George Takei Didn’t Want John Cho’s Sulu To Be Gay

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George Takei, the man who originally played Star Trek’s Hikaru Sulu, is unhappy that John Cho’s Sulu is revealed to be gay in Star Trek Beyond.

ICYMI: The Smithsonian Channel will air a new documentary called “Building Star Trek” on the restoration of the original Enterprise model on September 4th.

When we heard that Sulu would be revealed to be gay in Star Trek Beyond we assumed that the move had the blessing of George Takei, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, that is not the case.

"“I said, ‘This movie is going to be coming out on the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, the 50th anniversary of paying tribute to Gene Roddenberry, the man whose vision it was carried us through half a century. Honor him and create a new character. I urged them. He left me feeling that that was going to happen,” Takei told The Hollywood Reporter"

Takei seems to be worried that changing the sexual orientation of one of the characters created by Gene Roddenberry is being unfaithful to Roddenberry’s vision for Star Trek. We can understand that point of view, but we think it may be a bit over the top. Most of the reactions we’ve seen today on the announcement that Sulu would be in a same sex relationship in Star Trek Beyond have been overwhelmingly positive.

Even though we might disagree with Takei on this one, we understand his concern, after all he had to hide who he was from Hollywood for years. We can certainly see why he’d rather see a whole new character created specifically to break this barrier, though it looks like we might be getting that on the CBS’ new Star Trek show.

Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.

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What do you think, is making Sulu gay being unfaithful to Gene Roddenberry’s vision? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments below.