Design and Analysis
Source
In the original script of the episode Space Seed , written by Carey Wilber, Khan's character was a superman of origin Norse Harold Erricsen. The first draft of the script had the character as John Ericssen, one of the dictators that cause the "First World Tyranny", which took the name of Ragnar Thorwald. Thorwald was a most brutal character Khan in the final version, in which particles used weapons to kill their guards. However, in the final draft of descent Khan is India . Despite this, the character has an accent Latin and physical appearance is very different from that of most of the characters in Star Trek.
The very name of the character, Khan Noonien Singh, was finally chosen by Gene Roddenberry as a tribute to one of his colleagues in the Second World War , Kim Noonien Singh, hoping to reconnect with him. The change of name stack adds the title Kan , that in several Asian languages means "large" and applies to the great princes and heads. In the novelization of the episode Space Seed, written by James Blish, the Add the name of Sibahl, but this name has not been used on any other occasion.
In the episode, Khan is presented as a handsome man, is smart, smiling, brave and generous. Does not feel threatened by the success of others and enhances their self-esteem. It is also ambitious form of a challenge that matches their skills. The ambition, however, has no regard to the rights of others. Paul Cantor The author claims that Khan is a mirror image of Kirk, with whom he shares his aggressiveness, ambition and seduction, but possessing them in a much greater extent. Throughout the episode, many characters express their admiration for Khan but at the same time oppose their plans and what is proposed.
Vengeance
After the disappointing response to the first film in the series Star Trek, The Motion Picture , the executive producer of Paramount asked Harve Bennett , a television producer who had never seen the original Star Trek series, to produce the sequel. Bennett saw all the original episodes and selected Khan as a possible villain in the movie. The first drafts of the script showed Khan as the tyrant in the shadow of a world revolution. Later added the "Genesis device" that Khan ambicionaría.
Costume designer Robert Fletcher wanted to emphasize the effects of the harsh environment of Ceti Alpha V in Khan and his followers: "My intention with Khan was to express the fact that they had been exiled on a planet with no technical infrastructure, so they had to ' cannibalize 'ship everything that did or wore. So, I tried to make them look as if they were wearing upholstery parts and electrical equipment that made up the ship. " The director Nicholas Meyer asked Montalban he always wore the right glove to give viewers a mystery in they could form their own opinion and thus add intrigue to the character. has been questioned many times if Montalban wore a prosthesis in the chest during the movie, because her dress was designed on purpose to show it. Meyer answered in the commentary to the film that the actor, who was 61 during filming, was a "tough guy" and that it was not necessary to apply any prosthesis.
Gene Roddenberry , creator of Star Trek which criticized many aspects of the film, commented that "Khan had not been designed as a character so exciting, but it was rather weak. The television episode Khan had a much more profound and kind than the movie, but he managed to escape Montalbán. "
At no time in The Wrath of Khan Kirk & Khan come face to face: always communicate through screens or radio. This is due in part to the scene of the Reliant was a decorated reused from the bridge of the Enterprise and the scenes of the two actors were filmed four months apart. In fact, Montalban recited his lines in front of a script supervisor, not against William Shatner: "I had to say my words with the girl in the script, as you can imagine, did not sound like Bill [Shatner]."
While promoting the movie, Montalban said he realized early in his career that a good villain does not see himself as evil. The villain can do many evil things, but feels that he does for good reasons . The actor also said he always wanted to find a flaw in the character, since no one is completely good or completely bad, while Khan has a vision of reality certainly distorted and, therefore, do evil deeds, yet still believes that revenge is a noble cause, since it responds to the death of his wife.