10 Most Brutal Acts Of Revenge In Star Trek

Love them or hate them, the Abrams films had many stand out moments. This is one of them.

Star Trek is no stranger to violence, as has been shown many times on this list already. But few examples are as vicious as Khan's crushing of Admiral Marcus's head in the third act of Star Trek Into Darkness. It is shocking and although Khan is not depicted as anything other than ruthless throughout the film, it is a gory moment by suggestion (no actual brains are shown), far more so than what the franchise had been used to.

In rebooting the franchise, Abrams modernized it. Gone was the optimism of the Next Generation and Voyager, replaced by rapid fire story beats and high-budget space battles. And that was fine. Star Trek Into Darkness, while the weakest of the three films, tried at least to show divisions in Starfleet and the effect of war mongering on the innocent.

Abrams' team of Enterprise crew are young and mostly reckless, save for Spock, and they are all easily likeable. They are rarely shown out of their depth. But, in facing Khan, they are pitted against a man who is light years ahead of them in both skill and determination.

This very same man was kept in check by an Admiral who held his entire crew hostage. It is often suggested that Kirk would do anything to protect his crew. Khan shatters Carol Marcus's leg and crushes her shady father's skull with his bare hands. Khan is the depiction of revenge controlling a man. On steroids.