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16 things you might not know about Star Trek's beloved villain Khan
Earlier this week, Ricardo Montalban of Fantasy Island and Star Trek fame died at the age of 88. Although he worked on a variety of film and TV projects, he was particularly beloved by Star Trek fans for his portrayal of the charismatic villain Khan Noonien Singh, who first appeared in the TV episode "Space Seed" and later helped revive the Trek franchise as the show-stealing antagonist in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Khan was as mysterious as he was popular, though, and we found 16 things that even Star Trek fans might not know about the lovable superhuman tyrant.
♦ In the first treatment for "Space Seed," there was no Khan. Instead, the villain that would become Khan was first written as a Nordic superman named Harold Erricsen. That's right, Harold.
♦ In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan and Kirk never see each other face to face, nor did the actors. "I had to do my lines with the script girl, who, as you might imagine, sounded nothing like Bill [Shatner]," Montalban told the Toronto Sun.
♦ Khan's bridge scenes on the Reliant were filmed on the same set used for Kirk's bridge scenes on the Enterprise. Producers just redressed the set, which is one of the reasons the actors filmed their roles four months apart.
♦ Although Khan recognizes Chekov at the beginning of the movie, Chekov never appeared in the original Star Trek episode where they presumably would have met the first time. His character did not join the show until later.
♦ An early draft of the script would have had Khan and Kirk actually confront one another in person during a scene that lasted a whopping 12 pages.
♦ In another version of the script, Kirk's mission was to calm a rebellion being led by his son. But guess who was really behind the uprising? Khaaaan!
♦ Director Nicholas Meyer told Montalban to keep Khan's right glove on at all times to add mystery to the character. Viewers were left to form their own theories about why he wore the glove.
♦ There were persistent rumors that Montalban's bulging chest had been artificially enhanced for the role of Khan. In fact, the production designer created the open-chest outfit specifically to highlight the 61-year-old's robust physique.
♦ Montalban wasn't the only buff character in the movie. All of Khan's men were played by Chippendale dancers.
♦ Many reviewers, including Roger Ebert, considered Montalban's performance a highlight of the film and a key reason why it was successful. Khan was later voted the 10th greatest screen villain of all time by the Online Film Critics Society.
♦ Montalban's TV performance was singled out, too. Khan from "Space Seed" beat out the original Cmdr. Adama and the Doctor for Emmy Magazine's title of "TV's Most Out-Of-This-World Character."
♦ Executive Producer Harve Bennett had never seen an episode of Star Trek when he was hired onto the film, so he sat down and watched all the episodes. Deciding that what the previous film lacked was a good villain, he settled on Kahn Noonian Singh. Thanks, Harve!
♦ We almost didn't see Khan in Star Trek II at all, though. An early draft of the film featured two new villains instead, called Sojin and Moray.
♦ Khan's wrath almost didn't make it into the movie either. The original title was The Vengeance of Khan, but was changed in deference to another science fiction movie then in the works, Revenge of the Jedi. (Which, as we all know, later ended up having its own title changed as well!)
♦ If you want to know more about Khan, look for a trilogy of novels by Greg Cox that feature his rise on Earth and also his struggles on Ceti Alpha V after being stranded there. The first one is The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume One.
♦ And if you're wondering where Khan's name came from, look no further than Gene Roddenberry, who named the character after his friend Kim Noonien Singh.
Thanks to Wikipedia and various Star Trek sites for providing all the Khan details.
By Ric17 at 7:54 PM ON 01/16/09
Ricardo Montalban created such an iconic character and his performance is one of the reasons this film is the best of the Trek series!
By Mandy at 8:15 PM ON 01/16/09
It's hard to believe he was sixty one when he was such a great villain. So many people see a sixty-one-year-old and worry they'll break a hip but not this guy. He was fantastic.
By JUSTATHOUGHT at 8:29 PM ON 01/16/09
Ricardo Montalban's Performance Was DEFINITELY One Of The Highlights Of The Film,But Let's Not Forget The Death Of Spock.Call Me Soft, But It Still Brings A Tear To The Eye All These Years Later.
By The12thCylon at 10:18 PM ON 01/16/09
Why Are We Typing The First Letter Of Our Words In All Caps?
By Mandy at 10:32 PM ON 01/16/09
Maybe it's some sort of secret code. :-P
By xai at 11:49 PM ON 01/16/09
Wrath of Kahn was a good movie with a bad ending. It would have been better to see Kahn escape and more logical to become a greater recurring villain. Maybe Kahn could become a Federation Pirate and stir up revolutions against the Federation.
Spocks death was a cinematic disaster that lead to Star Twreck III. Star Trek III would have been better with Kahn reprising his role again and Spock should have survived.
By lf at 12:13 AM ON 01/17/09
He was an incredible actor in that film. He played the role so well, and was in such good shape.
In several interviews and public speeches, Montalbán described "the five stages of the actor" as follows:
1. Who is Ricardo Montalbán?
2. Get me Ricardo Montalbán.
3. Get me a Ricardo Montalbán type.
4. Get me a young Ricardo Montalbán.
5. Who is Ricardo Montalbán?
By Raven at 1:49 AM ON 01/17/09
He had a unique charm he gave all his characters. Good.......and....not so good. As Khan would probably say. Good, and Evil is merely a matter of perspective. I prefer to call myself.......determined.
He will be missed. May your journey be pleasant, and without incident.
By Khaaan! at 2:09 AM ON 01/17/09
In response to Xai's comment: Spock had to die to develop the theme that, until that mission, Kirk had never faced death. He cheated at the Kobayashi Maru test and after that he always found a way to cheat death. Khan had to die to demonstrate the futility of revenge. Star Trek II is essentially Moby Dick in outer space.
I feel sorry for actors cast as Star Trek villains following Khan. He is such an awesome villain that other characters essentially have to be god to top him. In fact "god" shows up as the villain in Star Trek V and Khan still outclasses him.
By rikki at 8:20 AM ON 01/17/09
I have always held this one as the best Star Trek movie, with it's one flaw that Khan dies thinking he won. The only change I would have made would be to let him see the Enterprise warp awap just before he blows up.
By Terry740 at 8:47 AM ON 01/17/09
Ricardo Montalban has.....Lived long and prospered !
By jdmimic at 11:38 AM ON 01/17/09
Khaaan!: rofl, I agree 100% about Khan as a villian and God in Star Trek V.
By CylonSteve at 12:52 PM ON 01/17/09
The plane the plane his little friend said.
By TheGray at 2:09 PM ON 01/17/09
Ricardo, Rest in peace. Thank you for giving so much joy to so many Star Trek fans over the years.
I must admit I always thought that his chest was a plastic panel on the front of his outfit. You learn something new every day.
By char819 at 9:22 PM ON 01/17/09
Thanks for the great article. I learned a great deal. The Wrath of Kahn was always a favorite and his memory will never die.
By LividEmerald at 2:33 AM ON 01/18/09
A better Star Trek villain? No Khan do!
By scottm4321 at 8:01 AM ON 01/18/09
Highlight of the film?
Khaaaaannn!
By Astralcats 5 at 2:00 PM ON 01/18/09
Always will be my fave Star Trek movie.
By The Doctor at 1:57 AM ON 01/19/09
One thing you didn't know about Doctor Who. Did you know that the show ran a great chance of being canceled at the end of the first season? Even the finally story and episode was written in such a way to know that to happen just in case the axe did come. Now, what does this have to do with Kahn? That's next week. Tune in....
By agsb at 1:04 PM ON 01/19/09
Khan is one of the sest villians ever and this covers both TV and the movies.
By Dave at 8:57 PM ON 01/19/09
STII was the best of all of the movies, and Ricardo Montalban was a large part of the reason. (The score was the second most important factor, IMO).
As for the criticism of STIII, who can forget the second most memorable villain in a Star Trek movie - Commander Kruge, played by a man who is second only to William Shater at chewing up the scenery, Christopher Lloyd?
P.S. These "Captcha" images suck.
By Mo at 11:55 AM ON 01/21/09
The trilogy by Greg Cox: highly recommended.
By piperboy at 11:48 PM ON 05/25/09
The Wrath of Khan was the first movie I saw as a kid and It was my favorite Star Trek movie. IT's a sad thing Roberto Montalban passed away. He was so awesome in it. He made the movie exciting.
By Son of a Maui Portagee. at 2:06 PM ON 05/26/09
piperboy,
It's Ricardo Montalban as reported in the story. I too lament his passing. And he set the bar that has yet to be equalled by any other Trek villain to date.
By Christopher at 10:15 PM ON 06/04/09
Truly a one of a kind actoir....Brought Star Trek a personal touch....RIP sir...
By sunni at 2:01 PM ON 09/25/09
Khan the best villain and character I wish he had survived and got himself a woman any man who looked like him...well....I certainly would have:-)
By james at 10:25 PM ON 12/15/09
Ya did you notice the name noonien soong and noonien singh are very similiar. Plus in the pilot episode or episode three of tos james kirk name on his grave stone was james p kirk
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james:
Ya did you notice the name noonien soong and noonien singh are very similiar. Plus in the pilot episode or episod...More »