When it became known that Khan would be the antagonist of Star Trek II, how was the fan reaction?

[Skipper]

Was it unexpected? Did it seem strange to have a direct sequel to an episode of the classic series? And how was Khan perceived before the film? A worthy adversary? Or did he owe all his success to the film, and before its release, fans were thinking, "Who, him?!"?

 

[BillJ]

Ricardo Montalban was pretty well known from Fantasy Island before TWOK. I can’t honestly remember what fan reaction was, if any.

 

[BillJ]

Feels like we should summon @Maurice and @Greg Cox, who were around.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Ricardo Montalban was pretty well known from Fantasy Island before TWOK. I can’t honestly remember what fan reaction was, if any.

Me neither. More of an "Oh, that guy from that episode" reaction. I'm not sure if Khan was even thought of as a top tier villain, back then. "Space Seed" was one of the better episodes.

 

[Skipper]

Me neither. More of an "Oh, that guy from that episode" reaction. I'm not sure if Khan was even thought of as a top tier villain, back then. "Space Seed" was one of the better episodes.

Maybe he was simply one of that very small group of villains who were still alive at the end of an episode?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Maybe he was simply one of that very small group of villains who were still alive at the end of an episode?

All the main Klingons were alive. Others too. Only a handful of baddies bought it, IIRC. I think Khan was chosen because he was a good opponent for Kirk and Montalban had name recognition from TV.

 

[BillJ]

Maybe he was simply one of that very small group of villains who were still alive at the end of an episode?

All the main Klingons were alive. Others too. Only a handful of baddies bought it, IIRC. I think Khan was chosen because he was a good opponent for Kirk and Montalban had name recognition from TV.

I think the driver for the story was Kirk wondering what would happen with Khan and his people at the end of "Space Seed".

 

[Maurice]

Feels like we should summon @Maurice and @Greg Cox, who were around.

Me neither. More of an "Oh, that guy from that episode" reaction. I'm not sure if Khan was even thought of as a top tier villain, back then. "Space Seed" was one of the better episodes.

I wasn't very plugged into fandom then, but I'd guess a scan of old issues of things like The Best of Trek or the fanzines would probably indicate Khan wasn't that popular prior to the movie. I think having him there promised more action, and post-TMP, that was what a lot of fans wanted.

 

[CoveTom]

We tend to think of Khan as a legendary villain now, but I believe that came from TWOK and not from "Space Seed." By the time of TWOK, Montalban was indeed a pretty well-known and well-respected actor, but not because of Khan. As I recall, Harve Bennett had the original idea to use Khan and came to it simply from his watching of the 79 TOS episodes and feeling like Khan was a good character but also that the episode ended with Kirk wondering what would happen to them in the years down the road and Bennett thought that was a good springboard for the movie.

 

[mkstewartesq]

I was there, about 14 years old at the time and an avid fan having started watching the show in the early 1970s in syndication.

You have to remember that we had been steeped on endless re-watching of 79 episodes that we knew in and out, back to front. When TMP came along, we were all greatly excited to finally see new Trek beyond those 79 episodes – while it was enjoyable, some people found TMP somewhat disconnected from the series (less action, no colorful uniforms, etc.). So my distinct personal recollection is being really excited when I heard they were bringing Khan back, because it was a direct tie back into those 79 episodes we had been marinating in for the past 10 years or more, and promised some sort of return to the feel of those episodes.

M

 

[Ssosmcin]

Was it unexpected? Did it seem strange to have a direct sequel to an episode of the classic series? And how was Khan perceived before the film? A worthy adversary? Or did he owe all his success to the film, and before its release, fans were thinking, "Who, him?!"?

I don't remember thinking much about Space Seed other than it was an okay episode. I was more excited that another movie was coming at all than I was over who would be in it. As long as the main cast was there, so was I.

Ricardo Montalban was pretty well known from Fantasy Island before TWOK. I can’t honestly remember what fan reaction was, if any.

My sister and I were used to him as Mr. Roarke and hardly ever thought of Khan when we saw him. Much like when we thinking of Reverend Jim from Taxi when Christopher Lloyd was announced for TSFS.

So in our case, we just made stupid kid's jokes about how Khan's first scene would have him walking out saying "smiles everyone, smiles!"

Much as we loved the film and his performance obliterated Roarke from our consciousness, we did think that his mullet was too nicely done for his circumstances.

 

[Set Harth]

Much like when we thinking of Reverend Jim from Taxi when Christopher Lloyd was announced for TSFS.

 

[BillJ]

Much like when we thinking of Reverend Jim from Taxi when Christopher Lloyd was announced for TSFS.

His performance is seriously underrated!

 

[Ssosmcin]

His performance is seriously underrated!

100% agreed

 

[Therin of Andor]

Feels like we should summon @Maurice and @Greg Cox, who were around.

I was around. There was general curiosity, IIRC.

We were constantly scrounging for scraps of gossip. "Starlog" rumours mentioned a weather control machine, and titles like "The Uncharted Continent", "The Undiscovered Country" and "The Vengeance of Khan". There was a glimpse of the new uniforms and newcomer Lieutenant Saavik in a Japanese-language volume of "Super-Visual", long before "Starlog" had photos.

TOS episodes had only just started becoming available on Beta and VHS -- about $49 per episode! -- so most fans didn’t really have ready access to watch episodes at home on a whim, only when they happened came into the daily syndicated cycle.

I think the driver for the story was Kirk wondering what would happen with Khan and his people at the end of "Space Seed".

Harve Bennett decided to watch all 79 episodes to get a feel for Star Trek. "Space Seed" jumped out as the episode with the most potential for a sequel. Carol Marcus was originally going to be Dr Janet Wallace, Kirk's established former love interest from "The Deadly Years", but Harve realised that Janet would have still been married to Dr Theodore Wallace when David was conceived.

Note that when Carol Marcus appears in the second Kelvinverse movie, she gives her name as... Carol Wallace.

All the main Klingons were alive...

Which is why DS9 decided to do "Blood Oath", with Kor, Koloth and Kang!

 

[TomEvans]

It depends on their intelligence.
Anyone who knew The Original Series, knew its enlightened premise of peaceful resolution of conflict rather than narcissism of defeating evil aliens, as when Kirk saved the Hortas from being murdered by humans, more than ten years before Ripley was torching evil Aliens with her bony ass (Melanie Griffith said it, not me... and Hortas would EAT Xenomorphs like candy.

 

[cooleddie74]

 

[Guy Gardener]

Khan was very 2 dimensional.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Note that when Carol Marcus appears in the second Kelvinverse movie, she gives her name as... Carol Wallace.

Her mother's maiden name. Were she and Janet cousins?

 

[Set Harth]

Khan was very 2 dimensional.