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Posted in: Audio Dramas, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Star Trek: Khan
Star Trek: Takei & Russ Discuss Their Roles in "Khan" Backstory
George Takei and Tim Russ discuss revisiting Khan, how Sulu, Tuvok, and the USS Excelsior factor in Star Trek: Khan, and expanding the story.
Article Summary
- George Takei and Tim Russ return as Sulu and Tuvok in the Star Trek: Khan audio drama podcast.
- Excelsior’s crew revisits Khan’s legacy, bridging events from Space Seed to The Wrath of Khan.
- The podcast uncovers Starfleet's involvement in Khan’s exile and explores unseen narrative gaps.
- New episodes of Star Trek: Khan podcast drop Mondays, diving deeper into the classic antagonist’s story.
When developing the narrative for Star Trek: Khan podcast audio drama, there was an opportunity to revisit another point in the timeline that was only visited once before, with the Star Trek: Voyager season three's "Flashback" that reveals that Tuvok (Tim Russ) once served onboard under Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) on board the USS Excelsior. The only other time we see Takei physically as Captain in live-action was 1991's The Undiscovered Country, the final Star Trek: The Original Series film. While we can excuse the narrative then, as the Voyager episode aired in 1996 and Russ wasn't cast then at the time of the film, it's convenient that he's non-essential crew as an ensign 29 years after the episode aired, Takei and Russ got to revisit their roles that took place long after the events of TUC and take a fresh look at re-examining the events from the TOS episode Space Seed leading into 1982's The Wrath of Khan and what Kirk and Starfleet knew. Paramount and CBS Studios released a featurette on the Star Trek YouTube channel that talks with Takei and Russ about their place in the narrative.
Star Trek: Khan Stars George Takei and Tim Russ on Revisiting Khan and Starfleet's Role in His Exile
"I think the character of Khan became a singular menace. One of the best antagonists that we've had on Star Trek," Takei, the only surviving cast member who appeared in both episode and film, participating in the podcast, said. "We do see that the Khan that, in this podcast version, is essentially the same, that he has a life beyond abandonment on that planet." Added Russ, "What occurred prior to the incidents with the USS Enterprise, and how Captain Kirk's decision at the time also affected what happened to them, and whether or not Captain Kirk was knowledgeable of this, whether Starfleet was knowledgeable of this was going to happen, because Starfleet is involved in that as well in the decisions that they made to place Khan and his troop on Ceti Alpha V in the first place." In Star Trek: Khan, setting the Excelsior on its journey is Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy), who's on a journey to unravel what happened with Khan (Naveen Andrews), Lt. Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt), and the Augment survivors of the Botany Bay on Ceti Alpha V.
You can check out the video for more, including comments from Schmidt recapping McGivers's actions from "Space Seed," the character's relationship with Starfleet, and filling that gap into the podcast. New episodes of Star Trek: Khan are released on Mondays through November 3rd.
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