Warning! The Following Contains SPOILERS from the first episode of Star Trek: Khan, “Paradise”
Lending his voice talents to the new podcast Star Trek: Khan is the beloved George Takei. As the first installment of the sublime audio drama begins, it is Captain Sulu of the USS Excelsior who is tasked with escorting Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy) to the barren wasteland of Ceti Alpha V, which the Starfleet commander is all too familiar with. Sulu is clearly conflicted in the first episode, “Paradise,” and co-writer Kirsten Beyer knew adding the OG icon to the mix was a no-brainer. Beyer said in an interview via TrekMovie.com:
“I love it when we can take existing characters and show different facets of them. That’s very much what we’re doing with Khan and with Marla. And for me, Sulu is a character who — he’s always there but hasn’t had as many opportunities as I wished to have his point of view be really well explained and explored. And I thought this was a unique one for him, a guy who recently lost the captain that he served with forever, who is facing someone who wants to revise history on somebody he knows was a freaking monster. I could imagine him having very strong feelings about that.”
Captain Sulu is still reeling over the death of his friend and commander James T. Kirk, who seemingly perished aboard the USS Enterprise-B at the beginning of Star Trek Generations (1994). Sulu saw firsthand in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan the atrocities Khan Noonien Singh was capable of, but he relents and takes the doctor to Ceti Alpha V. Dr. Lear’s mission is to recover the historical tapes left behind by the late Lt. Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt), which chronicle Khan and his people’s time on the doomed planet.
Sulu’s role in the first two episodes is small, but it’s wonderful hearing Takei again as the captain of the Excelsior. However, another Star Trek fan-favorite actor is also tagging along for the ride as Tim Russ makes the journey to Ceti Alpha V as Ensign Tuvok. Beyer said in the same interview:
“And the fact that Tuvok happened to be serving with him [Captain Sulu] at the time, and could be our sort of wide-eyed, ‘Well, here is what I think is going on.’ And then learn as he goes along that there’s a whole lot more to it than that. It was just delightful, because he’s one of my all-time favorite characters from Voyager. I think Tim Russ’ performance on that show is magnificent.”
Again, Russ’ part is minute like Takei’s, and Trekkies need to understand that the audio drama is focused on Khan, Marla, and the Augments during their time in “Paradise” and before the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
What do you think about George Takei and Tim Russ being cast in Star Trek: Khan? If other characters pop by for surprise cameos, who would you like to hear join the audio drama? William Shatner? Walter Koenig? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!