Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan has already been copied twice by other Star Trek movies, but the imitators always focus on the wrong things instead of what was at the heart of Wrath of Khan's success. Both Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek Into Darkness duplicated or outright remade The Wrath of Khan. They each introduced a diabolical supervillain who could only be defeated if a beloved Star Trek hero sacrificed his life to save his starship and his friends. Yet The Wrath of Khan was lightning in a bottle, and each attempt to redo it ultimately resulted in disappointment and even outright failure.
However, the secret ingredient of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan that complemented Ricardo Montalbán's iconic, scenery-chewing portrayal of Khan is that the film introduced a great, original idea: the Genesis Device. The MacGuffin that Khan and Admiral James T. Kirk (WIlliam Shatner) fought over was the United Federation of Planets' experimental technology for terraforming planets. What's missing from the Star Trek movies that copied Wrath of Khan is another original idea like Project Genesis. Instead, Star Trek: Nemesis and Star Trek Into Darkness wanted to follow beat-for-beat how Wrath of Khan featured a dynamic adversary who forced one of Starfleet's heroes to make a noble sacrifice. But finding another great idea like Genesis makes for a better Star Trek movie than continually aping Wrath of Khan and hoping for similar success.
The Genesis Device Was Wrath Of Khan's Best Idea
Project Genesis in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a remarkably forward-thinking sci-fi idea. The fact that Genesis could both create new worlds or become "perverted into a dreadful weapon," in the words of Kirk's son, Dr. David Marcus (Merritt Butrick), one of Genesis' creators, made the device compelling. Genesis also had a terrible secret: its creation matrix was flawed, a fact that David concealed because of the pressures he and his mother, the project's co-creator Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), were under to deliver Genesis to the Federation. As such, the Genesis Planet was unstable and ended up destroying itself, as well as the future of the Genesis Project.
The Genesis Device wasn't just the weapon Khan was after for his revenge, but it also ingeniously wove in the family drama between Kirk, Carol, and David, illuminating all of their characters. Genesis became the symbol of how Kirk was forbidden to be part of his son's life as he grew up. Genesis later enabled Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) resurrection, and it was the spark that led to Admiral Kirk betraying Starfleet and stealing and destroying the USS Enterprise in order to rescue his Vulcan friend in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Genesis formed the basis of two Star Trek movies and had lasting after-effects beyond Khan's quest for vengeance in Star Trek II.
Star Trek: TOS Movies Told A Complete Genesis Story
Star Trek II, III, and IV are unofficially dubbed the "Genesis Trilogy," and they remain a hallmark of the Star Trek film franchise, with The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home still hailed as the best Star Trek movies. True to the name "Genesis," Star Treks II through IV told a complete story about death and rebirth, and this is what truly made the films work beyond Khan's evil and Spock's death in Star Trek II. Project Genesis was at the heart of the greatest long-form story of the Star Trek movies. Khan was a crucial part of the first chapter, but the Genesis story was bigger and more impactful than Kirk facing his greatest foe.
The desire for Star Trek to mimic Khan and create another memorable movie supervillain is understandable. But what the Star Trek franchise really needs is to find a bold new idea (not copy Genesis) that can lend itself to a sweeping sci-fi story while revealing the humanity of Star Trek's characters. The truth is there can never be another Khan, but Star Trek is always a catalyst for great sci-fi ideas and resonant character drama. It would be far better for Star Trek 4 to not focus on creating the next Khan-like adversary and try instead to find the next great Star Trek idea.