There are few things in this world that I love as much as the Kelvin Timeline version of Star Trek. Starting with the 2009 J.J. Abrams movie, I was suddenly thrust into a world of understanding—mainly that Captain Kirk is supposed to be hot (sorry William Shatner). Chris Pine played James T. Kirk with a modern twist and every bit of Kirk’s swagger we’d come to know, and his working relationship with Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Karl Urban’s Bones was the stuff of legends.
And now, it seems as if things are back on at Paramount. The movie, which has had plenty of stops and starts, seemed to be dead on arrival, but according to an exclusive from Deadline, Chris Pine is back in talks to take on Captain Kirk once again with the rest of the crew from the Enterprise. This time, they would reunite with WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman behind the lens.
If this movie goes in theme with the rest of the Kelvin timeline, there will be nods to the original series movies within it. Does that mean we’ll have to save some whales again like in Voyage Home? I wish, but we’ll have to wait and see. Shakman is currently at work on the script as well as Josh Friedman and Cameron Squires, who worked on a draft first dreamed up by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet.
The fact that Paramount made this announcement is a big deal. The movie had a phase where Quentin Tarantino was directing it with a Noah Hawley script and where there would be both Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pine meeting. We also briefly thought we’d get the Star Trek movie franchise’s first female director, which we would still very much like to see in the future. Then there was the extended period of time when Pine was out. So to have him back in conversation and the movie going forward? That’s all incredibly promising to someone like me. (Meaning someone who will take my phone and direct this movie myself if I have to.)
The future of Star Trek
There’s something about the Kelvin timeline that is just exciting and feels fresh. Maybe it’s that Star Trek: Beyond really came into its own as a Star Trek movie and brought us exciting new characters to work with (like Sofia Boutella’s Jaylah). But it has seemed like the idea of Star Trek 4 was so long gone that this is like a dream come true. Though I don’t want to get my hopes only to have them dashed, but Paramount did say production should begin in late 2022. So it’s relatively certain this time around.
I don’t want to say that this could continue with more movies for the franchise, especially given the struggle to get this movie into orbit, but it would be nice to have the crew together for more than one final trip in their five-year mission. And knowing that they’re working on it still is a plus.
There is still hope that we can have our crew back on the Enterprise and I cannot wait to see what Shakman has in store for us. And whether or not we’ll see the return of Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk. Hopefully with the whales.
(image: Paramount)
