Star Trek: Khan

Running time	30–40 minutes
Country of origin	United States
Language	English
Starring	Naveen Andrews Wrenn Schmidt Sonya Cassidy George Takei Tim Russ
Written by	Kirsten Beyer David Mack
Directed by	Fred Greenhalgh
Produced by	Robyn Johnson
Executive producers	Alex Kurtzman Aaron Baiers Kirsten Beyer Molly Barton Fred Greenhalgh Trevor Roth Rod Roddenberry

Star Trek: Khan is an Americanaudio drama series directed by Fred Greenhalgh and written byKirsten Beyer andDavid Mack, based on a story byNicholas Meyer. It is part of executive producerAlex Kurtzman's expandedStar Trek Universe. The series exploresKhan Noonien Singh during the nearly 20 years that he is stranded on the planet Ceti Alpha V between the events of theStar Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" (1967) and Meyer's filmStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

Naveen Andrews stars as Khan, withWrenn Schmidt,Sonya Cassidy,George Takei, andTim Russ also starring. Work on the project, which originated as a three-episode television miniseries written by Meyer, was first revealed in June 2017. That version did not move forward due to the cost of producing such a short series. Kurtzman revealed plans to expand theStar Trek Universe into scripted podcasts in May 2022, and Meyer announcedStar Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V that September. In November 2023, the series was being expanded from Meyer's three-episode plan. Voice recording was completed by the end of February 2025, when the main cast and crew were announced along with the shortened titleStar Trek: Khan. Additional casting and the series'framing story were revealed in July, with Takei and Russ announced to be reprising their roles from previousStar Trek media.

Star Trek: Khan premiered on all major podcast streaming platforms on September 8, 2025. The nine-episode series was released weekly until November 3. It is considered, by the project's writers, to be part of the larger Star Trek canon.^[1]

The series explores the nearly 20 years between theStar Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" (1967, set in 2267) and the filmStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, set in 2285) when the genetically modified warlordKhan Noonien Singh and his followers are stranded on the planet Ceti Alpha V by CaptainJames Kirk of theUSSEnterprise.^[2][3] It is told via aframing story, in which characters several decades later discover "lost logs" pertaining to Khan's story.^[4]

The series consists of nine episodes directed by Fred Greenhalgh and written byKirsten Beyer andDavid Mack, based on a story byNicholas Meyer, and with additional writing by Mac Rogers. They were released weekly from September 8 to November 3, 2025.^[5][3]

• Naveen Andrews asKhan Noonien Singh:
  A genetically modified warlord from the 20th century. After being awoken from suspended animation in 2267 by CaptainJames Kirk in theStar Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" (1967), Khan is exiled on the planet Ceti Alpha V. The series explores what happens to Khan over the following 18 years, leading to him swearing vengeance against Kirk in the filmStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).^[3][15]
• Wrenn Schmidt asMarla McGivers:
  An historian serving on theUSSEnterprise when it discovers Khan during the episode "Space Seed". McGivers becomes enthralled with Khan and opts to leaveStarfleet, joining him on Ceti Alpha V where the pair get married. McGivers dies on the planet before the events ofThe Wrath of Khan, an event that may be explored in the series.^[16][17]
• Sonya Cassidy as Rosalind Lear: A doctor in the 2290s who discovers lost history logs pertaining to Khan. She believes that Kirk knew Ceti Alpha VI was unstable when he exiled Khan and his followers.^[4]
• George Takei asHikaru Sulu: Captain of the USSExcelsior in the 2290s^[4]
• Tim Russ asTuvok: An ensign aboard theExcelsior in the 2290s^[4]

The supporting cast includesOlli Haaskivi as Delmonda,Maury Sterling as Ivan, Mercy Malick as Ursula, and Zuri Washington as Madot.^[18]

After joining theCBS All Access seriesStar Trek: Discovery (2017–2024) as a consulting producer and writer,Nicholas Meyer revealed in June 2017 that he was also working on a second, unrelatedStar Trek project. Meyer previously wrote and directed the filmsStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) andStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).^[19][20] In May 2018, Meyer referred to the project as a "stand-aloneStar Trek-related trilogy", and said it was on hold due to the heated relationship between companiesCBS andViacom. As Viacom is the parent-company ofParamount Pictures, the studio behind theStar Trek films, CBS was not able to use content from those films at that time, and Meyer's project was rumored to be a prequel toThe Wrath of Khan.^[21] The next month, after becoming soleshowrunner ofDiscovery,Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal withCBS Television Studios to expand theStar Trek franchise beyondDiscovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. This included a limited series based around the characterKhan Noonien Singh and his storyline inThe Wrath of Khan, in which he was portrayed byRicardo Montalbán.^[22]Terry Matalas discussed becomingshowrunner of the series with Kurtzman andAkiva Goldsman, before he joined the seriesStar Trek: Picard (2020–2023) instead.^[23]

The project was still on hold in November 2018, when Meyer revealed that it was a three-episode miniseries titledCeti Alpha V, named for the planet that Khan and his followers live on before the events ofThe Wrath of Khan. He was unsure then if the project would be moving forward, and said CBS was concerned with how expensive the series would be to produce relative to its short running time.^[24] In August 2019, Viacom announced that it was merging with CBS, bringing the film and television sides of theStar Trek franchise under the control of one company,ViacomCBS, for the first time since they split in 2006.^[25] ViacomCBS announced in September 2020 that CBS All Access would be expanded and rebranded asParamount+ in March 2021.^[26] In February 2021, Kurtzman said a new series was unlikely to be added to Paramount+'s slate ofStar Trek Universe series until one of the existing five came to an end.^[27] A month later, Meyer said the project had originally been suggested to him by Kurtzman and he had thought it was a great idea that he was excited to pursue. He was still interested in making the project, but expressed concern at potentially having to extend it beyond the three episode plan which he felt would make it like the television seriesGilligan's Island (1964–1967).^[28] In May 2022, Kurtzman said there were discussions about theStar Trek Universe expanding to other media such as video games and dramatic podcasts,^[29] and a month later Meyer said he was negotiating a deal to turnCeti Alpha V into a podcast that he would write and possibly direct.^[30]

At aStar Trek Day event on September 8, 2022, Meyer officially announced the scripted podcast asStar Trek: Khan – Ceti Alpha V, with Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers, Trevor Roth, andRod Roddenberry as executive producers. It was set to premiere in early 2023,^[2] but no more news was released by November of that year. Meyer said the project had "a kitchen filled with cooks", it was being expanded to nine or ten half-hour episodes, and "whatever timeline we had went out the window some months ago". He added that casting would begin and a composer would be hired once some "behind-the-scenes issues" were resolved, and there was a chance that the podcast could lead to a television or film version if it was successful.^[31] In February 2025, the project was re-confirmed as an audio series titledStar Trek: Khan. LongtimeStar Trek writersKirsten Beyer andDavid Mack had written the series based on Meyer's story, with Fred Greenhalgh directing, Robyn Johnson as supervising producer, and Realm as the production studio and distributor. Beyer, Greenhalgh, and Molly Barton were added as executive producers by then.^[3][16] Mack said he and Beyer were "tasked with developing the series from the core elements of Nick's story" and wrote the scripts in early 2024. He confirmed that the series would consist of nine half-hour episodes.^[32]

The story takes place between the events of theStar Trek: The Original Series episode "Space Seed" (1967) andThe Wrath of Khan. It is billed as the untold and "recently unearthed" story of how Khan went from a "beneficent tyrant and superhuman visionary" to the monstrous figure on a quest for vengeance inThe Wrath of Khan.^[2][3] At the end of "Space Seed", Khan and his genetically modified followers are exiled on the planet Ceti Alpha V by CaptainJames Kirk of theUSSEnterprise. Kirk challenges Khan to turn theEden-like planet into autopia, but this does not go well. By the end of the story, Meyer wanted the audience to "weep for [Khan]. I hope that you understand where he's coming from and what his destiny is" leading into the events ofThe Wrath of Khan. He said the story was about how Khan copes with the challenges he faces on Ceti Alpha V.^[2][33] Khan's exile was previously covered inGreg Cox'sEugenics Wars novel series (2001–2005), but Mack said Meyer had a "completely different take" on the story which he and Beyer hoped would be surprising for fans.^[32] The series has aframing story in which "lost logs" about Khan's exile are discovered by Dr. Rosalind Lear several decades later, and are reviewed by CaptainHikaru Sulu and EnsignTuvok of the USSExcelsior. Tuvok's role as an ensign on theExcelsior under Sulu's command was established in theStar Trek: Voyager episode "Flashback" (1996).^[4]

Casting was underway by late August 2024, when Meyer expected voice recording to begin within a year.^[33] Recording was completed by the end of February 2025, whenNaveen Andrews was announced as the voice of Khan andWrenn Schmidt as the voice ofMarla McGivers. Andrews replaced Ricardo Montalbán from "Space Seed" andThe Wrath of Khan, while Schmidt replacedMadlyn Rhue who portrayed McGivers in "Space Seed".^[3] That July, more of the cast was announced:George Takei andTim Russ reprising their respective roles of Hikaru Sulu and Tuvok from previousStar Trek media;Sonya Cassidy as new character Rosalind Lear; and supporting cast membersOlli Haaskivi as Delmonda,Maury Sterling as Ivan, Mercy Malick as Ursula, and Zuri Washington as Madot.^[18]

Star Trek: Khan premiered on all major podcast streaming platforms on September 8, 2025, which isStar Trek Day. The nine-episode series were released weekly until November 3.^[5][3] It was previously set to premiere in early 2023.^[2]

• Star Trek: Khan atIMDb
• Star Trek: Khan playlist onYouTube

• American podcasts
• Audio podcasts
• Scripted podcasts
• Works based on Star Trek

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from February 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use list-defined references from February 2025
• Use mdy dates from July 2025
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• IMDb title ID not in Wikidata