Everyone knows Captain Kirk first fought the Gorn in the classic Star Trek episode “Arena,” which aired on January 19, 1967. But when you do a deep dive into the origins of this episode, the bizarre truth is “Arena” and the Gorn predate the TV show. As Strange New Worlds continues to reinvent the Gorn and put the canon of “Arena” in a new light, it’s time to revisit a story that existed two decades before Star Trek even existed.
