WARP FIVE: Kirsten Beyer on Seeing Khan Noonien Singh Through New Lens

Welcome to Warp Five, StarTrek.com's five question post-mortem with your favorite featured talent from the latest Star Trek episodes.

In Star Trek: Khan, the original scripted audio series explores the untold events on Ceti Alpha V, chronicling Khan Noonien Singh's descent from a superhuman visionary into the vengeful villain during the events between ' "Space Seed" and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

StarTrek.com had the opportunity to sit down with series co-writer Kirsten Beyer (a prolific Star Trek novelist and screenwriter) on the complicated figure Khan, voiced by Naveen Andrews, how he was shaped by his people and the presence of Marla McGivers, voiced by Wrenn Schmidt, and the planet Ceti Alpha V itself.

A Villain Reimagined

While Khan is a larger than life figure whose appearances were significant enough that he's left a mark in Starfleet history as a notorious antagonist, Beyer assures that anyone can dive into audio series with limited Star Trek knowledge.

"It's a complete story that takes you from the beginning to the end," states Beyer. "That said, if you've seen only 'Space Seed,' the beginning of it makes a lot more sense."

"And if you know what's coming [with The Wrath of Khan], the story covers that material," Beyer adds, noting that just watching "Space Seed" would enhance the experience, and after listening to the entire audio series, to watch the theatrical film. "For me, The Wrath of Khan hits very differently now knowing what I know about the character that I didn't know before."

Two Timelines, One Tragedy

Star Trek: Khan tackles dual timelines with the past timeline immediately following the events of "Space Seed," and Khan and his people arriving on Ceti Alpha V in the first episode, "Paradise," and the "present" timeline taking place five years after The Wrath of Khan, which Beyers notes as "critically within Jim Kir's presumed death in ."

The framing device adds layers of reflection and consequence to Khan's journey as it "lets the listeners know end Khan is sort of going to come to," explains Beyer. "The story very clearly lays the groundwork for The Wrath of Khan by taking us deep into what the potential was for none of that to ever have happened, and then showing us inevitably why it did. That's what makes it a tragedy."

Beyer also noted the framing device allowed for the return of Hikaru Sulu and Tuvok, with Star Trek legends George Takei and Tim Russ returning to their roles, respectively.

Beyer was delighted to see Takei and Russ involved with the project, revealing, "What I loved about getting to use Sulu was the ability to write real scenes for him. He is often, because of his role within the crew, sort of functionary in his scenes, but here we got to give him a real point of view and a real motive, a real thing that he cared about to defend, which was the reputation of his former captain. It was just sides of Sulu that I really don't remember seeing very often before. So that was a delight."

"And of course, Tuvok is one of my favorite characters of all time given my history with Voyager," shares Beyer. "Tim's work on that show was breathtaking, and it gets deeper every time I watch it. It was just a very serendipitous moment when [co-writer] David Mack and I were looking at the timeframes we were talking about. It was like chills running up your spine and you're done. It's just one of those gifts that working in Star Trek gives you from time to time.

A Star Trek Story Told Outside of Starfleet

In addition to Star Trek: Khan's dual timeline, we're shown both from a non-Starfleet perspective. For the events on Ceti Alpha V, we see how Khan, his Augment followers, and ex-Starfleet officer Marla McGivers rebuild their lives in this new environment away from the Federation. While in the present, Dr. Rosalind Lear, voiced by Sonya Cassidy, petitions Starfleet to return to Ceti Alpha V to recover historical logs left behind by Khan and his followers.

On this approach, Beyer states, "I've always been most interested in the points of view outside of Starfleet. These other angles have been ignored for too long."

"To me, this universe is an imaginary but very much real separate thing from ours," details Beyer. "And it is filled with these bright spots of information that we know, and then it's filled with all of this darkness that we don't. When I imagine it, one of the things I like to think about is not just what it would be to be a Starfleet officer, but what it would be to live as a citizen of the Federation."

"For me, a Star Trek story is one that grapples with our deepest human issues with a pervasively sort of optimistic mindset," says Beyer."

The Man Behind the Tyrant

The audio series gives listeners richer insight into Khan Noonien Singh's backstory with unprecedented depth. Raised in a lab and genetically modified for war in the late 20th Century, then in stasis aboard the SS Botany Bay in cryogenic sleep for centuries, before coming in contact with Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise, and being exiled to Ceti Alpha V.

"He's a brilliant, powerful, visionary human who has had a very unique history," states Beyer. "We know very little about his life on Earth other than that he was raised in a lab along with all of the other Augments. They were genetically augmented to perfect what humanity saw as their greatest qualities: leadership, intelligence, strength."

"So when Khan woke up on the Enterprise in space, 200 years had gone by and he had missed all of them," she continues. "He was still the man he was, but he was completely disconnected from his own history. And, as a result of the experiences on the ship, Kirk decided to go ahead and put him and his followers on a planet in exile where they would be free to build the empire that Khan said he always wanted."

The Heart of the Story

Lt. Marla McGivers served aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise as the ship's historian when she meets Khan.

"As we see in 'Space Seed,' she's immediately fascinated by this guy," states Beyer. "She has just a particular personal interest in him, which leads her to a pretty dark place from which she ultimately is able to step back. Ultimately, she is given the choice to face court-martial as Starfleet officer for committing mutiny or to join Khan in exile, which she decides to do. When they arrive on [Ceti Alpha V], they have known each other briefly. They both have certain conceptions and misconceptions about the dynamics of their relationship and the development of their relationship is a key part of the story that we're telling."

On the casting of Naveen Andrews as Khan Noonien Singh and Wrenn Schmidt as Marla McGivers, Beyer praises, "They're both breathtakingly brilliant actors. For Naveen, he has this incredible combination of characteristics where he is both super intelligent, incredibly dangerous, and incredibly sexy all at the same time, and all of that is essential to Khan. He is just such a powerful actor, and he brought so much nuance and depth to this character, honoring what Montalban had done, but also very much making it his own."

"For Wrenn, what intrigued me about her and I loved about her performance was the complexity that she brought to this woman," Beyer elaborates. "Marla is somebody who is problematic given the way she was portrayed in 'Space Seed.' At the time, totally acceptable heroine for a story. Nowadays, not so much. But none of us, including Wrenn, shied away from that part of her. What we tried to do was flesh out everything else about her that could have gotten her there and still make her the character we want to follow through the story, somebody who sees herself as, and ultimately, Khan sees as his equal, which is essential in this dynamic romantic relationship between them. She cannot do anything as one level. Everything with Wrenn is multiple complex worlds, and it's just gorgeous. And it's funny, because I hear the original Marla in her, as I do from time to time with Naveen, but she's just brought so much more to it than [Madlyn Rhue] was ever allowed to do."

Beyer concludes our time stating, "For me, [Star Trek: Khan] is a deep exploration of humanity and all of the facets that are revealed through difficult circumstances."