Abastract: The author goes on a bit about if Khan would make for a good next Star Trek movie. (±2,000 words)
There’s been a lot of fun over at TrekWeb talking about the next movie, what it should, shouldn’t, could have.
Some folks feel like Khan would be great. GREAT, I tell you. Khan rocks: he kicks Kirk around space, blows things up good, and then DIES!
No, no, some say. Khan was a great villain. But he’s been done, done well, and doesn’t need to be redone.
It seems a … teacup sort of debate. Almost no body at any fan site can really have much influence over the creative decisions that will go into the next movie. And I’m certainly not one of them. So why inject my opinions into this?
Eh… why not. I love Moby Dick, and I stab at thee!
Khan rocks, and I’d love to see him again. But: I don’t want to see a remake of the Wrath of Khan. I don’t want to see a remake of Space Seed. I don’t want Khan to become a recurring villain. There’s this whole galaxy out there. I really don’t want to see Khan-as-Joker-to-Kirk’s-Batman. Oh, good lord I don’t want that.
I just don’t agree with the idea that Khan and Kirk represent opposing visions of… whatever. Kirk is a big proponent of humanity, human potential, justice and … getting things DONE. Khan… big fan of human potential, justice and getting things done. The difference: Kirk wants his things done, and his is a more expansive idea of those things. Khan? He’s pretty selfish. So they’re opposed, rivals to be sure, but they’re not really opposed in the way Batman and the Joker have been set up in the last twenty-odd years.
I don’t think Kirk needs a special villain, or different (Bond-style) mastermind in every story. There’s plenty of room in Star Trek for action-adventure, shoot-em-up. Oh, yes. But I think what makes Kirk’s Enterprise really interesting, which is to say, what I find most interesting, is the way on the Enterprise he can face some crazy double-bind of a situation, massage his senior staff, and then do the right thing more-or-less. I mean, he cheats, and it sometimes seems there must be some other starship out there cleaning up Kirk’s messes, but, as a viewer, it’s mostly fun to watch Kirk do that stuff.
So, should there be a new Khan movie? Probably not. I still think there’s a whole galaxy out there, so we don’t need to see that character again. But if it’s a good movie, then, heck. Give it to me.
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