Star Trek: The Motion Picture is getting a sequel in comic form

The cast from Star Trek: The Motion Picture will be returning thanks to IDW Publishing.

What happened to the crew of the Enterprise after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture? What made them continue their journeys together? That was something we never had a chance to learn before Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan premiered. Now, thanks to IDW Publishing, that opportunity will be available to us in May in a new comic miniseries—Star Trek: The Motion Picture–Echoes.

Written by Marc Guggenheim who, along with Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg, adapted the Green Arrow comics into the television series Arrow,  and illustrated by Oleg Chudakov, the series will pit the original crew against their evil doppelgangers as per the official synopsis provided by ScreenRant.

"Echoes pits the venerated Captain James T. Kirk and his crew against enemies both terrifying and shockingly familiar! When a space anomaly thrusts a criminal mastermind—pursued by a very determined pilot on a mission—into our universe, the Enterprise must stop them from unintentionally starting a war with the Romulans and unleashing a superweapon of foreign technology into the system. But things get infinitely more complicated when these newcomers to our reality remove their helmets, revealing that they’re doppelgängers of our beloved heroes!"

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was crucial to Marc Guggenheim’s love of the franchise.

Guggenheim, who has also penned comic stories for Aquaman, Wolverine, The Punisher, and Blade, said that Star Trek stories are usually told from the main characters’ points of view, essentially Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy. He wanted to change things up a bit and create a story from the “perspective of an outsider.”

The miniseries, set immediately after the movie, will pick up story threads from the movie, which is why fans can consider this a direct sequel. They’ll be able to see Captain Kirk struggle with being an Admiral and still commanding a starship, and thanks to Guggenheim, will see what happened during the intervening years between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan.