Star Trek 4 is an idea that may never be. It is supposed to be the next film in the Star Trek Kelvin timeline of films, which also includes Star Trek 2009, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Beyond. Beyond, the most recent of the films, came out in 2016. It's nearly been nine full years since we've gotten the last film in this theatrical run. Frankly, it's becoming more and more clear we don't need a fourth film in the series.
Would we like a fourth one? Sure. Save for Beyond, I've ultimately found the films to be fun and engaging. Not pure Star Trek, but at a time when we had no new shows it was good enough fodder to hold us over. Yet, as we get further and further away from that era and more and more into the era of streaming, these films no longer have the same appeal.
Shows like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have taken the same bombastic design approach to their show that the films did, but have done more to include the dynamic and awe-inspiring storytelling that the films lack, but were so important to the franchise prior to Star Trek 2009.
Strange New Worlds has done an incredible job proving what Star Trek should look like in 2025. A combination of old and new that fans of all ages love.
So a fourth film really doesn't have the same need anymore. It's not like we're lacking for Star Trek content. We have plenty of it. Yet, you could always sell me on more Star Trek, especially across multiple mediums.
Yet, there remains a huge reason why a Star Trek 4 just isn't necessary anymore, especially with the multitude of shows we've been getting; it won't be the same.
Star Trek 2009 nailed the casting. A who's who of major names that perfectly embodied the characters we all so fondly remember. Yet, as we creep closer and closer to 2026, a full 10 years after the third film, Beyond, we're reminded that the cast is just not the same anymore. We're not talking about how everyone is now pushing 50 (or already 50) when these were supposed to be stories of a young Enterprise crew.
No, we're talking about how the cast just isn't there anymore. Not all of it anyway. One key member of the crew, Anton Yelchin, is no longer with us. The young actor passed away in 2016, shortly before the release of Beyond in a tragic auto accident. Yelchin, a true gem of a talent, was a key player in the films, having played Pavel Chekov in the first three films.
Without him, there is less of a reason to make a fourth film. While the film series also lost Leonard Nimoy, who played the original Spock from the original series, his passing was far less tragic. He was brought into the film series with another Spock, Zachary Quinto already a part of the franchise. So there wasn't a conversation that needed to be had about what to do with the Spock character.
There is a conversation that needs to be had about what to do about Chekov, however. A conversation with no right answer, but many wrong ones. It's a conversation that is too difficult to navigate so it's probably just best that we say farewell to the Kelvin Universe and focus on the next era of Star Trek films.