Star Trek: Phase II was supposed to be the second series on television.
Star Trek: Phase II is Star Trek’s favorite long-lost relative. Not every fan knows about it, mostly because it’s a near-50-year-old idea that never came to fruition, but still, it is history. So for those new here, the story goes that Phase II was going to be a sequel series to the original Star Trek show from the 1960s. The show began development in the mid-70s, just shy of a decade later.
The show would see William Shatner and most of the original crew return as the stars of the show. The lone holdout was Leonard Nimoy, who was having a tiff with Gene Roddenberry but was offered to appear in two of the 13 pitched episodes. Though the next part is disputed, Nimoy rejected the offer, finding it insulting himself and the character of Spock.
That meant the show needed new characters.
Now, the project was set for a Paramount-focused television network and when the network died a death, they shifted their focus towards making Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Before the movie was optioned, the show was pretty far along in its development; to the point that characters were created and had even begun being cast. Some of these characters would see a second life on the first Star Trek film and some of the episodes that had already been created would be repurposed and retooled to fit other pieces of Trek lore.
A group of fans even made the episodes if you’re interested in how it could’ve turned out.
So who were these new characters?
Will Decker
Now the name may seem familiar and yes, Will Decker would go on to appear in Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Decker would be played by now-disgraced actor Stephen Collins, most famous for his time with the WB/CW show 7th Heaven, and his 2014 outing of being a very bad guy.
Even though Decker was cast for the film, when the production of Phase II had shut down, the series had yet to find Decker’s actor. It’s unclear if Collins was ever considered or approached for the character on the television show, or who else was actually being looked at.
According to various outlets, Decker’s Phase II character would find a second life in the form of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Will Riker. While the character wasn’t necessarily retooled, some of the same elements of the Decker character were found in the Riker character.
Decker was seen in the story as being the guy in training, maybe capable of replacing Kirk as captain one day, but for now, was a man who was duty-bound. A serious man, Decker would serve as Kirk’s first officer and would be focused on making sure the ship was stocked with the best personnel possible.
The idea of him seems to be a perfectionist, though one who can joke and laugh about.
He’s the only character who was never cast in the show but ended up in the film.
Ilia
Ilia, like Will Decker, appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Unlike Decker, she had been cast. In the end, there was apparently only one woman who was being considered. That would be the woman who ended up getting the role, Persis Khambtta, the first Indian woman to land a major role on Star Trek. Khambatta was an Indian model turned actress, who was excited to get the part of Ilia because it meant steady work for at least four years.
That’s part of the reason why she agreed to shave her head for the role, steady work was worth it. She wouldn’t have to worry about having long hair for photoshoots anymore, as modeling would have taken a back seat to the work done on Phase II.
The only problem is, she was already cast and ready to go by the time Phase II was canceled. So the series was shifted to the film, her series contract was changed to a film contract, and her four years’ worth of work was reduced to about a few months at best.
To say Khambatta was upset would be a bit of an understatement. That said, she still did a great job bringing Ilia to life on the big screen.
The original version of Ilia would see her as a sex-focused alien from Delta-V. Her race would be pretty open with sexuality to the point that it consumed every personal relationship they had, something that would be a problem for her on the Enterprise.
In a lot of ways, she was designed to be the opposite of Spock and Vulcans in general. An emotional race that showed their affection and emotions rather than suppressing them.
Xon
Each character on this list has its own distinction. Will Decker appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture but was never cast. Ilia was cast for the show and ended up in the film. Xon, on the other hand, was cast for Phase II but was never brought to the big screen. Not just for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but for any Star Trek film.
Thankfully for the man who played Xon in the Phase II series, David Gautreaux was not forced to suffer the same fate. He appeared in the film, albeit in a minor role as Commander Branch. A role he may not even have gotten if Majel Barrett had gotten her way. He got the role in the film because they opted not to use his original character, Xon.
Apparently, Barrett thought Gautreaux was playing a love interest for her and was too young. There was some confusion on her part about who Gautreaux would play, and fearing that her unrequited love angle with Spock wouldn’t play with the younger actor, demanded that they cast an older actor.
He got to keep the gig and apparently even became the first member of Phase II to find out about the series transitioning into a film. A film his character would ironically never see.
The character was meant to be a lot like what T’Pol would be in Star Trek: Enterprise. A full-blooded Vulcan who looked down on humans. Some of his mannerisms, like his inability to grasp the culture of Earth-born humans, would apparently transition into the character of Data.