Why Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry Hated The Character Of Saavik

Nicholas Meyer's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" sees Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) going to a Klingon prison for a political assassination they didn't commit. The assassination was, of course, the result of a shadowy conspiracy of Federation rogues and Klingon splinters who wanted to see the crumbling Cold War continue. At the end of the movie, it's revealed that Spock's protégé, a young Vulcan named Valeris (Kim Cattrall), was a key conspirator on the U.S.S. Enterprise, and was even gearing up to commit murder to cover her tracks on the matter. Valeris had previously been cool and charismatic (for a Vulcan), so the revelation that she was a saboteur came as quite a shock. 

It would have been even more of a shock if an early idea for "Star Trek VI" had been implemented. Meyer had initially wanted Valeris to be Saavik, the young Vulcan played by Kirstie Alley in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," and by Robin Curtis in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." There were many reasons that Saavik was replaced for "Star Trek VI." For one, Meyer wanted Kirstie Alley to return to the series, and she did not. Also, Meyer didn't like Robin Curtis (for unknown reasons). 

Also, also some expressed a little trepidation that Saavik, an established and well-liked character, would be turned into a turncoat. Among those expressing trepidation was "Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry himself, a fact recorded in a 1992 issue of Cinefantastique Magazine. Roddenberry, as is his usual ethos, didn't like that an honest character would suddenly become dishonest and invite conflict. 

What fewer people know, though, is that Gene Roddenberry actually objected to the inclusion of Saavik in the "Star Trek" franchise way back when "Star Trek II" was being made. Saavik was not one of Gene Roddenberry's creations, and he objected strenuously to her inclusion on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. His reasons for the objection are ... unclear.

Many Trekkies might have heard the former story: that Gene Roddenberry didn't like the idea of a long-time, beloved character like Saavik being a sellout. Cinefantastique quoted an anonymous source who worked on the film, and they said very directly that Roddenberry "hated the idea." That "a character as beloved as part of the legend shouldn't be a traitor." 

But this isn't quite right.

It should be remembered that Gene Roddenberry, the original creator of "Star Trek" was excluded from the production of "Star Trek II" when 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" didn't make quite enough money for the studio. He retained executive producer status, but creatively was essentially replaced by producer Harve Bennett. Roddenberry was very, very bitter about it.

Nicholas Meyer was hired to write and direct "Star Trek II," and he was the one who created Saavik, a young protégé for Spock (Leonard Nimoy). As Bennett recalled, a butt-hurt Roddenberry objected to the inclusion of Saavik because she was half-Vulcan and half-Romulan. Romulans, Trekkies can tell you, are central villains of the "Star Trek" universe, and rarely canoodle with Vulcans. Roddenberry claimed he didn't like the political implications of a Vulcan/Romulan character. As Bennett put it in Cinefantastique: 

"Gene is frequently a historical revisionist. [...] He fought the character of Saavik savagely, saying you couldn't intermarry Vulcans and Romulans — that it was not possible. It had never been done." 

Roddenberry had no issues with aliens intermarrying in general — Spock, after all, was half-Vulcan and half-human — so he was likely expressing whatever objections he could toward a filmmaking team he resented. Nicholas Meyer recalls the Saavik controversy going all the way back to the start

"I wrote the character of Saavik for 'Star Trek II' [...] That wasn't a Gene Roddenberry character. If he doesn't like what I'm doing, then maybe he should give the money he's [making from my movies] back. Then maybe I'll care what he has to say." 

Harsh, but fair.