Issue 22 of the official Star Trek magazine is hitting newsstands this week and it is all about villains. Khan won an online poll of favorite villain so he gets special attention. We have an excerpt from the feature story, plus an excerpt from the interview Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer below, plus a look at both covers.
Villains Feature extract
In his feature on what makes a good Star Trek villain, Lance Parkin examines the effects of Star Trek II on the rest of the franchise…
The movies have tended to have stronger, or at least more blatant, villains than the television series, and the reason for that can be summed up in one word: “Khaaaaaannnn!!!!”
The second season episode “Space Seed” and its movie sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan presented the show with a rare super-villain. Khan is a warrior scientist; a futurist visionary from the unenlightened past; a man of passion and cold strategies. Movies can’t be as sedentary as some television episodes – much of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Enterprise seems to consist of characters sat around a table explaining to each other what we all just watched in the last 10 minutes. They need more pace, more of an impetus to action. More action.
Nowadays, the movies tend to have one guy who’s a little bit insane, has a personal grudge against the captain (or Spock, in a couple of cases), and has access to some new technology that he’s managed to weaponize. In the grand super-villain tradition, he tends to have a secret origin story that involved him being a normal, even unremarkable individual who suffered some great personal tragedy. He tortures people. Whereas loyalty to Kirk or Picard by his crew is almost always seen as affirmation of how wonderful our captains are, those loyal to the villain are invariably portrayed as paid mercenaries, dupes, cowed, weak-minded ‘followers’ or victims of his hypnotic or mind control powers.
Pitting a charismatic villain against our hero worked in The Wrath of Khan, and it’s only natural that the makers of Star Trek have tried to recapture that a number of times since. They’ve been egged on by fans who’ve come to see The Wrath of Khan as a template for Star Trek rather than, as it was at the time, a pretty systematic rejection of what Star Trek had been to that point.
Nicholas Meyer interview excerpt
Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer talks about this issue’s greatest Star Trek Villain, Khan Noonien Singh…
Did you ever regret that there wasn’t a physical confrontation between Khan and Kirk in Star Trek II?
No. I never gave it a thought. I know that Bill Shatner did. I thought it was cheesy. I can point to a number of films, and a number of real life events, in which the protagonist and the antagonist never meet. It did not concern me over much. I guess I thought that that kind of confrontation with these two people, being gladiators, would be cheesy, stereotyped and familiar.
If there’s a regret that I have – which I didn’t have for the first 20 years and then somebody pointed it out to me, and I thought, “There’s an interesting missed moment” – it’s that Khan never sees Kirk get away. He goes to his death believing that he has succeeded. I wonder, if I’d thought of it, would I have?
I have some ambivalence about taking it away from him, but it’s very interesting that we didn’t even think of it. You play that moment earlier when he realizes that there is no override, and they can’t do anything about raising the shields. That look of consternation – how different would that have been from his look at the end? Other than the man who goes to his death believing that he’s avenged his wife.
Khan has become the gold standard for Star Trek movie villains. Did you have any idea that he would resonate for so long?
Truthfully I can’t say that I predicted anything like his preeminence, or anything like the stature which has been accorded this movie as a total construct. Never.
I did know as I was watching Montalban in his first scenes in the cargo bays that I was watching a very great actor, and I had had no idea. I remember thinking, as I watched him and he was breaking my heart, that he should play Lear. He made some self-deprecating comment about his accent, which
I remember thinking was completely irrelevant. Notwithstanding any Hispanic inflection, his enunciation, his articulation was perfect. That’s as close as I came to realizing that Khan had a kind of Lear-like grandeur when played by this guy. The arrogance and the pain walked hand in hand.
Montalban was not typically an angry guy, not, as some actors, a “squawky bird.” He was a gentleman of a rather old-school cut. Humorous, generous, very smart in a kind of intuitive way.
Star Trek Magazine 22 On Sale Now
Here are the covers for the new Star Trek magazine.
Regular cover
Previews exclusive cover
The magazine should be arriving on newstands this week and can be ordered (at a discount) from TFAW.
You can also Subscribe to get all the upcoming issues of Star Trek Magazine.
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There can be only ONE… Khan.
Anyone else but Ricardo MMontalban would be, quite honestly, inferior.
I see the poll has Khan at a 69% disapproval for the villain in the next JJ Abrams Trek flick.
Therefore, expect to see Khan as the next antagonist for Trek XII.
Wow, no one knew at the time that they missed having Khan see Krik escape just before his death? And no one mentioned it to Meyer until 20 years later? That had always been my “complaint” about the film.
I imagined a blood-curdling “Nooooo!” from Khan just before his death, something to rival Kirk’s “Khaaaaaan!” Though now, all these years later, I do kind of see it as an interesting non-traditional choice (albeit not as viscerally satisfying for the audience), having the villain die thinking he succeeded. Funny to learn that it may have only been that way because it didn’t occur to them to do it the other way!
if you read the book that fills in khan’s life on ceti-alpha five, you will see that he at least deserved the impression that he defeated kirk! he went through a lot in 15 years.
I got this magazine yesterday. Khan FTW!
I don’t know if it would be good idea to bring him back in for another movie, though. Not only would it seem kind of.. I don’t know, over the top(?), but no other actor could top Ricardo’s performance.
Seriously, if they redo Khan they’re going to have hell to pay. I don’t care how good it turns out, its not right.
#4
Good book. Greg Cox, right? I enjoyed all of his Khan books.
out in the UK now as well?
I go to school at the University of Oklahoma and sometimes the school marching band practices near the classrooms. How awesome was it a few minutes ago when I stepped out of class to hear the Star Trek theme being blasted across campus. Very nice.
You can get the new Star Trek movie at Wall Mart’s internet site for $10.00.
if you pre-order with free shipping included.
Target might also be selling it at that price to keep up.
This is according to the LA Times.
Its a great issue, I got mine last week and I still keep reading it again. Although I wish those that subscribe would get the Previews issue whith only Khan on the cover.
@9: That’s awesome. I’d love to hear a Trek theme live someday.
As much as Khan rocks, I’d like the next villain to be someone more like the Romulan Commander from “Balance of Terror”. Not a snarling nutcase, but a normal (-ish) guy who just happens to oppose Kirk and co.
If they do go the snarling nutcase route, however, make sure to cast a really, REALLY Large Ham in the role. It’s more fun that way.
Yeah, I agree! Subscribers should get the Previews issue!
Javier (“No Country for Old Men”) as nuKhan? Maybe. Maybe. :-)
D’oh — I meant, “Javier (‘No Country for Old Men’) Bardem.”
D’oh again, just to be sure.
No Khan!!! We need a to bad guy. or maybe not even that. But a natural thing that could be causing havoc. Or how about a big fleet space battle. But lets have it fresh. Not redone.
If bits of the Narada come through the ‘other side’ of that black hole, a hundred years in the past, and end up lost on some deserted planet forever, their discovery could lead to an excellent scramble between the Klingons and Federation to get their hands on the tech. You could set any number of stories in that.
Could even throw in an ENT reference that way, maybe with NX-02 Columbia getting bludgeoned out of existence by the wreckage as they go to check it out in 2156. Nice continuity with the movie.
Writing credit please!
Why not Khan? What better way to show that even as a remake, nuTrek can rock your world?
I wouldn’t be surprised if O & K, the writers, will consider it a challenge to outdo the masters at seizing movie audiences by the lapel and never letting go for a full two movies, throwing them, exhausted, out the theater doors, with visions of plenty of return trips dancing in their Star Trekkified heads.
Can TWOK be redone, better than ever before? Why not let them try, and see?
But in any event, Khan need not relive the events of TWOK. After all, this is nuTrek, and we’d be looking, dear friends, at nuKhan.
I think it’s cool that Khan died thinking he succeeded. It gave the movie and extra layer of realism. Khan did some very bad things, but he was also human…and the love he had for his wife knew no bounds. He grew insane over the loss of her, and fixated upon Kirk as the reason for her death. This sounds weird, but I think it would have been cruel to rub further salt into the wound.
Khan was a horrible man who did horrible things in his life. He was responsible, after all, for a horrific was — the Eugenics War.
Shed not a tear for Khan — a man worse than Darth Vader, for the fact that he never sought, let alone gained, redemption.
“Horrific war.”
As corrected.
Star Trek Magazine – boring as hell.
@22: What do you actually like about Star Trek, again? What .0001% of the total output of Trek actually receives your vaunted seal of approval?
I have to admit, I’m curious.
@9…I have heard it an Auburn and Vanderbilt game…Nero Approaches…I think they all using it !
I think showing Khan seeing the Enterprise escape would have been distracting and would have appeared contrived. He made his choice: death. It is fitting that his knowledge end there.
And it would be a mistake to try to remake Khan.
23 – I liked the new movie. So, of course the magazine ignores it and gives us 20 year old information about Khan.
“Space Seed” was first season. Remember, the whole “how could he have met Chekov?” debate?
I love Khan! Needs to be ST:2’s villan! Period! He is the best and I can think of over 5 ways he could “look” diffrent in accordance with Trek lore. Bring back Khan! (and The Shat!)
@20
In his mind there was no need for redemption because he was genetically superior to all Human life, including Kirk. He was the ultimate villan! (Better than Darth Vade by FAR!. Mostly since he didn’t have a toaster for a head!)
@17. I’m still not convinced that Nero is dead. He could have travelled through the black hole in a borg-ified escape pod and show up somewhere or sometime else.
In this article Nicolas Meyer is quoted as saying:
“If there’s a regret that I have – which I didn’t have for the first 20 years and then somebody pointed it out to me, and I thought, “There’s an interesting missed moment” – it’s that Khan never sees Kirk get away. He goes to his death believing that he has succeeded. I wonder, if I’d thought of it, would I have?”
I posted almost the exact same comment on this board (or at Trek Today) several months ago. I am so proud of myself.
#27 Well, silly publishers, not making their entire output revolve around what YOU want, instead of taking on board the Star Trek audience’s “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” and attempting to produce something of interest for all.
#8 You’re kidding, right? The publishers might be good at IDIC with the content, but when it comes to actually making sure that we all get the same information at the same time, they’re appalling. Expect it here in the UK in about a fortnight. If we’re lucky.
Dr. Daystrom is a villain? What the hell?
#1
Exactly.
Got my copy yesterday. Loads of interesting tidbits on Khan, Montalban, and Meyer, and an interesting comparison of the Space Seed Khan and the TWOK Khan – worth reading. After all those years, Khan’s still a great, charismatic, complex villain who hasn’t lost any of his barbarous fascination. In contrast, Nero may have a lasting effect as the baddie in a high school performance…:)
30, he is obviously better as a villain than old Darth, no doubt. :-) I meant that he was even more “horrible” as a villain, meaning more evil. As a dramatic figure, he is parsecs beyond any Star Wars equivalent.
Yes, I did say “parsecs,” for good reason. ;-)
In ST09, James Kirk loses nearly every fight. He should have been a hardcore badass like Christian Bale in Batman Begins and particularly in The Dark Knight, Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, Matt Damon in the Bourne trilogy and Liam Neeson in Taken. He should have won the fights against the Starfleet officers, Spock and Nero. The fight between Kirk and Nero was pointless and anticlimactic. A wasted opportunity for an amazing and action-packed fight which would have made Kirk’s triumph at the end all the more emotional and uplifting. He didn’t seem to care about avenging his father. He should have gone after Nero after shooting Ayel. The fight between Jean–Luc Picard and Shinzon at the climax of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) was more satisfying and even the William Riker and Reman Viceroy showdown.
If you start out with a perfect hero, it’s all downhill from there. The premise in ST2009 is that JTK, in this particular reality, is a hard-scrabbling, hard-working, hard-playing orphan who makes it through the ranks to become the Federation’s greatest hero.
Whatever the prime universe’s version of Kirk was, JJ’s Kirk is intentionally NOT the boy wonder whose path is paved with gold.
That said, he held his own against a covy of Federation cadets raring to defend their own. He only lost because Uhura, startled by his red-blooded reaction when his hands found unintended targets during the fight, threw him to the wolves.
Q was great in the beginning, then he turned gay…
Somebody mentioned this a while back, but the next villain for ST: Something Something should be a Vulcan.
Wouldn’t it be ‘logical’ to preserve one’s own species and protect them from extinction?
“To hunt a species to the brink of extinction is not logical.” – a certain Ambassador…
I hope the Borg Queen, Chang, Gul Dukat and all are higher than Nero. The villains I mentioned are all better than Nero and I will feel annoyed if he is high up because I thought he was a weak villain
I don’t want to see another episode of Space Seed in movie form, if there is to be a Khan, he should be leading a Klingon attack against both Romulans and the Federation. Here’s a scenario, the Klingons, who are totally peeved at the Romulans for attacking them in ST11, accidentally come up upon the Botany Bay. They take Khan aboard, he somehow gets their confidence and rises through their ranks by launching successful attacks against the Romulans. Then Khan is sent with a fleet of Klingon birds-of-prey to attack the Federation, only Kirk is there to kick is butt.
Brilliant if i do say so myself!!!
There is now the same formula with a starship crew on a mission which has been done to death and has become repetitive and monotonous. The sequel(s) needs a new and original story. A premise similar to the approach that 24 uses can be adopted in which the story becomes continuously larger and more complex with many storylines, key characters and several villains. Starfleet Intelligence always seemed to me to be an good idea which could have been utilised. It isn’t worth recycling old stories or old villains, no matter how good they were before.
I hope the sequel will feature every Star Trek character ever and that Paramount in now in contact with every living actor for the sequel.
As much as I love Khan. Its time for Trek with its clean slate to explore other things. When I need my Khan fix I will pop in my Blu-ray.
33 WTF are you babbling on about.
For some reason, it bothers me that Nero seems to be sharing the same stage (or shall I say cover?) with truly great villians like Khan and Q. In my opinion, Nero was a throwaway villain just like Kruge and Ru’afo. In the film, he wasn’t smart or cunning, he was just some crazy SOB whose appeal was derived more from outside sources (comic books) than the actual storyline in which he engaged the protagonists. I’ll have to pick up the issue and see if they say anything about Chang. Now THAT was a great villain.
mmm … perfect enunciation and articulation… How I would have given my left foot for an iota of that in the new Star Trek.
My goodness – Dr. Daystorm looks like Jimmy Smits in the magazine photo excerpt up top. (And why is there a pic of Kirk in the spread on ‘Villains” ??