William Shatner's Idea For Star Trek II Would Have Altered The Course Of The Franchise
It's most popularly accepted by Trekkies and by general audiences that, of the 13 "Star Trek" movies to date, Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the best. It's certainly the most celebrated, and one might find "The Wrath of Khan" the most commonly programmed Trek flick at repertory movie theaters. It's easy to understand why it's so beloved; "Khan" is, compared to its 1979 predecessor, a straight-up action picture. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was a deliberately paced psychedelic light show akin to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," and ended with a character evolving into light. "Khan," meanwhile, was a juicy revenge film starring Ricardo Montalbán as an overacting supervillain, hellbent on destruction, and climaxing with a battleship-like, weapons-forward faceoff in a nebula. "Motion Picture" is for meditating. "Khan" is outright thrilling.
When a follow-up to "Motion Picture" was still in development, "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry had a wild idea that, sadly, was never used. According to William Shatner's memoir "Star Trek Movie Memories," Roddenberry had written a story wherein Klingons go back in time to 1963 and prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Kirk and Co. would have to use the living time portal, the Guardian of Forever, to travel back in time and ensure it happened. Evidently, the pitch was so wild, and "Motion Picture" was such a financial disappointment, that Roddenberry was removed from the project.
In a 2017 interview with IGN, Shatner confirmed that early ideas for "Star Trek II" were not going to be Khan-centric, and none of them weren't meant to be an extension of the TV series. It was Paramount that insisted that "Star Trek II" be an extension of a notable episode of the TV series.
Space Seed II
For those not savvy, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" saw the return of Khan from the original series episode "Space Seed" (February 16, 1967) and followed up with that episode's conclusion. In "Space Seed," Khan, a genetically enhanced super-soldier and one-time dictator of Earth, was thawed after a few centuries in cryo-sleep. He tried to take over the Enterprise, but Kirk got the drop on him, foiling his plans. Khan was given a challenge by Kirk: build a master society on a nearby uninhabited planet, Ceti Alpha V, as proof that he could indeed build a society from scratch. "Star Trek II" returned to Ceti Alpha V years later only to find the planet had been transformed into a near uninhabitable hellhole by an environmental cataclysm.
Shatner noted that the "make a sequel to one of the original episodes" approach that Paramount took didn't sit well with him, at least initially. He said to IGN:
"Did I know what was going to take place? Yes ... I recall that they began to talk about the second movie, and the talk began to be about what segment of the 79 [original 'Star Trek' episodes] that we shot would be useful. And I kept saying, why do we want to go to a segment? Why don't we invent something absolutely new?"
If Shatner was allowed to give input — or indeed, if Roddenberry was allowed to make his weird JFK movie — then there would be no "Wrath of Khan." Shatner would eventually pitch the premise of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," which he also directed. That film saw the Enterprise traveling to the center of the galaxy to confront God — yes, God — face-to-face. Imagine if that film came out in 1982.
'Star Trek V' in 1982
It's worth noting that "Star Trek V" is one of the more reviled "Star Trek" movies. It has an underwritten script (there was a writer strike at the time) which didn't engage with its themes of divinity or religion very well, and the special effects were hampered by a lack of money (the film cost a lot to make, but presumably most of the money went to the cast). But imagine, for a moment, if "Star Trek V" had come out in 1982 with a proper budget, a carefully developed script, and a more experienced director than Shatner. A "Star Trek" movie that properly dealt with God and religion would have been exhilarating, and an appropriately heady follow-up to "Star Trek: The Motion Picture."
But Paramount wanted to follow up on an original series episode, and they settled on "Space Seed." Shatner noted that he didn't like the decision, but ultimately saw that the suits would turn out an excellent movie. He said:
"[T]he people in charge were much more aware than I was that the fans would be more sympathetic to ... [it] would be a better vibration if it echoed a popular hour from the series. [Then take that idea] and then further the story as a film. And they were absolutely right that there [were] ramifications doing it that way. And the fact that the actor [Ricardo Montalbán] was able to repeat his role was another singular advantage."
One might be hesitant to intellectually erase "Wrath of Khan" from the pop consciousness, but it's worth considering that we may have gotten something even better.