Picard & Strange New Worlds Are Telling Khan's Origin Story Without Him
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2's Finale — «Farewell»
Khan (Ricardo Montalbán) is receiving a renewed focus in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Picard even hinted at telling the supervillain's origin. In Strange New Worlds, Khan's legacy continues in the form of his descendant, La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), who serves as the Security Chief of the USS Enterprise years before Khan is discovered in space and revived in Star Trek: The Original Series. Meanwhile,Star Trek: Picard season 2's finale dropped a shocking bombshell about Khan, linking his creation to the devious Dr. Adam Soong (Brent Spiner). Both instances are new directions that separate Khan from his rivalry with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).
Khan Noonien Singh is considered the greatest villain in Star Trek history, and his only real rival is the Borg Queen and the Borg Collective. Khan debuted in the classic TOS episode, «Space Seed,» which ended in a cliffhanger that was continued in 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The fact that Star Trek II gave the genetically-engineered warlord title billing, which is the first and only time for a Star Trek villain, cements Khan's legendary status. Khan is certainly one of the main reasons why Star Trek II is heralded as the best Star Trek movie. Khan was even rebooted in J.J. Abrams'Star Trek Into Darkness where he was played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the alternate Kelvin timeline, although this version of Khan wasn't as well-received as the filmmakers hoped. Yet the two appearances by Ricardo Montalbán's Khan are still the standard all Star Trek big bads are held to, and other movie villains like Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), Shinzon (Tom Hardy), and Nero
Read more on screenrant.com
