20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982)
7. Walter Koenig Kept His Big Mouth Shut When It Came To Chekov Never Having Met Khan
At the start of November in 1981, Harve Bennett sent actor Walter Koenig the latest draft of the film’s script, and asked him to do a “trekkie run” on it. By that point, Bennett had screened all 79 episodes of the television series (and the first movie), but he was still relatively new to the Star Trek phenomenon. Koenig obliged and sent off his notes on November 2, 1981.
Among the things Koenig pointed out in his memo:
- “Klingon neutrality zone” should be corrected to “Klingon neutral zone.”
- The script’s multiple references to the “crew sent flying” should be reduced due to the safety belts established in Star Trek—The Motion Picture.
- He suggested the addition “of an ascerbic [sic] exchange between McCoy and Spock somewhere within the bowels of the story.”
- He suggested that Scotty yelling, “Get back there, you yellow dogs!” to his engineering crew was out of character and should be dropped.
But the one thing he didn’t note anywhere in his memo? That Chekov and Khan never met on the original series. Koenig didn’t join the cast until the second season, well after “Space Seed” marooned Khan and his followers on Ceti Alpha V. Koenig admitted to leaving this out on purpose years later in his memoir, Warped Factors:
My concern was that if I mentioned it the decision might be to change the actor rather than change the dialogue. I love George Takei but you’ve got to take my word for it—I can give a good Ceti eel scream. I can’t imagine the dignified Mr. Sulu being as effective.