Star Trek: Khan was a stellar audio drama, and there’s really only one choice for a follow-up series!
It says something that one of the best Star Trek series in years isn’t on Paramount+ or even video at all. It’s Star Trek: Khan. The nine-episode audio drama just wrapped up its run and proved Trek can work beautifully in this format. It was helped by a first-rate story that shone a light on an ignored facet of Trek lore.
As the title implies, the drama revolves around Khan Noonien Singh (Naveen Andrews taking over from the late Ricardo Montalban), the 20th-century tyrant introduced in the The Original Series episode “Space Seed.” It picks up where that episode left off, exploring Khan’s exile on Ceti Alpha V and how tragedy transformed him from a noble warrior into the obsessive madman of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The audio drama exceeded expectations with the wonderful voice cast, the unique framing device set in the future, sound effects to flesh out the story, and more. There were some very surprising twists, like the introduction of an alien race aiding Khan, the tragic loss of his great love, and a final turn that elevated the tale.
Naturally, fans are eager to see how Trek follows this with another audio drama series. There are plenty of possibilities, yet one stands out. We've already heard of Khan’s fall. Now it’s time to witness his rise!
Why we need a “Rise of Khan” series
The Eugenics Wars is a period of Star Trek history that shockingly hasn’t been delved into by any of the shows or movies. The bare bones backstory introduced in “Space Seed” is that in the 1990s, scientists developed genetically engineered beings called Augments. Gifted with superior strength and intelligence, these Augments eventually decided they were bred to rule over “inferior” humans, and they began a series of wars.
Khan was the greatest of these, and between the years 1992 and 1996, according to Mr. Spock, he was "absolute ruler of more than a quarter of" the Earth, "from Asia through the Middle East." This is one of the more critical periods of Star Trek lore and while author Greg Cox's Eugenics Wars books explores the subject, there is nothing like this represented by the franchise's TV shows and films. It’s time to correct that with an audio drama detailing Khan’s rise to power.
It can begin with him as a child and how he was shaped by his upbringing to embrace the mentality that only the strong survive. Then how he gathered other Augments to his side to began his attempt to conquer Earth. Naveen Andrews was excellent in the Khan podcast voicing Khan, and he deserves to reprise the role, providing a younger and fresher Khan who truly believes he can rule easily.
The Khan audio drama had other Augments mentioning Khan’s past exploits, including how, a couple of times, his pride and ego led him to mistakes. It can build as well on Khan’s friendships with Ivan and Joaquin, his two greatest aides. Given that we know how those friendships will end in different tragedies, showing how close Khan was to the pair adds more pathos to the story.
It can also address another lingering question in just how Khan was finally defeated, and how did he and his people end up on the Botany Bay?
Obviously, the show might seem hampered by only being presented in an audio format when it’s a tale that would make for an epic show with so many battles and political clashes. Yet the Khan audio drama proved that Star Trek can work in this format and if anything.
That’s what made the Khan series work so well. The writers delved into the character, fleshing him out to make viewers feel sorry for his end. This prequel can give us another facet of Khan, the warlord who made his name a feared one for centuries after his fall. It can lay the seeds for Khan’s future travails and why he was so driven as well as the flaws that led to his ultimate defeat.
It’s unclear if this can happen, but if the Trek producers want to build on the success of Star Trek: Khan, a new prequel series would be the way to do it!
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