Little-known sci-fi fact: Kirk wasn't Wrath of Khan's only father
Even though we've been living with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for 30 years, we're still learning new things about the second Trek feature. And one new nugget adds a haunting element of sadness to a would-be intergalactic despot.
As Badass Digest dug up from an issue of StarBlazer magazine, Khan Noonien Singh originally had a kid:
Khan originally had a child. In the movie the child first appears as Terrell and Chekov come upon the Botany Bay; Chekov sees the kid through a window briefly, and then the child scurries away. It's a moment of added tension as the two examine the wreckage of the ancient ship.
The baby doesn't show up again until the very end, and his return comes at a very sobering time. As the USS Reliant is in ruins, as Khan is all but defeated, he activates the Genesis Device, which still sits on the transporter pad. Attracted by the bright lights, the baby crawls towards the device... which then detonates, turning the Mutari Nebula into the Genesis Planet and killing everybody.
Thus far, no one's been able to locate footage of this child, but it does add a certain brutal poetry to a film that was rather lyrical already. Kirk had a son he never knew about, one who might've added meaning to a life of duty—and his greatest enemy had a child he sacrificed to his vengeance.
(Via Badass Digest)
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