William Shatner Weighs In On Khan In Star Trek Sequel Debate

Another voice has weighed in on the issue of Khan in the Star Trek sequel, and it is the same voice that made the "Khaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" yell immortal in Star Trek II. At Comic Con William Shatner was asked if he thought that JJ Abrams and team should bring Khan back for the sequel. It turns out Bill has an opinion on that. Also, the man Bill is playing in his upcoming sitcom $#!* My Dad Says has an opinion of Shatner. All that below

 

Shat says no to Khan

IDW talked to Shatner briefly at Comic Con and got him to weigh on on the question of bringing back Khan Noonien Singh for the Star Trek sequel. Shatner says no:

I think that would be… In my opinion, if it were me, I wouldn’t go back to that well again. I’m not saying that it can be done in a good way, but there’s just so much imagination out there. There’re so many new things that could be explored. Why tap in to what’s been done twice already?

 

"$#!* My Dad Says" Dad Says Yes To Shatner

William Shatner is starring in the new CBS sitcom $#!* My Dad Says, which is based on the real life Sam Halpern, father of Justin Halpern, author of the popular @shitmydadsays on Twitter. Justin Halpern says Shatner was his first choice to play the father on the sitcom version of $#!* My Dad Says, but he tells PopcornBiz that his dad originally wanted James Earl Jones. But after seeing the taping of the pilot, Sam Halpern became convinced that "the Star Trek fella" was the right man for the job.

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well said Shat – let’s have something original for the sequel – and really boldly go where no-one has gone before.

Yes, I agree Bill.

Agreed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m in agreement with Bill on this one.

I agree with Bill’s sentiment 100%

Please…something new. I don’t want to be watching remakes, there are enough of those out there anyway.

William Shatner to play Khan in new sequel!!

There you go, Orci & Kurtzman. If this doesn’t settle the issue, I don’t know what will. Perhaps maybe a séance and Q and A session with Ricardo Montalban’s and Gene Roddenberry’s spirits?…

Anyway, NO KHAN!

The Shat has spoken. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Go forth, my sons, and create something new and exciting with just enough of the old sprinkled in for nostalgia’s sake (like the last film)!!

:)

I love Bill!

I think we’re all a-tremble for a rousing sequel to Turnabout Intruder?

Couldn’t of said it better myself, right on Shat.

If the Shat says Khan’s a bad idea, then Khan’s a bad idea.

@10

You betcha’. :P

If they went back to Khan, they’d have to make two movies about it. Where ST09 left off, Kirk had just gotten the Enterprise. They hadn’t found Khan yet and Kirk hasn’t betrayed him. The first movie would have to do that, a few movies would have to pass, then Khan would reappear and take his anger out on Kirk.
Like Shat said, It’s been done.

There was only one Khan and for that matter one Kirk, so definitely not

please guy listen to the shat on this one and dont bring back khan

THE SHAT HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NO KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam Helpern wanted James Earl Jones as the father in “Bleep My Dad Says?” Now THAT would have been funny!

Shat sums up my exact feelings on Khan. Bravo, Bill!

Yes, please. It’s time to “explore strange new worlds and to seek out new civilizations”. You know, what Star Trek used to be about before it got a case of “forehead of the week” syndrome.

“There’re so many new things that could be explored. Why tap in to what’s been done twice already?”

I’ve been asking that very same question ever since Trek09 was going to be about the original crew again. What a waste.

Bill is wise in the way of Khan…

Has he even seen the new movie yet??

I agree with Bill not to do Khan – been there done it already

I still think that fresh ideas mixed with some of the familiar will make the best films in the Star Trek universe. Remember what a lasting impression ‘In a Mirror, Darkly’ made? That was a fresh story on a very old idea. If you are doing two movies at once there is even more room to mix the beloved Klingons on top of the latest science fiction concepts with a dash of Harcourt Fenton Mudd.

Well … whatever they do surely can’t be worse than Star Trek 09

I love Mr. Shatner, but he thought looking for God was a good idea.

“Been there done it already”
“It’s been done”
“Please…something new.”
“let’s have something original for the sequel”

This is so epic beyond words. Everyone is begging for something new, yet the very purpose of what Trek09 did was be anything but new. You have the Enterprise, the original time frame where the series took place and the original freaking crew. And if you want these writers to honor and respect what’s come before it, you can’t say that Khan isn’t out there or that the Doomsday Machine will turn around and change it’s mind about consuming planets.

As long as we’re in this NuUniverse, all it will do is copy and paste other people’s work and rely heavily on the work that was done before. You want something new? Leave the original crew alone and start somewhere else that we haven’t been to yet with characters we don’t know. A ship, colony, freighter, I don’t care. As long as we’re with the original crew, Star Trek is not going to be new.

So am I against Khan being in the movie? No. I’m not against because I don’t care. Nothing at this point will make me like this new direction because it undos everything. A Star Trek with a rich history full of characters, events, tragedies and accomplishments has all been undone. If the prime universe is unaffected by what happens in this universe, why should I care?

I do agree. Lets not tred old ground. The Kahn Idea be a remake of the character, and nothing new and original. Besides, can you imagine anyone beating Montalbon? I known I can’t

For once I agree with Shatner.

No Khan !! Strange New Worlds please for a change !!

I agree with Shatner. No khan.

Khan was a way of discussing an important issue — namely genetics (a big part of Nazi ideology which was central to the largest war the world had EVER seen). If you aren’t going to talk about the issues that Khan was created to address, then you have no place putting him in. It’s a mistake. Star Trek is about ideas. If you don’t have the idea, you leave the personification of that idea OUT. Plus, Shatner’s right about the vastness of ideas out there — go dig up something new…

27 there is plenty of Trek material out there with new ships and crew.

#26 No he thought looking for the almighty and finding the devil was a good idea. It was. It was just a very poor script, which was the result of studio interference (they wanted it light hearted with gags in it like Trek 4). Had Shatner been allowed to fulfil his original premise, it would have been much darker but being a first time director he gave in to compromises.

I completely agree with Shatner!

NO KHAN!!!
NO KHAN!!!
NO KHAN!!!

Please don’t rehash KHAN!!!

There was last year a poll about Khan on TrekMovie:

https://trekmovie.com/about/index/pollsarchive/?poll_page=11

Khan in Star Trek sequel?

* Yes, he is the superior villain (6%)
* Maybe, but with a different spin (25%)
* No, been there, done that (twice) (69%)

Total Votes: 780

Start Date: November 3, 2009 @ 7:32 pm
End Date: No Expiry

CAN WE HAVE A NEW KHAN POLL PLEASE?

I really like to vote in a current poll with ideally only two choices:

Khan in Star Trek sequel?

– Yes
– No

31. I agree, no Khan but genetic engineering is still a relevent topic and will continue to be in the future, even more so.

Right on Bill- you cannot beat perfection. Even though half of the next gen movies desperately tried to remake Khan. Can’t do it. And why? Re-watch the whole series again JJ if you need inspiration. Space Seed was one of a dozen classic episodes you could mine for something new. Going back to that well can only invite a poor comparison. And if you somehow, god forbid, remake Khan better, you crap on everything Trekkies hold dear. That’s a no-win scenario…

#35 – It totally IS a relevant topic. Especially considering the debates on stem cells. But if the movie isn’t going to talk about those issues, it shouldn’t use Khan. That’s all I’m saying. Khan is about something… so use him to get those points out there.

I think bill is just worried that there won’t be any room for him in the next movie.

Or a clever bit of business manuvering, Perhaps when Trek 2012 : Space seed is released in a 4 disc blu-ray set along with the 30th anniversary edition of The wrath of Khan. That shatner will hold out on promoting it until he gets the money he wants.

My money and paramounts money is on KHAN! All the way!!! there is no stopping it. and when that movie is completed, then star trek may indeed explore strange new worlds, much like Star Trek the motion picture.

Yea leave it alone, new adventures new time line.

I worship Shatner, but I actually think Khan would be a great idea for the sequel.

But Shatner has spoken, so I’ll settle for HIM being in the sequel, then! :)

I agree with Shatner. It could work, but there is an entire new universe to explore…Beyond that what are the odds that they could top TWOK?

37. Even if they wanted to touch on that topic I think they should stay clear of Khan

You’re a wise man, Sam Halpern.

You’re a wise man, William Shatner.

#26

And the makers of the last movie thought beaming Scotty into a Double Dare challenge was a good idea.

If Khan is brought in, it should be brief, just to give a nod to it. Or maybe the villain in the new movie could be closely tied to him.

#42 – hehe… agreed. But I don’t want to sound close-minded. :P

Thinking of Khan as a greatest nemesis for Kirk or an exciting villain is the wrong way to handle him in my opinion. He is an idea. And his relevance will disappear as soon as they forget that — like with the Klingons in DS9 or the Borg in Voyager.

Raping the corpse of the definitive Trek movie be creatively bankrupt. Every Trek movie after WoK reused scenes, themes, and dialogue from from it. We’re done. It’s perfect. Leave it alone.

That said – no Klingons either. Mudd or Mirror! Neither have had any big screen exposure and both would be fondly anticipated by the public,.

46. Right again

#26 And the makers of Nemesis thought having another Data would be spectacular. I could do this all day.

#49

Well, I don’t have all day, so I guess we’ll just have to agree there’s been some seriously questionable creative decisions in Treks past. It still doesn’t diminish Shatner’s opinion that having Khan in the sequel is a bad idea. The writers have a clean slate now. Why rehash an old story that was done so well in Space Seed/TWOK? We’ve enough remakes, reboots, reimaginings, and requels coming out of Hollywood.

The sewer is overflowing. Let’s find new ground.