Star Trek II - IV: The Spock Trilogy - 10 Things You Never Knew

5. Star Trek III: The Original Villains Were The Romulans But The Filmmakers Were Worried

Star Trek 3 The Search For Spock Christopher Lloyd Kruge
Paramount

Originally, the intended villains of the piece were to be the Romulans. The Bird of Prey was designed with the Romulans in mind, which is why the underside of the wings still has the feathered pattern, reminiscent of the Original Series Romulan Bird of Prey. However, Nimoy felt that the Romulans would be too unfamiliar to newer audiences and the villains were changed to be the Klingons.

To captain this Klingon vessel, Christopher Lloyd, everybody's favourite time travelling doc, was cast. He is both steadfast and cold, quick to anger and loves animals. He is one of the fiercest warriors Kirk faces and is responsible for ordering the death of David, Kirk's son. This plot development shows all that Kirk has to lose to bring Spock back. His son is killed, his ship is lost and, most likely, his career in Starfleet has ended.

But he is not beaten. One of the key factors of the battle between Khan and Kirk is that Shatner and Montalban never meet on screen in the Wrath of Khan's run time. Here, Lloyd and Shatner meet on the rapidly disintegrating surface of Genesis and proceed to knock lumps out of each other. Of course Kirk gains the upper hand, tricking the Klingon transporter chief into beaming him and the resurrected Spock back up. They commandeer the Bird of Prey and the film ends on the planet Vulcan, with Spock back in one piece.

Again securing a sequel, the Search for Spock may not have had the gravitas of the Wrath of Khan, but it returned Nimoy to the franchise,

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"