Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek: Into Darkness
(Image credit: Paramount)

It's official – upcoming sš”‰eries Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will include a link to an infamous franchise villain.

The show will feature a characꦅter called La’an Noonien Singh, played by Christina Chong. Of course, iconic Trek villain Khan's full name is Khan Noonien Singh, so it's not too much of a leap to assume the two may be connected.

). "We don’t want to bring folks into the show to be splashy. We want to dig deeply into characters that are part of our ensemble and then, obviously, we’re open to getting our arms… but right now, what you see is what you get."

Strange New Worlds is set to be a diršŸ“ect prequel to The Original Series, which 🧸aired between 1966 and 1969 and starred William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy as Kirk and Spock. It will follow the crew of the USS Enterprise in the years before it came under Captain Kirk's leadership – Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn, and Ethan Peck reprise their roles from Star Trek: Discovery, playing Captain Christopher Pike, Number One, and Spock respectively.

As for Khan, he was last portrayed on screen by Benedict Cumberbatch in 2013's 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Star Trek: Into Darkness. Ricardo šŸØMontalbán also played the character in 1982's Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Paramount Plus on May 5. While we wait, check out our guide to 澳擲幸运5å¼€å„–å·ē åŽ†å²ęŸ„čÆ¢:Star Trek: Picard season 2, which išŸ…°s arriving first and premiering later this month.

I’m an Enterta🌱inment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering everything film and TV-related across the Total Film and SFX secā˜‚tions. I help bring you all the latest news and also the occasional feature too. I’ve previously written for publications like HuffPost and i-D after getting my NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism.