Star Trek’s most iconic villain, Khan, is back.
The anxiously awaited scripted podcast series “Star Trek: Khan” released its first episode on Sept. 8 in celebration of Star Trek Day — the date in 1966 when the original series premiered.
The premiere date, key art, trailer reveal and additional voice cast announcements were made during a Star Trek presentation on July 26 in Hall H at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
“Star Trek: Khan” explores the untold events on Ceti Alpha V, chronicling Khan’s descent from a superhuman visionary into the vengeful villain seen in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” New episodes are available weekly on Mondays through Nov. 3, wherever you get your podcasts.
Naveen Andrews (“Lost”) voices the iconic role of Khan Noonien Singh, originally played by Ricardo Montalban, and is joined by a stellar cast, including Wrenn Schmidt (“For All Mankind”) as Lt. Marla McGivers, Sonya Cassidy (“Reacher”) as Dr. Rosalind Lear, with Star Trek veteran Tim Russ (“Star Trek: Voyager”) reprising his role as Ensign Tuvok and the legendary George Takei as Capt. Sulu.
After playing Sulu in the original series from 1966 to 1969, Takei returned in the animated series (1973-74), six movies (1979-91), and episodes of “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Lower Decks.” In “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” Sulu was the captain of the USS Excelsior.
Supporting voice cast includes Olli Haaskivi (“Oppenheimer”) as Delmonda, Maury Sterling (“Homeland”) as Ivan, Mercy Malick (“Mr. Mayor”) as Ursula, and Zuri Washington (“Life with Althaar”) as Madot.
“Star Trek: Khan” is based on a story by “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” writer and director Nicholas Meyer. Kirsten Beyer and David Mack serve as writers on the podcast, which is produced by CBS’ Eye Podcast Productions Inc., Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment.
Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Kirsten Beyer, Molly Barton, Carly Migliori, Fred Greenhalgh, Trevor Roth and Rod Roddenberry. Robyn Johnson serves as co-executive producer and the podcast was directed by Fred Greenhalgh. Realm serves as the production studio for the series.