William Shatner’s one decision in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was crucial in making it one of the best films in the franchise. After the successful Star Trek: The Original Series, the cast returned for the films starting with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Fans and studio executives were not happy with the first film despite the film becoming a financial success.
Shatner suggested that the second film in the series makes Captain James T. Kirk more vulnerable. The suggestion was initially met with skepticism but Kirk’s mid-life crisis turned out to work really well for the movie. The film kickstarted a three-part storyline that ended in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
William Shatner Made The Crucial Decision To Make Captain Kirk More Vulnerable in Star Trek II
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the cast returned to their roles in the Star Trek films, which was set a decade after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. The time jump was not significantly addressed in the first film. However, Shatner decided to emphasize Captain Kirk’s age and related issues in the second film.
It surely made the character more vulnerable unlike the series, where the crew were a bunch of adventurous explorers in the galaxy. Shatner, who had spent with the character for the longest time, felt that it was in the character’s best interest to explore his vulnerability in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The second film dealt with the menacing Star Trek villain, Khan Noonian Singh, and how the crew would stop him from using the life-generating Genesis Device. Shatner spoke about the film and his new take on the role during an interview with Bobbie Wygant in 1982. He shared that the theme of the film dealt with the “youth, and old age, and death, and love.”
Shatner told Wygant that Kirk’s mid-life crisis depicted in the film was his idea. He shared that he was told not to depict the vulnerability of the character. However, Shatner wanted to show the human side of the character to make it more relatable to the viewers. Shatner shared with Wygant (via The Bobby Wygant Archives | YouTube):
It was suggested not to do it at one point. By some people that had my best interests at heart. [But] my feeling has always been that the more human you can make a character, the more vulnerable, the more identifiable, the better it is. So we saw all means possible to do that.
The Wrath of Khan is not only considered the best film in the Star Trek series, but it also brought a renewed interest in the sci-fi space franchise. It grossed $97 million against a budget of $12 million becoming a major financial success (via LA Times).
William Shatner’s Mid-Life Crisis Worked Well Within The Film’s Larger Plot
William Shatner’s Captain Kirk celebrates his birthday during the earlier scenes of the film. A conversation with Dr. Leonard McCoy brings up his age and how his experience has brought him a more responsible role. However, the dilemma hits Kirk as he watches over the trainee crew half his age take off for missions.
The initial scenes show the Starfleet captain as being stuck in his role. The adventure of capturing Khan is what brings back his youthful and adventurous self. Khan also similarly yearns for a period when he was a young prince with power. Both Kirk and Khan want to go back to a time when they had control.
The difference lies in how both the hero and villain deal with this need to gain back what was lost. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and other films in the series are now available for streaming on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
