“Star Trek” could be set to put one of his most complex and nuanced wrongs – and he involves the biggest villain of all, Khan. The franchise has always been considered a cultural pioneer and a pioneer, even if there has been a lot of missteps (although no less controversial) along the way. Since the casting of the end, the big nichelle Nichols like Uhura during the civil rights movement to include a Russian crew member like Chekov (Walter Keonig) at the height of the Tensions of the Cold War to countless more real parallels “, the original series” was responsible for some of the most daring creative choices and at risk of its time. “Space Seed”, the episode that introduced the formidable superhuman despot Khan, is no exception. The performance of Ricardo Montalbán as a tyrannical sovereign of the eugenic wars of the Earth led to one of the most memorable and most balanced bad guys in the “trek” tradition … But the cast of a Mexican man as a character of origin of India has always been required to raise some eyebrows, to say more.
Decades after the time on “The Original Series” and the following film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” transformed Khan into a familiar name, however, the property is about to reinvent the notorious figure in the best possible way. 2026 marks the 60th anniversary of the property, which means that there are already moving plans for all kinds of celebrations and special events in the world. According to the deadline, one of the most intriguing takes the form of a podcast scripted its beginnings today (and available to listen to the official Youtube channel “Star Trek”) entitled “Star Trek: Khan”. The new series focuses on the titular antagonist and his supporters in the years that followed the events of “Space Seed”, filling the gap of decade and a half before its reappearance in 1982 “Wrath of Khan”. And in a piece of truly inspired overhaul, the former star of “Lost” Naveen Andrews was interpreted as Khan’s voice.
Not only does the hiring of a British / Indian actor first marks for a long time for the character (the less we say of Benedict Cumberbatch in “Star Trek in darkness”, the better), but it also makes us dream of the future of “Trek”. Some trekks may say that there is no real advantage to return to Khan again. But with Andrews who officially takes over, we are also ready to start the campaign for its live casting.
Naveen Andrews would be the perfect khan casting in Star Trek live
Could Naveen Andrews be intended to pass sunny beaches of Hawaii to the coldest parts of space? Especially known for his representation of the Iraqi torturer Sayid Jarrah in “Lost” (another complicated song of casting which, in the vitriol years full of racial animus after September 11, always deserves all kinds of credit to be such a nuanced and three -dimensional family), the actor has now joined the “Star Trek” family like Khan … in an audio form, at least. What we offer, of course is that he does another major step and jumps into live action. Part of this, of course, has to do with a casting decision which finally aligns with the real ethnic context of the character. While speaking with the reverse, Andrews explained how it was part of the call:
“‘I am not only of Indian origin. I am actually Indian in full blood. And that explains why I thought I should do it.”
In addition to the recovery by Andrews of the character, which is even more exciting, it is the new rotation he puts on a supervillain that a lot of trekkie assumed that they knew well now. Later in the interview, he discussed what makes this version of the character different from the place where he finds himself in “The Wrath of Khan” and the real influences he used to give life to his vocal performance:
“He was always a man of the Renaissance. He just seems to think of him in a way that puts him in literature. He was a man of letters, I suppose. For me, even more than Milton, it’s Shakespeare.”
Could there be a way for Andrews, now 56 years old, to put this on a live action? “Strange New Worlds” obviously has a Khan connection through the Noonian Singh of Christina Chong, a direct descendant of the War Lord, and her prequel decor of the original series “Star Trek” (with the door wide open for a continuation making us cross the five -year mission of the Enterprise). In order not to be outdone, rumors have been running for years about a potential restart of the series “Wrath of Khan”, although, for the moment, nothing has been materialized. And if the enthusiastic response of the fans to this series of Podcast helps to switch the scales of the favor of Andrews for a kind of exploration of Khan live on the whole line, well the best.
New episodes from the release of “Star Trek: Khan” every Monday.
