in the same location; they speak to each other only over communication links such as view screens. This was due in part to the fact that the set of the Reliant was a redress of the Enterprise bridge, and
8588-425: The film's advertisements that "this is not your father's Star Trek ". The film earned considerable critical and financial success, grossing (in inflation-adjusted dollars) more box office sales than any previous Star Trek film. The plaudits include the franchise's first Academy Award (for makeup ). Two sequels were released. The first sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness , premiered in the spring of 2013. While
8701-406: The first Star Trek feature film, The Motion Picture 's plot and direction, Paramount executives appointed Harve Bennett, a television producer who had never watched Star Trek , to be executive producer for the sequel. Bennett watched all the original series episodes and chose Khan from "Space Seed" as a possible villain for the film. Early drafts of the script had Khan as a shadowy tyrant leading
8814-481: The future of the franchise. Paramount relieved Berman, the franchise producer, of control of Star Trek . In 2007, Paramount hired a new creative team to reinvigorate the franchise on the big screen. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and producer J. J. Abrams had the freedom to reinvent the feel of the franchise. The team created the franchise's eleventh film, Star Trek , releasing it in May 2009. The film featured
8927-489: The genetic superman. IGN ranked Khan as the best Star Trek villain, noting that he set the pattern for revenge-seeking villains in the series; in the decades since the film's release, "even those with a passing interest [in Trek ] know the name." Star Trek producer Rick Berman called the villain "threatening and memorable." Khan is also recognized as a great villain outside of the Star Trek series. The Associated Press called
9040-466: The group, ruling more than a quarter of the Earth's area across Asia to the Middle East from 1992 to 1996 with a firm but generally peaceful hand until he was deposed. While most of the supermen were killed or sentenced to death, Khan and 84 others escaped Earth by way of the sleeper ship SS Botany Bay . Botany Bay is discovered by the crew of the Starship Enterprise in 2267, with Khan and 72 of
9153-415: The idea of reviving the franchise. Filmation with Paramount Television produced the first post–original series show, Star Trek: The Animated Series , featuring the cast of the original series reprising their roles. It ran on NBC for 22 half-hour episodes over two seasons on Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1974. Although short-lived, typical for animated productions in that time slot during that period,
9266-414: The issue of the casting: Basically, as we went through the casting process and we began honing in on the themes of the movie, it became uncomfortable for me to support demonizing anyone of color, particularly any one of Middle Eastern descent or anyone evoking that. One of the points of the movie is that we must be careful about the villain within us , not some other race. In 2016, ScreenRant rated Khan as
9379-473: The most recognizable and highest-grossing media franchises of all time . The franchise began with Star Trek: The Original Series , which premiered on September 6, 1966, on Canada's CTV network. In the US it debuted on September 8, 1966, on NBC . The series followed the voyages of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise , a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in
9492-457: The only surviving animal life, the Ceti eel. Swearing vengeance on Kirk, now an admiral, for abandoning them to die, Khan infests Terrell and Chekov with young Ceti eels; the creatures enter their brains, rendering them vulnerable to suggestion. Khan, intent on seizing control of the Genesis device, then seizes control of Reliant . Khan lures Enterprise to the space station Regula I , and he launches
9605-596: The others. CBS and Kurtzman refer to this expanded franchise as the Star Trek Universe . The second series of the expansion of the Star Trek Universe, Star Trek: Picard , features Patrick Stewart reprising the character Jean-Luc Picard from The Next Generation . Picard premiered on CBS All Access on January 23, 2020. Unlike Discovery , Amazon Prime Video streams Picard internationally. CBS has also released two seasons of Star Trek: Short Treks ,
9718-642: The past, most specifically by ending violence. An extreme example is the alien species known as the Vulcans , who had a violent past but learned to control their emotions. Roddenberry also gave Star Trek an anti-war message and depicted the United Federation of Planets as an ideal, optimistic version of the United Nations. His efforts were opposed by the network because of concerns over marketability, e.g., they opposed Roddenberry's insistence that Enterprise have
9831-426: The presence of his followers inside the torpedoes, and the reasons for his attacks. When Marcus arrives aboard Vengeance and attacks Enterprise , Kirk and Khan work together to take control of Vengeance ' s bridge. Once in control of Vengeance , Khan kills Marcus and demands that Spock return his crew. Spock, having removed Khan's people from the torpedoes, lowers Enterprise' s shields and allows Khan to beam
9944-482: The production costs of the show, owned the international screening rights for the show. This Netflix distribution and production deal ended right before the fourth season premiere of Discovery in November 2021. Discovery has since been exclusive to Paramount Global owned platforms. In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of Discovery , Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand
10057-418: The publications are outside of Star Trek canon . Author Greg Cox penned three Star Trek novels featuring Khan, published by licensee Pocket Books . In the two-volume The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh , Khan is depicted as a North Indian from a family of Sikhs . "Khan" is a title; his adoptive parents are from Chandigarh , Punjab , India and are both eugenic scientists. At
10170-553: The rebranded service Paramount+ first on October 28, 2021, and on December 17, 2021, on Nickelodeon . Prodigy is the first Star Trek series to specifically target younger audiences, and is the franchise's first fully computer animated series. Star Trek saturation would hit a new peak in 2022, with five Star Trek series airing in the same year. The Star Trek: Picard series finale aired in April 2023. Discovery's series finale aired in May 2024. A Star Trek: Starfleet Academy series
10283-473: The role of technology. Roddenberry stated: "[By creating] a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam , politics, and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek : we were sending messages and fortunately they all got by the network. If you talked about purple people on a far off planet, they (the television network) never really caught on. They were more concerned about cleavage. They actually would send
10396-405: The series and tried to raise $ 30 million to privately finance a fifth season of Enterprise . Though the effort garnered considerable press, the fan drive failed to save the series. The cancellation of Enterprise ended an eighteen-year continuous production run of Star Trek programming on television. The poor box office performance in 2002 of the film Nemesis cast an uncertain light upon
10509-463: The series garnered the franchise's only Emmy Award in a "Best Series" category—specifically Outstanding Entertainment Children's Series ; later Emmy awards for the franchise would be in technical categories. Paramount Pictures and Roddenberry began developing a new series, Star Trek: Phase II , in May 1975 in response to the franchise's newfound popularity. Work on the series ended when the proposed Paramount Television Service folded. Following
10622-435: The series include Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Conquest . An MMORPG based on Star Trek called Star Trek Online was developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World . It is set during the Next Generation era, about 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis . The most recent video game was set in the alternate timeline from Abrams's Star Trek . On April 23, 2023, Star Trek: Resurgence ,
10735-414: The series.] I never got to tell him why, because he said, 'You can't. You're part of history.' After the show, Nichols used this public standing to speak for women and people of color and against their exclusion from the US human space program; NASA reacted by asking her to find people for its future Space Shuttle program. Nichols proceeded and successfully brought the first non-white people and women into
10848-527: The ship's technical manuals to learn how to take over and operate Enterprise . McGivers agrees to help Khan revive the other supermen, allowing him to organize an attempted takeover. To coerce the Enterprise crew to cooperate with him, Khan places Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) in the ship's decompression chamber and threatens to kill Kirk unless the crew submits. McGivers cannot stand by as her Captain dies and frees Kirk, who neutralizes Khan's men by using
10961-402: The ship," he said. Director Nicholas Meyer told Montalbán to keep Khan's right glove on at all times in order to give viewers a puzzle about which they could form their own opinions and add mystery to the character. Meyer has been repeatedly asked if Montalbán wore a prosthetic chest for his scenes, as his uniform was purposefully designed with an open front. Meyer replied in audio commentary for
11074-506: The show's ratings, NBC threatened to cancel the show during its second season. The show's fan base , led by Bjo Trimble , conducted an unprecedented letter-writing campaign, petitioning the network to keep the show on the air. NBC renewed the show, but moved it from primetime to the " Friday night death slot ", and substantially reduced its budget. In protest, Roddenberry resigned as producer and reduced his direct involvement in Star Trek , which led to Fred Freiberger becoming producer for
11187-475: The show's third and final season. Despite another letter-writing campaign, NBC canceled the series after three seasons and 79 episodes. After the original series was canceled, Desilu, which by then had been renamed Paramount Television , licensed the broadcast syndication rights to help recoup the production losses. Reruns began in late 1969, and by the late 1970s the series aired in over 150 domestic and 60 international markets. This helped Star Trek develop
11300-555: The stars"—he privately told friends that he was modeling it on Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels , intending each episode to act on two levels: as a suspenseful adventure story and as a morality tale. Most Star Trek stories depict the adventures of humans and aliens who serve in Starfleet , the space-borne humanitarian and peacekeeping armada of the United Federation of Planets . The protagonists have altruistic values, and must apply these ideals to difficult dilemmas. Many of
11413-428: The story outline," he wrote. Believing that Ericsson (misspelled as Erickson in the memo) could be a worthy adversary for Kirk, Coon suggested that the character be "in fact very similar to James Kirk, our captain, except that our captain has made an adjustment to this world and this culture [...] In other words, Carey, build us a giant of a man." The first draft of the script introduced the character as John Ericssen—who
11526-460: The strongest aspects of the film. New Yorker critic Pauline Kael said Montalbán's performance "was the only validation he has ever had of his power to command the big screen." Critic Christopher Null notes that "it is nearly gospel now among Trekkies that... Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the undisputed best of the series, and will likely never meet its equal," and calls Khan the "greatest role of [Montalbán's] career". Though he felt that
11639-509: The success of the science fiction movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Paramount adapted the planned pilot episode of Phase II into the feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The film opened in North America on December 7, 1979, with mixed reviews from critics. The film earned $ 139 million worldwide, below expectations but enough for Paramount to create
11752-507: The television series have also written or co-written books featuring their respective characters: William Shatner , John de Lancie , Andrew J. Robinson , J. G. Hertzler and Armin Shimerman . Voyager producer Jeri Taylor wrote two novels detailing the personal histories of Voyager characters. Screenplay writers David Gerrold , D. C. Fontana , and Melinda Snodgrass have also penned books. A 2014 scholarly work Newton Lee discussed
11865-495: The time-traveling episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", Khan appears as a child played by Desmond Sivan. Benedict Cumberbatch's performance in Star Trek Into Darkness drew praise from critics with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine calling it a "tour-de-force to be reckoned with" and his character "a villain for the ages". Joe Neumaier of New York's Daily News wrote that Cumberbatch delivered "one of
11978-429: The two actors' scenes were filmed four months apart. Montalbán recited his lines with a script assistant, instead of to William Shatner. Montalbán said in promotional interviews for the film he realized early on in his career that a good villain does not see himself as villainous. The villain may do villainous things, but he feels that he is doing them for righteous reasons. Montalbán further stated he always tried to find
12091-429: The villain of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , V'Ger , was more cerebral and interesting, author James Iaccino notes that most fans and moviegoers preferred the archetypical good-versus-evil fight that the struggle between Khan and Kirk represents. Villains in subsequent Star Trek films have been measured by the standard of Khan, with Paramount promising fans that the villain of Star Trek Generations would be equal to
12204-516: The warship USS Vengeance . Khan carries out an attack on a high level Starfleet meeting where Admiral Christopher Pike is killed before fleeing to the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS . Marcus arms the Enterprise with 72 advanced torpedoes and sends Kirk and crew to Qo'noS with orders to kill Khan. Kirk goes against his orders and attempts to capture him alive. Upon learning the number of torpedoes on board Enterprise , Khan surrenders, revealing his identity,
12317-471: Was Mission to Horatius by Mack Reynolds , which was published in hardcover by Whitman Books in 1968. In 1968, Gene Roddenberry cooperated with Stephen Edward Poe, writing as Stephen Whitfield, on the nonfiction book The Making of Star Trek for Ballantine Books . Among the most recent is the Star Trek Collection of Little Golden Books . Three titles were published by Random House in 2019,
12430-566: Was a magazine published in the U.S. that ceased publication in 2003. Star Trek Magazine , originally published as Star Trek Monthly by Titan Magazines for the United Kingdom market, began in February 1995. The magazine has since expanded to worldwide distribution under the name Star Trek Explorer . Other magazines through the years included professional, as well as magazines published by fans, or fanzines . The Star Trek media franchise
12543-433: Was broadcast worldwide. The show's cultural impact goes far beyond its longevity and profitability. Star Trek conventions have become popular among its fans, who call themselves " trekkies " or "trekkers". An entire subculture has grown up around the franchise, which was documented in the film Trekkies . Star Trek was ranked most popular cult show by TV Guide . The franchise has also garnered many comparisons of
12656-458: Was favorably received by critics. Discussing the Star Trek motion pictures, the Associated Press noted that Star Trek films were measured by how menacing their foe was, and that Khan was among the best in the series; a 2002 review of the Star Trek films ranked Khan as the greatest enemy seen in any of the films. Reviewers of The Wrath of Khan , such as Roger Ebert , rated Khan as one of
12769-453: Was so cool we would've bought a Chrysler Cordoba if he'd told us to," alluding to an ad campaign Montalbán appeared in for Chrysler. The character also had a cultural impact outside of Star Trek fandom; a clip from The Wrath of Khan featuring Kirk screaming "Khaaan!" was one popular culture appropriation that became a "popular fad" driving the success of the website YTMND . In 2004, the Star Trek franchise returned to Khan's backstory in
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