We’ve learned a little bit more about the upcoming Star Trek: Khan scripted podcast, thanks to Tim Russ, who was recently announced to be part of the voice cast. Today at STLV Trek to Vegas the actor explained how Tuvok fits into the story, and he also gave us an update on his potential return in Spaceballs II.

Exploring Khan’s history with Tuvok and the archeologist

The Star Trek: Khan project, which would tell the story of Khan Noonien Singh’s time in exile on Ceti Alpha V, has been bouncing around for almost a decade, starting as a TV mini-series written by Wrath of Khan writer/director Nicholas Meyer. A couple of years ago the project pivoted to become a scripted audio drama, and just last month at Comic-Con both Tim Russ and George Takei were announced as part of the voice cast lead by Naveen Andrews as Khan. Russ and Takei are reuniting to play Ensign Tuvok and Captain Sulu of the USS Excelsior, as established in the Voyager episode “Flashback.” Sulu was first seen as a captain in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered country, set a decade after Khan’s exile ended during the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

From Voyager’s “Flashback”

At STLV Russ helped connect the dots on how Sulu’s crew plays a part, a decade after Khan died:

“I just did voiceover work the story of Khan, and it’s a prequel… I just voiced the character Tuvok as an ensign. It’s basically a story that hovers around an archeologist who is uncovering the information and relics of that past to figure out the backstory to Khan and how he became Khan in the first place. So it’s a pretty cool piece.”

The archeologist mentioned by Russ is the character Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy) who can be heard in the teaser (below). So it appears that there is a framing story set on Sulu’s Excelsior around the time of  Star Trek VI, and within that framing story is the main story of Khan’s exile.

In February it was revealed that production had already wrapped for the series, but it appears that may have only been for the Ceti Alpha V story, featuring Khan (Naveen Andrews), Lt. Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt), and the other exiles. At STLV Russ revealed he “just did the voice for [Star Trek: Khan] a couple of weeks ago,” so recording on the framing story may have been done just before Comic-Con. Russ also hyped up the audio drama production, saying “It’s a podcast, fully produced, sound effects, music, all that good stuff.”

Star Trek: Khan debuts on Star Trek Day, 2025,  September 8. New episodes will be available weekly on Mondays through November 3, wherever you get your podcasts.

Jeri Ryan, Roxann Dawson and Tim Russ at STLV 2025 (Photo: TrekMovie.com/Jon Spencer)

Russ may find Spaceballs 2

In June we reported that the announcement of a sequel to Mel Brooks’ 1987 sci-fi spoof Spaceballs could see Tim Russ return in his brief but memorable role as a trooper combing the desert. At STLV, the actor appeared to hint he will indeed be back in Spaceballs 2:

“It’s possible that I’ll revive the role in the sequel. I know that Mel Brooks is very excited about bringing back all of the original players he can get from the original film, so hopefully I’ll be able to shoot it with him next year sometime.”

His original part is just a few seconds long but his Spaceball trooper’s memorable “We ain’t found shit!” has followed Russ throughout his career.

Bonus: Russ sings “We Ain’t Found Shit”

One of the highlights of STLV is the house band, the Star Trek-themed group The Roddenberries. Last December, Russ (who has a band of his own) joined the Roddenberries for a live show in Philadelphia, singing their original song “We Ain’t Found Shit!”

More STLV 2025

We will have more from the Voyager reunion panel and beyond. STLV runs through Sunday and we will be reporting on any news coming from the con. Check out our STLV tag for all of our coverage so far.

You can also follow along live @trekmovie on X, Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram.

#VOYAGER 30Th anniversary panel. Part 1: Jeri Ryan, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Tim Russ, & Brannon Braga #startrek #STLV pic.twitter.com/ah41ZJEdUN

— TrekMovie.com @ #STLV (@TrekMovie) August 9, 2025

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