Okay, so I just watched Star Trek into Darkness and as a long-time fan of Wrath of Khan I'm a little confused by the portrayal of Khan. Okay, the actor is different and they clearly decided to take more than a few liberties with his appearance. I'm more wondering about the portrayal, not the appearance.
In the original Star Trek show and in Wrath of Khan, Khan is ruthless but not unfeeling. He is passionate and he cares about his followers and loves his wife who used to be one of Capt. Kirk's crew I think. But I dunno, I guess I feel that his sense of pride and his ruthlessness combined with the kind of control and poise his super genetics give him means that he's not gonna start crying all of a sudden.
Compare this
to
Are these two Khans really part of the same persona?
They should be of course, because in theory the same two Khans from the twentieth century were woken up, it doesn't matter which timeline we're talking about. So why are they so different?
Also, Khan talks about his "family" instead of his followers or fellow exiled leaders. Khan may have called these people his family by the time of Wrath of Khan, after years and years in exile on that waste planet Kirk put them on dodging brain eating worms and such...but I just feel like "family" doesn't make sense here in Into Darkness. I'm also not sure why Khan is working on weapons design and starships and stuff like that.
It seems like they've used Khan in name only.
So my question is: did the writers do any background research on Khan at all, or did they just make him up completely on the spot and just re-used the name?
I do know they intend him to be the same Khan, but I'm wondering how hard they tried. Did they say what kind of research they did? Did they say they wanted to take him in a new direction and if so how do they justify the change in personality and skills?
Sorry if I've rambled, just trying to make my case clear, that's all. Thanks.