The next Star Trek film is in limbo but here are three reasons why the next film in the series should still be in the Kelvin timeline.
There aren’t always good reasons to end something. There aren’t always good reasons to continue something. Sometimes you have to weigh the pros and cons of the decision and while Star Trek fans wait for the fate of the fourth Star Trek Kelvin film to be decided, we here at Redshirts Never Die want to look at the pros and cons of continuing the Kelvin timeline.
The franchise has not been perfect, but they have been widely well-received. There are elements the series can do without, like lens flares. There are also elements that should be celebrated, and would hopefully continue to be brought to the forefront. Like the acting. Say what you will about the series and how they may or may not nail the tone of Star Trek, the films are carried by the most beautiful acting possible. The new franchise has seen a perfect cast come together and successfully bring these iconic, classic, characters to life.
It didn’t hurt that most of the crew are beloved sci-fi actors, with Zoe Saldana being arguably the most renowned sci-fi star of her time. You also look at guys like Karl Urban, (Riddick, Dredd), Simon Pegg (Paul/Mission Impossible franchise), and Zachary Quinto (Heroes) and you can see that the cast was put together with a keen eye on appealing to the Trek/Sci-Fi/SyFy base.
It worked.
So now with the fourth film in limbo, let’s look at the three best reasons to continue on with the Kelvin timeline of films.
What do you replace it with?
This may not be the biggest or best reason but it’s the most honest. If you intend on doing a Star Trek movie in the next two-three years, and it’s not the Kelvin franchise, what do you replace it with? Sure, you could stay in the Kelvin franchise and move on to remakes of The Next Generation, Voyager or Deep Space Nine. That, however, just gives you more of the same issues that you’re already dealing with.
Usually, the film franchise embraced the television series for their films. At the end of the ’70s, The Original Series got its franchise. That went on through the start of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Three years after the end of the original Kirk and crew’s time with the franchise, the Next Generation crew and it’s captain Jean-Luc Picard took over the film duties.
Voyager, Deeps Space Nine, and Enterprise didn’t get their shots after that. Those shows have been off the air for too long to switch to one of them now, so what do you do? Do fans really want a Star Trek: Discovery film franchise? Even if we subscribe to the notion that all modern Star Trek fans love Discovery, Discovery is still not as highly viewed as the Next Generation. that’s simply because of the paywall that Discovery is behind and the fact the Next Generation series was on free T.V.
So if you don’t have a viable replacement, why move on? There’s no way a new film franchise would be launched with new, original characters. Not in this generation of film making. It would have to be an established property and currently, there isn’t one that has the ideal or the support of a film franchise.
Unexpected new additions
The passing of Anton Yelchin is a big blow to the film franchise and could be a problem moving forward. With tragedy, however, can come an opportunity. If you have to replace Yelchin’s Pavel Chekov, don’t. At least not with another Chekov. The best bet is to go get Alice Eve, Sofia Boutella, and maybe even Tyler Perry to come on in starring roles for the new film.
Alice Eve is an amazing actress and her turn of Carol Marcus was well received, even if not everyone loved the “bikini scene”. She was engaging, dynamic, and captivating with her performance, and with Marcus’ tie in with James T. Kirk in the original universe, the character has plenty of organic storylines to explore in the Kelvin universe.
Boutella’s turn as Jaylah and the character’s overall design was one of the best parts of Star Trek: Beyond. Boutella is one of the more impressive actresses going in Hollywood and her place with the first Kingsman and Trek franchise has made her one of the more popular sci-fi actresses.
Jaylah could be the new replacement for the departed Yelchin/Chekov on the ship’s bridge or could be an unofficial member of the crew. Maybe she’s the reason the film happens, as she’s been taken captive or has started an intergalactic incident. The possibilities are endless.
There’s also the idea of bringing back Perry to the franchise as well. With so many authority figures dying in the Kelvin timeline (Kirk’s dad, Captain Pike, Robocop), having someone that knows Kirk and his behavior, attempting to hinder or help him would be a nice wrinkle into the fourth film. It all depends on how you want the character to be portrayed.
There’s also the possibility of bringing original series character Gary Mitchell to the franchise or incorporating a character like Number One for a film version. While in cannon she came to the Enterprise first, under Pike, who’s to say that in the Kelvin franchise she doesn’t come back? The fourth film could be about how Starfleet has lost its faith in Kirk and crew and put Number One on the ship to determine if Kirk should be removed from his post.
There are possibilities that you can go with for replacing Yelchin’s role, and a combination of the ideas listed above may bring enough excitement to the franchise to warrant a strong fan response.
More to explore
While so many of the beloved Star Trek aliens came on in The Next Generation series of the show, what about seeing the first contact between Starfleet and The Cardassian empire? That’s one of those mysteries that has never been resolved and having Kirk be the one to make the first contact with the Cardassians may be a heck of a movie hook.
Especially if they’re just portrayed to be the elite, badass, xenophobic, racist race that they are. While there will be some fan opposition, seeing how different (bad?) the Klingon’s looked during Into Darkness, the fear of screwing up the Cardassians may be too much for most people to warrant giving this idea a chance.
Yet, it would feature a compelling story, with beloved villains, meeting the beloved heroes for the first time in a conflict never before told. It has the history to draw from but the freedom to explore. It’s not an established plot point that’s ever been told before, but it very likely could’ve happened.
It doesn’t need to be the Cardassians, it could be whatever race you want to explore. It could even be races not seen since Star Trek: Enterprise. Hell, it could be a storyline where Kirk meets a time-traveling Jonathan Archer during the first contact of the Cardassians and holy cow, I need to see this movie now.