It's official – upcoming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will include a link to an infamous franchise villain.
The show will feature a character called La’an Noonien Singh, played by Christina Chong. Of course, iconic Trek villain Khan's full name is Khan Noonien Singh, so it's not too much of a leap to assume the two may be connected.
"She’s related to Khan, for sure, and, uh, and the deal will unfold…" co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman confirmed during the show’s Television Critics Association panel (via The Hollywood Reporter). "We don’t want to bring folks into the show to be splashy. We want to dig deeply into characters that are part of our ensemble and then, obviously, we’re open to getting our arms… but right now, what you see is what you get."
Strange New Worlds is set to be a direct prequel to The Original Series, which aired between 1966 and 1969 and starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as Kirk and Spock. It will follow the crew of the USS Enterprise in the years before it came under Captain Kirk's leadership – Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck reprise their roles from Star Trek: Discovery, playing Captain Christopher Pike, Number One, and Spock respectively.
As for Khan, he was last portrayed on screen by Benedict Cumberbatch in 2013's Star Trek: Into Darkness. Ricardo Montalbán also played the character in 1982's Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Paramount Plus on May 5. While we wait, check out our guide to Star Trek: Picard season 2, which is arriving first and premiering later this month.
