An Easter egg in Star Trek Into Darkness hints that Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) met Harry Mudd in the Kelvin Timeline, but he actually met Mudd's daughter. Harcourt Fenton "Harry" Mudd is a classic and beloved bad guy from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Animated Series, where he was played by Roger C. Carmel. Harry Mudd returned in Star Trek: Discovery season 1 and the intergalactic scoundrel was played by Rainn Wilson. But Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the USS Enterprise dealt with a different version of Mudd in the alternate Kelvin timeline.
As Kirk, Spock, and Uhura (Zoe Saldana) prepared to travel to Kronos to apprehend Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Star Trek Into Darkness, Mr. Sulu (John Cho) is heard saying over the intercom, "Please have the trade ship we confiscated during the Mudd incident last month fueled and flight ready." This was an intentional shout-out to Harry Mudd meant for longtime Star Trek fans to catch. "The Mudd Incident" was conceived by screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to explain why a non-Federation starship is aboard the Enterprise, which Kirk needs to infiltrate the Klingon homeworld. The comic book prequel Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness revealed that before the Enterprise's mission to Nibiru in Star Trek Into Darkness' prologue, Kirk actually met not Harry but Ro Mudd, his half-Bajoran daughter. The Enterprise became embroiled in a civil war on a pre-warp world where the resistance was aided by former Starfleet Captain Robert April and Ro Mudd. Kirk kept Mudd's ship because "it might come in handy."
Who Is Harry Mudd In TOS And Star Trek: Discovery?
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) described Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) as a thief, swindler, con man, liar, rogue, and irritant. But Harcourt Fenton Mudd was also a unique threat to the USS Enterprise and its crew. One of the earliest antagonists introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series, Harry Mudd appeared in the TOS episodes, "Mudd's Women" and "I, Mudd," and the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, "Mudd's Passion." Harry Mudd's TOS escapades usually involve seeking profit using seductive android women, love potions, or outright stealing and selling alien technologies. Mudd was also married to a woman named Stella Grimes (Katherine Barrell), and Harry feared both his wife and her father, a powerful arms dealer named Baron Grimes.
Star Trek: Discovery season 1 brought back Harry Mudd (Rainn WIlson), who Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) first met as a prisoner of the Klingons. The Starfleet Officers escaped but left Mudd behind, which prompted Harry to seek revenge. In the standout Star Trek: Discovery season 1 episode, "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," Mudd infiltrated the USS Discovery with a Gormogander (a space whale) and used a time crystal he stole from the Klingons to trap the starship in a time loop while Harry took over the ship. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), and Discovery's crew managed to out-con Mudd and stop his time manipulation. Mudd's final appearance in Discovery's 23rd-century era was in the Short Trek, "The Escape Artist."
Will Harry Mudd Return In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?
Rainn Wilson has indicated his desire to reprise Harry Mudd in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After all, the series led by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is set just a few years after Mudd ran afoul of Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery season 1. Discovery was clever in how it used Harry Mudd without disrupting the established TOS canon, and Strange New Worlds would likely utilize Harry in a similar fashion if he guest stars in season 2. It's far less likely that Chris Pine's Captain Kirk will ever meet Harry Mudd in a Star Trek movie. Beyond how Star Trek 4 is mired in development hell, Harry Mudd isn't a threatening-enough villain to build a feature film around, but it's not out of the realm of possibility the Kelvin timeline version of Harry Mudd may be seen someday.