Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner confirms the series' link to an iconic villain

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Another familiar face may have a role to play in the upcoming series

Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek: Into Darkness
(Image credit: Paramount)

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.

Emily Garbutt
Emily Garbutt
Entertainment Writer

I’m an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related. I help bring you all the latest news, features, and reviews, as well as helming our Big Screen Spotlight column. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.