Noah Hawley's version of Star Trek 4 would have included two major stars

Noah Hawley is just one of the names that has been associated with the production of Star Trek 4 at some point. Back in 2019, the creator of Fargo, completed the fourth season of his series and was set to begin writing the fourth movie in the Kelvin Timeline. He wanted to start the movie over with an entirely new cast of characters, and the premise behind his story was about a deadly virus sweeping through the Federation. This, of course, came too close on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic so that was a no-go.

Hawley, who appead on Dax Shepherd's "Armchair Expert" podcast [via Slashfilm] said he had lined up two major stars to appear in the film, including Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek. When his participation in Star Trek fell through, Hawley admitted that he was hurt.

"It can be very disconcerting and undermining of your sense of confidence, your sense of self. What 'Fargo' has afforded me is a sense of arrival and security."

- Noah Hawley

New Paramount Pictures president, Emma Watts, placed Hawley's idea on hold in August 2020 to consider other avenues, including revisiting Quentin Tarantino's story. Finally, in November 2020, Hawley announced that the film he wanted to make wasn't going to happen even though they'd been very close to production. Casting was even underway for the movie, and filming would have taken place in Australia.

Hawley didn't mention to Shepherd just what parts he had in mind for Blanchett or Malek, but with such high-powered star power, odds are good they would have been front and center in the movie, which meant that other stars in the previous films, if any were to have been included, would have been jettisoned or moved to the background.

At the point, there's no telling when or if we'll see Star Trek 4. One can only hope that eventually, someone will get the wheels turning again.