The Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers, and Admiral James T. Kirk seems resigned to the fact that this may be his last space mission. But Khan--a brilliant renegade of 20th Century Earth--is back with his exiled band of genetic supermen and setting a deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk ... with the threat of a universal Armageddon!

On the day of James Kirk's birth, his father dies on his ship in a last stand against a mysterious alien vessel. He was searching for Ambassador Spock, who is a child on Vulcan, disdained by his neighbors for his half-human nature. Twenty years later, Kirk has grown into a young troublemaker. He is inspired by Capt. Christopher Pike to fulfill his potential in Starfleet, even though he annoys his instructors. Suddenly, there is an emergency on Vulcan...