The original Star Trek is remembered and loved for its great villains and adversaries, as well as its heroes. We cherish the nameless Romulan Commanders in “Balance of Terror” and “The Enterprise Incident” (man in Season One, woman in Season Three). We enjoy the devilishly clever Klingon (the first Klingon we ever met), Commander Kor, in “Errand of Mercy.” But perhaps the most challenging adversary, who would later be the star of the second Star Trek movie, is Khan (or Khan Noonien Singh, to give him his full name). It’s partly the role. And it’s partly Ricardo Montalban.
It takes a strong presence, a willingness to embrace the scenario completely without worrying about “chewing up the scenery,” and a great physique to pull off the superior dominator role. Montalban is perfect for it. And he manages to be something else: somewhat grand in defeat, and somewhat sympathetic. Rather like the Gauls (Celts of France) as depicted in the Pergamom marbles, he may be someone that you need to vanquish, but his downfall has an element of the tragic. If only Khan could have turned his considerable capacities to better ends. But then, he wouldn’t be Khan… he would be Captain Kirk.
So I’m remembering Khan today with admiration for Montalban’s portrayal. One way to enjoy this anew is to watch deleted scenes from his first appearance in “Space Seed,” on YouTube.
McCoy gives Khan a piece of his mind, while Uhura (seated) looks on. From a deleted scene.