By placing the Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek project completely outside established continuity, it will solve a lot of obvious issues.
It would appear that Trek Nation has some definite opinions about director Quentin Tarantino and his plan to make a Star Trek feature film with a R rating.
The news, which was long suspected but only confirmed by Tarantino this week, has Trek fans rethinking what a Star Trek film should and could be.
Some firmly believe that Star Trek is no place for an R rating or the kind of content that includes. One only has to watch Pulp Fiction or Django Unchained to imagine what a Star Trek movie with this aesthetic might be like, especially with Tarantino at the helm.
Others think that Tarantino and his style is exactly what the franchise needs. That this could propel Star Trek into the next decade and give adults the kind of science-fiction that you just don’t see from a property such as Star Trek.
It’s tough to say who is right, but there is a simple way so that everyone can have their cake and eat it too.
Place Tarantino’s Star Trek film completely outside the canon of the franchise.
Don’t think Star Trek should include cursing, extreme violence or any of that stuff? No problem, just don’t go see the film and you never have to think about it again. On the other hand, if you think Pulp Fiction meets Star Trek is exactly what you want out of life, go forth and enjoy without having to worry how it fits in with Star Trek: Picard.
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In addition, by removing the film from canon, it frees Tarantino to make literally any kind of Star Trek movie he wants, with any mixture of casts and timelines. Several Trek veterans, including William Shatner and Sir Patrick Stewart, have expressed an interest in appearing in the film. This way it can happen without all the messy continuity issues giving fans headaches.
It is also important to remember that a director like Tarantino is used to working with almost complete autonomy. It’s tough to imagine someone trying to explain to him that he can’t put an element in the film because it contradicts something from episode so-and-so is going to sit well.
At this point fans know almost nothing about what Tarantino has planned for the film. Early reports seemed to indicate that it would take part in the Kelvin Timeline, but those are far from confirmed. What we do know is that a script by Mark L. Smith has been finished and that Tarantino is planing to begin working on it soon.
Of course, we are still a very long ways away from any Star Trek film with “Directed by Quentin Tarantino” in the credits from appearing at a cineplex near you. There is even still the possibility the film might not happen at all.
But if it does happen, placing it outside Star Trek canon might be the only way to really make everyone happy. Including Quentin Tarantino.