Khaaaan?
The showrunner of Paramount+’s upcoming new Star Trek series Strange New World confirmed fandom speculation that there’s a significant link to the franchise’s greatest villain in the new show.
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Previously, actress Christina Chong was announced as playing a series regular named La’an Noonien-Singh in the show. Fans know Captain Kirk’s superhuman nemesis Khan was named Khan Noonien Singh. During the show’s Television Critics Association panel on Tuesday, co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman was asked if it’s fair to assume this new character is related to the infamous Khan.
“She’s related to Khan, for sure, and, uh, and the deal will unfold…” Goldsman said. “We don’t want to bring folks into the show to be splashy. We want to dig deeply into characters that are part of our ensemble and then, obviously, we’re open to getting our arms … but right now, what you see is what you get.”
While that comment is a bit guarded, it hints that Khan will eventually make an appearance, just not until after the current cast is established (at the end of the first season finale, for instance, would be right in line with the sort of revelations that sister series Star Trek: Discovery has done previously).
Strange New Worlds is a direct prequel to The Original Series which first introduced the character, so the timeline roughly works.
Khan was memorably played by a scenery chewing Ricardo Montalbán, most memorably in 1982’s Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. The character was also played by Benedict Cumberbatch in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.
Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike as he leads the U.S.S. Enterprise in the years before Captain Kirk. The show is billed as a return to the classic planet-of-the-week space exploration format of the original Star Trek series. It also stars Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are co-showrunners of the CBS Studios series.
Strange New Worlds begins May 5 on Paramount+.
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