Star Trek 4 is looking like it may be a complete mess with Karl Urban in limbo.
Star Trek 4 is happening and while lead actor Chris Pine says “everyone is excited“, it doesn’t appear that everyone is ready, however. Pine, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Zachary Quinto have all apparently signed on, or at least has agreed to do so verbally. The problem comes with Karl Urban.
Due to the shooting of the hit comic-to-live-action adaptation of The Boys on Amazon, it looks like Urban could end up missing the dates of the shoot. He told Variety;
"I’m shooting The Boys through the end of the year. …I haven’t seen a script, I know nothing. But I would love to work with those guys again, so much fun, the best hang. We’ll see"
Since Star Trek: Beyond was rumored to be the last film on everyone’s contract, there isn’t anything Paramount or JJ Abrams can do about this. Urban’s filming of The Boys takes priority. While it seems unlikely that Urban misses the fourth film, what really can be done to get him involved?
Three things that may happen with Karl Urban’s Star Trek involvement
Written-out/recast
This is the least likely option but it is an option. Writing out Urban or re-casting him entirely is absolutely a possibility, especially if Paramount doesn’t want to delay the film again. It would also be the most short-sighted of the decisions.
Filming schedule moved
The film has no set schedule yet, so it’s always possible that it accommodates Urban’s timeline. After all, he’s not the only one of the cast with other projects. The crew may think they can film this whole thing relatively fast if they try to do produce, shoot and edit the film in a given year. As there’s still no script, we are still very early in the development cycle of the film.
Films alone
This one is unique and possible. The way movies are made these days, it’s entirely possible that they film everyone when they’re ready and bring Urban in to shoot his scenes alone with stand-ins and digitally place him into group shots, like fellow Star Trek alum Tig Notaro did during her filming of the Army of the Dead film.