Now that it’s been announced that Naveen Andrews will voice Khan Noonien Singh in the long-gestating Star Trek: Khan audio series, it’s time to delve a bit deeper into the news and the press release distributed to the media. There are numerous bits to explore.
First, we like the casting of Andrews. He’s a solid, experienced, and Emmy-nominated actor, best known for Lost, and has a distinctive voice. Though he was born in London, England, his parents are from India. Khan is Indian.
CBS Studios also revealed that Wrenn Schmidt will voice Marla McGivers, another character very familiar to fans of “Space Seed,” the episode upon which Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was built. Schmidt recently played Margo Madison on For All Mankind and co-starred on the series Person of Interest, which Kelvin Timeline filmmaker J.J. Abrams-produced. She also co-starred with Brent Spiner, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Data, on the horror series Outcast.
Interestingly, the Khan press release states, "Production has wrapped on recording for the previously announced Star Trek: Khan.” Later in the release, after again mentioning Andrews and Schmidt, it reads, “Additional cast will be announced at a later date.” Clearly, a decision has been made to not reveal who else fans will hear in the production. Could there be other recognizable names involved? We’ll need to wait for the next press release.
The press release then notes that Khan is “based on a story by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan writer and director, Nicholas Meyer.” Meyer, who was also a part of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, was initially working on a Khan miniseries. That gave way to Star Trek: Khan: Ceti Alpha V, an audio drama officially announced in 2022. Now it’s Star Trek: Khan, with the degree of Meyer’s participation something of a question mark.
Further, the press release says that “Kirsten Beyer and David Mack serve as writers on the audio series.” Beyer and Mack are both talented, veteran novelists with numerous Star Trek books between them. She has also written episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and co-created Picard, while he shared writing credits on two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and served as a story consultant on the animated shows Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy.