Cast
The Wrath of Khan's cast includes all the major characters from the original television series, as well as new actors and characters.
William Shatner as James T. Kirk, a Starfleet admiral and former commander of the Enterprise. Kirk and Khan never confront each other face-to-face during the film; all of their interactions are over a viewscreen or through communicators, and their scenes were filmed four months apart. Meyer described Shatner as an actor who was naturally protective of his character and himself, and who performed better over multiple takes.
Ricardo Montalbán as Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically enhanced superhuman who had used his strength and intellect to briefly rule much of Earth in the 1990s. Montalbán said that he believed all good villains do villainous things, but think that they are acting for the "right" reasons; in this way, Khan uses his anger at the death of his wife to justify his pursuit of Kirk. Contrary to speculation that Montalbán used a prosthetic chest, the director insisted no artificial devices were added to Montalbán's muscular physique. Montalbán enjoyed making the film, so much so that he played the role for much less than was offered him, and counted the role as a career highlight. His major complaint was that he was never face-to-face with Shatner for a scene. "I had to do my lines with the script girl, who, as you might imagine, sounded nothing like Bill [Shatner]", he explained. Bennett noted that the film was close to getting the green light when it occurred to the producers that no one had asked Montalbán if he could take a break from filming the television series Fantasy Island to take part.
Leonard Nimoy as Spock, the captain of the Enterprise who relinquishes command to Kirk after Starfleet sends the ship to Regula I. Nimoy had not intended to have a role in The Motion Picture's sequel, but was enticed back on the promise that his character would be given a dramatic death scene. Nimoy reasoned that since The Wrath of Khan would be the final Star Trek film, having Spock "go out in a blaze of glory" seemed like a good way to end the character.
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy, the Enterprise's chief medical officer and a close friend of Kirk and Spock. Kelley was dissatisfied with an early version of the script to the point that he considered not taking part. Kelley noted his character spoke many of the film's funnier lines, and felt that this role was essential in bringing a lighter side to the onscreen drama.
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, the Enterprise's chief engineer. Kelley felt that McCoy speaking his catchphrase "he's dead, Jim" during Spock's death scene would ruin the moment's seriousness, so Doohan instead says the line "he's dead already" to Kirk. Scott loses his young nephew following Khan's attacks on Enterprise. The cadet, played by Ike Eisenmann, had many of his lines cut from the original theatrical release, including a scene that explains he is Scott's relative. These scenes were reintroduced in a television edit and in the director's edition, making Scott's grief at the crewman's death more understandable.
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu, Enterprise's helm officer. Takei had not wanted to reprise his role for The Wrath of Khan, but Shatner persuaded him to return.
Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov, the Reliant's first officer and former Enterprise crewmember. During filming, Kelley noted that Chekov never met Khan in "Space Seed" (Koenig had not yet joined the cast), and thus Khan's recognizing Chekov on Ceti Alpha did not make sense. Non-canon Star Trek books attempted to rationalize this discrepancy; in the film's novelization by Vonda N. McIntyre, Chekov met Khan during "Space Seed" in an off-screen scene, while the novel To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh has Chekov escort Khan to the surface of Ceti Alpha V after the events of the television episode. The real cause of the error was a simple oversight by the filmmakers. Meyer defended the mistake by noting that Arthur Conan Doyle made similar oversights in his Sherlock Holmes stories. Chekov's screaming while being infested by the Ceti eel caused Koenig to jokingly dub the film Star Trek II: Chekov Screams Again, in reference to a similar screaming scene in The Motion Picture.
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, the Enterprise's communications officer. Nichols helped convince Meyer and Bennet to marginally cut back their vision of a more militaristic depiction of Starfleet, with which Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry also took issue.
Bibi Besch as Carol Marcus, the lead scientist working on Project Genesis, and the mother of Kirk's son. Meyer wanted an actress for the role who was beautiful enough that it was plausible a womanizer such as Kirk would fall for her, yet who could also project a sense of intelligence.
Merritt Butrick as David Marcus, a Project Genesis scientist and Kirk's son. Meyer liked that Butrick's hair was blond like Besch's and curly like Shatner's, making him a plausible child of the two.
Paul Winfield as Clark Terrell, the captain of Reliant. Meyer had seen Winfield's work in films such as Sounder and thought highly of him; there was no reason for casting the actor as the Reliant's captain other than Meyer's desire to direct him. Meyer thought in retrospect that the Ceti eel scenes might have been corny, but felt that Winfield's performance helped add gravity.
Kirstie Alley as Saavik, Spock's protege and a Starfleet commander-in-training aboard Enterprise. The movie was Alley's first feature film role. Serving on board as the navigator in Chekov's absence, she has a strong habit of questioning Kirk's eccentric heroic methods, preferring a more by-the-book approach. Saavik cries during Spock's funeral. Meyer said that during filming someone asked him, "'Are you going to let her do that?' And I said, 'Yeah', and they said, 'But Vulcans don't cry', and I said, 'Well, that's what makes this such an interesting Vulcan.'" The character's emotional outbursts can be partly explained by the fact that Saavik was described as of mixed Vulcan-Romulan heritage in the script, though no indication is given on film. Alley was so fond of her Vulcan ears that she would take them home with her at the end of each day.
Judson Scott as Joachim, Khan's chief henchman. Scott took the role believing that it would be more prominent and requested top billing. When Paramount refused, Scott waived billing, believing that he would still appear in the end credits. Instead his performance went uncredited.
