Sybok needs the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds treatment

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds needs to improve Sybok.

Sybok is all but coming to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, maybe as early as season two, which is going to be a fantastic thing for the character. First debuting in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Sybok was played by Laurence Luckinbill, and quite well at that. Luckinbill brought Sybok to life in more than just the literal sense.

Sybok was a Vulcan, half-brother to Spock, and since Vulcans are notoriously very quiet emotionally, Luckinbill had a task ahead of him. He had to turn a regular, drab, Vulcan into a character with layers. So Sybok became a Vulcan who rejected traditional Vulcan values.

He embraced his emotions and was fueled by them. He didn’t just lean on his emotions, but he used them to create devoted followers who would follow him to the center of the universe where they could meet the god-like being Sha Ka Ree.

The film went off the rails from there, but the concept of a charismatic Vulcan who could gather support, and create a cult-like group, is horrifying. The idea was poorly executed but the potential was there.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds should redo more failed gimmicks like Sybok

Sybok as a villain is loaded with potential but The Final Frontier director, William Shatner, really had no idea how best to utilize the character. Considering the depth of competency we saw with the current crop of executive producers, writers, and directors with Strange New Worlds, it’s entirely possible this team could get the most out of Sybok.

They made The Gorn, Number One (Una Chin-Riley), Dr. M’Banga, Nurse Chaple, and others far more fleshed out, well-liked, and interesting than they maybe had any right to be. Sybok could be the first in re-done characters who deserve a second life with a far more competent team behind them.