By Chris Snellgrove
| Printed 29 seconds in the past
Nowadays, the Star Trek franchise is in a precarious place. Each Discovery and Decrease Decks had been prematurely canceled, and Part 31 was a direct-to-streaming mess that killed any remaining fan enthusiasm for future movies from Paramount. And whereas Unusual New Worlds is a breath of contemporary air (and contemporary hair, due to Anson Mount’s killer ‘do), it’s clear that this franchise goes to want one other hit present with a view to stay related. The most effective concept for this has been round for over three many years: we want a Star Trek sequence specializing in Captain Kirk’s second five-year mission.
The Mission We By no means Noticed
If you happen to simply spit out your tea (Earl Gray, scorching), you is perhaps shocked to find that each the Star Trek Chronology (which got here out in 1993) and the Star Trek Encyclopedia (which got here out in 1994) each specify that Kirk and crew had a second five-year mission after the occasions of The Movement Image. Successfully, there was a time leap between The Movement Image and The Wrath of Khan, and the sad Admiral Kirk we see in that second movie is one who has lastly given up gallivanting across the galaxy. With a brand new Star Trek sequence, we may lastly discover precisely what occurred between these two movies.
At first look, you would possibly suppose that the most important hurdle of making such a Star Trek sequence can be recasting iconic characters as soon as performed by Hollywood heavyweights like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Nevertheless, Unusual New Worlds has already given us youthful variations of important Authentic Collection characters like Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty in addition to supporting characters like Chapel and M’Benga. If these actors may reprise their roles for a future Star Trek sequence, it could require comparatively little effort to solid new actors for remaining TOS characters like McCoy, Sulu, and Chekov.
The issue with that plan, in fact, is that every one of those Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds actors had been solid as a result of they had been younger sufficient to drag off pre-Authentic Collection variations of those well-known characters. Nevertheless, that’s the great thing about this plan: SNW hasn’t even aired its third season but, and based mostly on the present’s recognition, we are able to probably depend on it sticking round for a number of extra years. By the point this present wraps and Paramount completes preproduction on a brand new Star Trek sequence, all of those actors shall be sufficiently old (kind of) to play the a part of post-Movement Image characters.
If you happen to nonetheless suppose these Unusual New Worlds actors can be too younger for this position, it could be price contemplating that William Shatner and his unique crew had been arguably too previous for the elements they had been taking part in. You see, The Authentic Collection’ last season was set in 2269, and The Movement Image was set someday within the 2270s. Regardless of the total decade between the top of the present and the primary movie, TMP was alleged to happen comparatively quickly after TOS.
Due to this fact, the actors on this proposed Star Trek sequence solely must look as previous because the TOS crew seemed in, say, 1972. That yr, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had been 41 years previous. In the meantime, present Kirk actor Paul Wesley is 42 now, and present Spock actor Ethan Peck is 38. Throw in the truth that they every look youthful than they’re, and these two actors would look excellent for a brand new Star Trek sequence that takes place after The Movement Image.
Apart from straightforward casting, such a sequence can be helpful as a result of it could, like Star Trek (2009) movie, herald new followers to the franchise. With respect to different exhibits, this franchise will all the time be related to Kirk, Spock, and the traditional Enterprise crew. A sequence specializing in their beforehand unknown adventures would probably herald many extra followers than the Star Trek origin movie Paramount is at the moment growing.
Talking of which, that movie’s greatest drawback is that it’ll reportedly give attention to first contact with aliens and the formation of the Federation, occasions that had been already coated in First Contact and Enterprise. To place it mildly, such a plot will annoy older followers who see Paramount alternately throwing out previous canon and retreading previous tales we now have already seen. With my proposed new Star Trek sequence, Paramount may appeal to new followers whereas giving previous ones one thing we’ve needed to see for years: an onscreen model of the franchise’s “misplaced years” that higher contextualizes the place our characters are (bodily and emotionally) in The Wrath of Khan.
Contemplating that Paramount has been canceling nice exhibits like Star Trek: Decrease Decks whereas pushing out slop like Part 31, it’s uncertain they may take my suggestion for a brand new sequence very significantly. That’s too unhealthy, although, as a result of such a present can be a simple win for a franchise that desperately wants one, all whereas permitting producers to reuse the Unusual New Worlds units. As a substitute, we’re caught with Starfleet Academy, a 90210 in house Hail Mary from a franchise that ought to have tucked itself into the transporter buffer a very long time in the past.
