Posted in: Audio Dramas, Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Star Trek: Khan, star trek: voyager

Star Trek: Khan Star Tim Russ on Revisiting "Undiscovered Country" Era

Voyager alum Tim Russ on revisiting "The Undiscovered Country" era Ensign Tuvok for Star Trek: Khan alongside TOS legend George Takei.

When it comes to filling in the blanks for arguably Star Trek's greatest villain in Khan Noonien Singh, director Nicholas Meyer, who worked on one of the franchise's greatest cinematic triumphs in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, embraced the challenge 43 years after the film's release with the audio drama Star Trek: Khan. Helping him out are Naveen Andrews (Lost), who plays the title character taking over for original actor Ricardo Montalban who played the role in The Original Series season one episode "Space Seed" and the 1982 film; Wrenn Schmidt (For All Mankind), who takes over former Starfleet Lt. Marla McGivers from TOS actress Madlyn Rhue; and two familiar faces in TOS star George Takei and Voyager star Tim Russ, who help set the story in motion. Russ spoke at Star Trek Las Vegas: Trek to Vegas to provide context on how Captain Hikaru Sulu and Ensign Tuvok play a part long after Khan's death at the battle at the Mutara Nebula.

Star Trek: Khan Star Tim Russ on Revising 'The Undiscovered Country' Era to Tell Khan's Story

In the Star Trek: Voyager season three episode "Flashback," it's revealed that Tuvok served onboard the U.S.S. Excelsior under the former U.S.S. Enterprise helmsman, even though we never saw him during the events of 1991's The Undiscovered Country. Coincidentally, Russ was already in the franchise's radar playing Devor in The Next Generation season six episode "Starship Mine," but that was in 1993. The Voyager episode actually served as a backdoor pilot for a potential Takei-starred series, but Paramount opted for the TOS prequel Enterprise for its next series.

"I just did voiceover work for the story of Khan, and it's a prequel… I just voiced the character Tuvok as an ensign," Russ said (via TrekMovie.com). "It's basically a story that hovers around an archeologist who is uncovering the information and relics of that past to figure out the backstory to Khan and how he became Khan in the first place. So it's a pretty cool piece."

While we never got a Sulu-Tuvok series, the events of Star Trek: Khan suggest that they will take place around The Undiscovered Country, set in motion by original character Dr. Rosalind Lear, voiced by Sonya Cassidy, searching for clues about Khan's past and needing Excelsior's help. Regarding how deep the rabbit hole goes, TOS and Enterprise touched on the Eugenics Wars, which Khan was infamous for, but never dove deep into the tyrant's reign before exile. We also saw him as a 21st-century child in a time-travel and alternate timeline episode concerning his ancestor La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) in Strange New Worlds season two episode "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Perhaps, we'll finally get that piece on top of chronicling how he survived the cataclysmic disaster of Ceti Alpha V once the planet fell out of traditional orbit around its star before their run-in with the U.S.S. Reliant in TWOK. Co-written by Kirsten Beyer and David Mack, Star Trek: Khan, which also stars Olli Haaskivi, Maury Sterling, Mercy Malick, and Zuri Washington, premieres on Star Trek Day, September 8th.

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