William Shatner Weighs In On Khan In Star Trek Sequel Debate July 23, 2010
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Celebrity, Shatner, Star Trek sequel (2013) , trackback
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:
http://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.
#49
Or in a less disgusting metaphor: the tracing paper is worn out. Time for the sketchbook. ;)
I really don’t understand Orci and Kurtzman. I have been following the posts on what the fans feel for having Khan in the next movie. The fans are overwhelmingly negative, as in this article as well as the previous articles. And yet they keep saying they are considering it and will listen to the fans. I don’t know what to make of it, but they are not responding to what the fans are saying.
Shatner is exactly right. There is a lot of imagination out there…and that is what Star Trek is all about. If the next movie is about Khan, it would only reflect a lack of imagination…by Orci and Kurtzman.
I agree with Shatner. Bob Orci, what say you?
I still think a cool opening shot for the next movie would be a Klingon ship blowing up the Botany Bay.
My feelings on Khan is this. If they have good story then fine use him. Khan to me is like what the Joker is to Batman. He is a great villian and I would love to see more of him. But at the same time I would like to see this new crew of the Enterprise have a villian that was not revenge driven.
The Shat, he speaks truth!
You have a lovely, pristine blank slate to work on. Why trace? :)
Here’s a notion, though: Khan as the villain in Mission Impossible 4…
@51: Ah jeez, my metaphor is 4 posts late… :(
27. Nothing at this point will make me like this new direction
No one is forcing you to keep coming here. Seriously, give it some thought.
Shatner is correct. What is the point of rebooting the franchise if you tell the same stories?
It would be cool just to have a throwaway scene with one of the crew (probably our resident whiz kid Chekov) caught reading the political writings of Khan Noonien Soong. I can see Sulu or Scotty rolling their eyes and chiding him for his choice in reading materials.
#56
Sorry Carl. But not matter how many times the metaphor for originality is posted, it still rings just as true. I just hope a certain screenwriter is listening…
How about showing the S.S. Botany Bay at the end of the next movie… No Khan appearance, no one disturbing him or his crew, perhaps maybe something affecting the ship that shows an internal monitor on the Botany Bay showing “Course Altered.”
After all, this is the New Star Trek. You wouldn’t expect the exact same events to occur in all instances…
59 – Bingo.
Mr Shatner is correct. No Khan.
#60
Uh, that’s “NO matter how many times…” Damn my clumsy fingers.
KHANNNN!
Shatner hasn’t even seen the first film, so what “input” he has is irrelevant.
I’m sure Michael Keaton thought the same thing about having The Joker being the villian of “The Dark Knight”….they’ve done it already, Jack was the best, etc.
Let the new TREK Supreme Court do what they need to tell a great story. If they want Khan: make it so.
You know, I’ve been pulling for the Space Amoeba this entire time.
I really dont understand the desire some people have for a WOK remake.
Was it a joke all along that got out of hand? Did it start as a joke & someone took it seriously like bigfoot, or nessie? I really dont know.
Considering that “The God Thing” became ST TMP and again in FF, could you have Khan but not Khan? What about a Mirror Universe story featuring Shatner as Emperor Tiberius and a nice guy Khan fighting for equal rites and suing a fast food chain for using beef fat to fry their fries?
Suppose Mirror Khan is more like Jackie Chan, cute & lovable.
It could happen…
#66
Sure, one of the guys who made Star Trek an [original] success in the first place can’t have an opinion on originality. Well, buddy, I certainly hope you enjoy the remakes… again… and again… and again…
the only thing they need to do is follow star trek tng the tv shows lead and bring back the music of star trek 2. Thier is only one khan and he’s gone. The secret to every great villan is thier voice, from robert englund to doug bradley to james earl jones. Montalbon was terrific as khan because of the enunciations in his voice, something no actor could ever replace any more than replacing james earl jones bassy unique voice as darth vader.
If i see one thing Id like to happen is they get the hell rid of the damned terrible 2009 music and go back to the star trek 2 music, forget khan. The borg would be terrific to see again, we only got first contact with them.
At least pine is right on for wanting to bring humor back to kirk, they need to bring back humor and comradrie between kirk,spock and bones. Way too much fighting in the first episode.
#68 – He has nothing to do with the current version, making excuses for not seeing it, even when his good friend Nimoy asked. His EGO won’t allow for it. He signed away his right to an opinion then.
If you mean remake like “The Dark Knight” was a remake then by all means DO IT! It wouldn’t be WOK because Khan hasn’t even met Kirk yet!
Shatner hasn’t been involved in Trek since 1992. It’s fun to hear what he thinks about Trek, but really, he’s not directing it so who cares?
#70
No, I meant a remake of Space Seed. And my comment had nothing to do with The Dark Knight. By remakes I was referring to The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Avengers, Predators, The Wicker Man, Alfie, Bad News Bears, Flight of the Phoenix, Guess Who, The Invasion, The Longest Yard, Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes… Are you seeing a pattern here?
And how exactly was The Dark Knight a remake? Other than the same hero and villain being involved, I see little resemblance to Batman ‘89. The underlying themes, plot points, visual design, secondary characters, and endings were vastly different.
And, yes, Shatner may have an ego the size of V’ger, but that still doesn’t mean he can’t venture an opinion about a still theoretical storyline. Someone asked him about reusing Khan. What was he supposed to do? Change the subject and start talking about his horses?
I agree with the shat. Orci and Kurtzman are far too imaginitive to go back and re tread over whats been done already. Like shat says, go off and explore something totally new!
ST:TWOK is a classic and by going back and remaking that specific story would be a bit irritating cos i’d always be comparing it to the original and i just dont think it would measure up.
mmmmm AFIRMATIVE! (adjusts glasses and continues to watch Conan O’Brian)
Agree.
Thank you Shatner! How about a film based on the City on the Edge of Forever?
Agree No Khan!, how many more times does it need to be said.
Bring Shatner on as creative consultant?
they should remake Space Seed shot for shot like Gus Van sant remade Psycho
i think the fans would love that
Thank you, Mr. Shatner.
Now ask Nimoy what he thinks of bringing back Khan.
Agreed!
However, how about working in Gary Mitchell this time around? And his tragic “heroic” death??
No Khan !
No to Khan Trek.
Ok. Lets have something new. No Khan except maybe a bit of a teaser at the end where we see the S.S Botney Bay and the music Cues and we all havt to wait. The Dooms day machine would be kinda cool. Or Nomad. But no Mudd. I like a Gorn Movie. Hey it could be called Star Trek. The Gorn Idenety. Ok. Maybe not.
It seems to me, and I could be wrong, that Shatner isn’t to keen on all the changes made in Star Trek 11 but holds his tongue because he’s friends with Abrams and Nimoy.
Shatner as Khan:
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Shat is right — as usual!
Star Trek 09 WAS the remake of the Wrath of Khan. Instead of losing Spock at the end you lose the planet Vulcan. Shatner is right, move on already.
For me William Shatner has been and always will be Star Trek. The one upon whom the entire Trek universe was built and depended upon.
If in Shatners infinite wisdom concerning the Trek universe that Khan should not be redone then that should really close the door on that idea.
There’s no way they could replicate the screen presence of Montalban, nor the impact/ emotion of TWOK… no matter who was cast.
Go forward, create new characters and situations… expand these new “versions” of the original cast in unpredictable ways. Stop relying on the need to reinvent everything simply because it’s known to be beloved by the fans.
Trek was best when it was a social commentary about our world today… and there seems to be a ton of problems and issues we are dealing with in reality that could be reflected on in a new Trek story.
That should be the main goal of the new movie.
85.
How does one twist Shatner speaking against doing the same old thing into “Shatner doesn’t like change”? Well, I guess the haters do quite a bit of twisting.
In the new timeline, Khan and Kirk have had no interaction. Until the new timeline Khan has a reason to be angry at Kirk, then he would not be seeking revenge.
sometimes I think it might be a good idea todo a new khan, my better judgement says it will be a spoof
@57: “No one is forcing you to keep coming here. Seriously, give it some thought.”
But I want to keep coming here.
# 92 In the new timeline, The enterprise finds the botany bay, khan (again) is awakened and then takes over the ship. Khan is a war criminal no matter when he wakes up. However this time around, his (future) wife is killed on the enterprise. Thus setting up 20 years of revenge plotting that occurs in Star Trek 2 the wrath of Khan.
I also have been reading the posts regarding the Khan issue. As much as I understand the need to explore strange new worlds, It’s more important to keep the franchise strong. Let’s not follow the director of Star Trek V’s advice.
The fans will show up to see 2012’s Space seed , Just to see how bad it is. I have the feeling they will then call their friends..”Man, You have got to see this!!”
I hope the writers develop the dramatic common sense to realize that not every villain/situation needs to threaten Earth, the Federation, or the entire Universe. It seems to me there is more drama in a situation that could just kill our beloved crew.
Too many movies, including Trek09, create a generic threat to some anonymous disposable victims, and focus on how the heroes defeat it. The best Trek episodes (and WoK) focused on the crew itself being in danger, sometimes from a villain, sometimes from a disease or even just a malfunction. In WoK, Genesis was a “MacGuffin”. The drama came from Khan trying to kill our Enterprise family. Nobody would cry if some villain blew up the entire Earth – but remember when Spock died?
the hard-core fans might not want Khan, but i think the new main-stream audience might like Khan re-imagined. I say… give it shot. Lets see what they can do with Khan, but lets not have him in the 2nd film…. lets set up the character for the 3rd movie.
By his own logic then, Bill should realize that he should not be in the next film either.
I don’t think Khan will be in it.
I don’t think Khan will be in it.
I don’t think Khan will be in it.
I don’t think Khan will be in it.
I’d take Khan over a Shatner cameo – I would not hesitate. It may not be too creative using Khan, however it isn’t convoluted storytelling like Generations. There would just be too much work to get Kirk prime in the story.
Personally like #97 said I’d love to see a third movie with Khan and a set up in this next film. I’d love to see some strange new worlds and some Klingons in the mix before we get to a Khan re-hash.
I agree with Shat!
no to Khan…but yes to Sybok and rockmen
On man, there really wasn’t any point whatsoever in rebooting the ‘Trek’ movie series using an ‘alternate timeline’, if it’s not used to give audiences some totally fresh movie storylines/characters that haven’t been done for the big screen already!
If the makers/writers are only going to re-hash storylines that have been previously been done perfectly already, then they shouldn’t have bothered with the ‘alternate timeline’ nonsense in the first place…and just given a straightforward ‘reworking’ of the original TOS ’source material/characters’.
If they *can’t* manage come up with something TOTALLY ORIGINAL of their own, then I’d far rather the makers/writers re-use one of the many other NON-Khan storylines from TOS, and transfer *that* to the big screen in a big-budget way instead!
If a Wrath of Khan reboot is what we end up with, then I’ll know this rebooted franchise is truly devoid of any true imagination with the current makers/writers in charge. Do not ‘make it so’…
My friend is still driving her Reliant, from Chrysler, for them Ricardo Montalban was paid to say “Cordoba” in English even though his father was from there, in the Spanish, different, he once said. I see here he’s only mentioned a few times, a theater I heard named after him, I think William Shatner first saw him dancing in the theater. Probably not a good idea, I saw it with “Airplane” and they both are “special”.
They already did their version of Khan in the _last_ film.
Khan sucks. What they need to do is get the villain from the episode “Space Seed” from the original series! THAT GUY WAS BADASS.
Bring in Q to throw the fans off.
please no Khan no one can out do the original
Gotta love the Shat. I agree wholeheartedly..
Straight from the man himself, I could not have said it better. He and his story with Khan should be the only one(s) out there.
Although I have to admit I heard an interesting story line or possible story on a recent edition of the TrekCast podcast dealing with a “what if” script of how Khan got that DY100 space ship back in 1992.
Great assessment there. I agree. One of the great storylines I have been kicking around in my head that I would secretly love to see is going back to Talos IV. Possibly giving the Talosians more sinister ideologies, but that would have to be done perfectly to pull-off.
May you find your way as pleasant…
Pleaaaaassssee No Khan. I would have to downgrade my opinion of the writers if they went that route. They really have a great imagination, to create a movie that is a prequel, sequel and reboot all at the same time, and to have a movie that opens up possibilities and still adhere to existing canon (alternate universe). Do something new, please. You can still have a villain that has echoes of Khan, but please, take us where we have not gone before. As time goes on, I become more adamant about my feeling that Khan would be a bad idea. Any actor who would undertake such a role would be held to an impossibly high standard (and not just by Trekkies). Any differences or perceived mocking of Ricardo Montalban would be perceived very poorly. There is a whole universe of possibilities out there. Impress us.
Mr. Shatner is of course correct.
#113, so if Khan is in the next film and Shatner isn’t, then the film makers are wrong?
i want to see a next generation original series crossover, for the next movie featuring the “Q”
I just read some comment from some guy who actually wrote they should do Khan and they can do it better! HOW? Richardo nailed it. STII is by far the best Trek film ever done.
I would have to agree. Why do we need to see STII done again? They erased all the previous Trek so they can do anew. So do something NEW! I don’t need to see 5 versions of the same story. Come up with something new. The last time I checked there are just more than 12 books in the public libraries and book stores.
Agreed,
No Kahn is needed.
Don’t do Khan again. Big mistake. And don’t have any time travel again. This is the first new cast movie where Kirk starts out as the captain, and because of that, they have to get it right or the franchise will start downhill.
I’d have some kind of war with the Klingons.
i would have to agree no khan remake !! come on guys there is so much to choose from all the past movies but this is a new timeline!! so new a new frontier!!! so boldly go where no one has gone before!!!! we’ve got 2 spocks now old spock has the knowledge from the old timeline and its past including how to build faster ships weapons ………..you name it!!! think about it guys there is room for some amazing upgrades in technology and also insight into the bad guys of the future (in another timeline) old spock is the key lets think about Q, the dominion, ahhhhh my head is bulging with ideas take the fight to there doorstep or something!!! come on i cant wait anyway!!!!
OK, SO they want to keep re-doing old stuff but still make it big enough and original enough for the fans? Why not make a movie of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens epic novel “Federation”? Adrik Thorsen would make an excellent villain.