Posted in: Movies, Paramount Pictures | Tagged: Kelvin Universe, paramount, star trek, Star Trek 4

Star Trek: Why Cinematic Franchise Should Move Beyond Kelvin Crew

Published Fri, 16 Dec 2022 17:17:10 -0600

It's been six years since we had our last cinematic Star Trek film from Paramount in 2016's Beyond. While the Kelvin Universe films helped spark renewed interest in the franchise since the 2009 reboot, the franchise has largely settled back on television on Paramount+ since the premiere of 2017's Discovery. The future seems secure on that front, with several other shows like Picard, Strange New Worlds, and Prodigy active on the platform, but the development of the fourth Kelvin universe film has been nothing short of a disaster since. Perhaps we should start fresh from scratch with a new crew at this point.

Star Trek: Chris Pine Optimistic About Film Franchise Future — Chris Pine as Capt James T. Kirk in Star Trek Beyond (2016). Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Star Trek Needs To Move On To Evolve

Let's start with the Kelvin crew with stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, and John Cho, who all play younger versions of Star Trek: The Original Series characters Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Bones, Uhura, and Sulu. Regardless if they can somehow fit the fourth film into their predictably busier schedules, they also have to deal with the void of missing Anton Yelchin's Chekov. While it could be recast with the actor's passing, it could naturally feel awkward in terms of continuity after all these years, not to mention if another actor wants to invest in something that could be just a one-off. There's also the fact this project seems cursed from how many directors have been attached from Quentin Tarantino, S.J. Clarkson, Noah Hawley, and the latest casualty in Matt Shakman, who's left the project in favor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of The Fantastic Four. At this point, why not start with a different crew and ship altogether? Here are some ideas on where to start.

Zachary Quinto Talks Star Trek 4 and the Cast Would Return — Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban in Star Trek Beyond (2016). Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

First, while it's easy to just reboot a legacy spinoff like Next Generation or Voyager for film, why not explore an era of Star Trek seldom explored in the franchise, like after TOS and before TNG? As much as the franchise has been about the Enterprise, you're allowed to focus on another ship or setting, as Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Discovery, and Picard have shown. A new crew dealing with the newfound peace with the Klingons would be a perfect setting. It's not just post-The Undiscovered Country era; there are 95 years from the Star Trek timeline from Kirk to Picard that you can siphon from and explore.

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