The 14 Dumbest Things In Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
7. The Inferior Superior Intellect
KHAN: Admiral Kirk... never bothered to check on our progress. It is only the fact of my genetically engineered intellect that allowed us to survive.
Much is made of Khan’s intellect in the film, but he’s dumb as a box of rocks throughout.
Consider the following:
Khan wants Genesis, yet tortures and kills the uncooperative Genesis team instead of sticking eels in them (did he leave his "pets" behind?) or taking any of the team with him when he has to leave Regula One in order to blow Kirk to bits. (Yes, he’s mad, but c'mon.)
Next, Mr. Superior Intellect can’t spot the most in plain sight “code” ever. Spock says, “Hours would seem like days,” and then explains the ship’s status using days. Twelve-year-olds in the audience decoded that on the fly, so why can’t Khan or his crew of fellow superdupermen (or Saavik, for that matter)?
Yes, Khan has activated his Ahab-obsession powerup and he’s phaser-focused on harpooning his white whale: Kirk. And, granted, his monumental ego and sense of innate superiority clouds his judgment to the point where he’s easily duped and goaded into chasing Kirk into the nebula where he loses most of his advantage, but, like Kirk and Bones, he gets tossed the Idiot Ball and never once demonstrates any real smarts.
This was not always the case. In one of the scripts from which the final film screenplay was built—and before his beloved wife was “fridged”—there was dialoge that indicated Khan was indeed an extra special super genius:
KHAN: How are the control systems working?
MCGIVERS: Very well. Command and remote functions are all tied through computer stations. How could you have designed it so quickly?
KHAN: This is a sister ship of Enterprise. The Enterprise manuals I absorbed fourteen years ago are still fresh in my mind.
Not only would such dialog have demonstrated that Khan’s an actual smarty-pants ergo a real threat, it would have made clear how 14 übermenschen could run an entire starship, especially with 10 of them on the bridge (indeed, we see two in a corridor and two in the engine room when the Enterprise lays into the ship at the climax).