10 Times Gene Roddenberry Hated Star Trek
Gene Roddenberry was very proud of the universe he created, but also very protective.
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was very passionate about the franchise throughout his life. He constantly advocated for the Trek to portray an earnestly optimistic future for humanity, one that mirrored his own hopes for a better tomorrow.
While, most of the time, the writers and other creative people working on Trek tried their best to follow Gene's utopian vision, there were times where it was simply too restrictive to the story. Gene wanted to have no main characters fighting with each other, no storylines that involved technology being used as a villain, no recurring aliens or themes, and plenty of other things that, if followed, would have ruined Star Trek. Of course, Gene's optimism is still respected by the creators of Trek today, but in a way that's much more realistic than Gene originally intended.
Some fans criticise modern Trek for not following Gene's guidelines as precisely as The Original Series or The Next Generation, but it should be said that some of the greatest moments in Trek history were strongly opposed by Mr. Roddenberry. This list will be looking at ten times that Gene Roddenberry hated his most beloved creation.
10. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
It may come as a surprise to many Trek fans that one of the most beloved movies in the franchise, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan was actually disliked by Roddenberry for many reasons.
Although The Motion Picture made money, it was received poorly by critics and general audiences, most people finding it a bit boring and pretentious, some even going as far as to dub it "The Motionless Picture." It became clear to the studio that, in order to reinvigorate Star Trek, they would need to go in a radically different direction for the next film. They took a lot of Gene's creative control away, instead letting Harve Bennett take the lead for the new script.
Roddenberry was, of course, upset with having his control taken away, though his biggest issue with the film was the supposed "militarization" of Starfleet. He hated the violence in the film and thought that the Genesis Device was a ridiculous idea. Whether or not he was right, today, The Wrath Of Khan is regarded as one of Trek's best stories. The introduction of a strong villain (a classic from The Original Series, no less) showed that Trek can be exciting and fun, while still smart.