To the world, Malcolm McDowell will always be defined by an identity of two: the cult-classic icon who pioneered one of the greatest Stanley Kubrick movies ever made: A Clockwork Orange, or the Star Trek villain who killed the beloved Captain Kirk.
The actor knows there is no escaping from the identities that have been imposed upon him and McDowell has ever since worked on embracing the duality rather than letting it hinder his work. However, swarms of Trekkies still return to remind him of the atrocity that he committed as Dr. Tolian Soran from time to time.
Malcolm McDowell takes up an impossible task
As one of the founders and core members of the Star Trek universe, William Shatner has always been held in high esteem, alongside Leonard Nimoy and the rest of the fellow actors in The Original Series cast. As such, every other actor who came on board in the years to follow always lived and walked in their overarching shadows.
One can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Malcolm McDowell then to be the first person tasked with the role of killing Captain Kirk – a feat never achieved on screen before. After Marlon Brando turned down the role, McDowell stepped up to play the megalomaniacal Dr. Tolian Soran, the renegade scientist with sinister plans who goes up against Picard and his crew.
Dr. Soran makes his first appearance as a deranged El-Aurian scientist in Star Trek: Generations (1994), the seventh installment in the Star Trek series. With understandable motivations underlying his villainous and extreme actions, Dr. Soran quickly gained a foothold in the industry as one of the best, most haunting, and chilling villains to exist in film – more so after killing Captain Kirk.
Star Trek veteran addresses the sins of his past
In the years since his role as Dr. Tolian Soran, Malcolm McDowell has received an inordinate amount of hate for committing one of the most shocking acts in pop culture history. However, McDowell’s memories of Star Trek Generations remain unmarred by any controversies. The only problem that the film posed to him was the underwhelming death of Captain Kirk.
In an interview with StarTrek.com, McDowell complained about the shockingly ill-written death scene, not mincing any words while expressing his hatred for Shatner’s ending:
If you have this icon of American television, why the hell didn’t they give him a spectacular death? Why did they give him such a really paltry death? Me shooting the bridge out or some BS whatever it was? They should have sent him off in a glorious fashion, and they didn’t. They missed an opportunity… I thought it was poor, very poor. They should have seen Shatner off in a big way.
Later, in August 2024, Malcolm McDowell revisited the memory once again after being asked if he would like to return to the franchise again. Addressing the age-old controversy of killing William Shatner‘s Captain Kirk, McDowell reminisced (via The Guardian):
I mean, you can’t top killing Captain James T Kirk. I suppose I could go back and kill old Patrick Stewart … I got a lot of flak from unhappy Trekkies, but there were also a lot of happy Trekkies who’d had it with old Bill. I think he overstayed his welcome. It was good for him to move on.
Directed by David Carson, the 1994 film failed to perform critically well in theaters, scoring a paltry 47% on Rotten Tomatoes although it commercially went on to earn $118 million against a moderate budget of $35 million (via The Numbers).
Star Trek Generations is currently available to stream on Paramount+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
