Star Trek Beyond's Spock is "at a crossroads," says Zachary Quinto

Star Trek Beyond hasn't been the most hyped blockbuster of this year's summer movie season, but it has a lot going for it. In addition to what looks to be an imposing villain in Idris Elba's Krall, the latest trailer did a good job of teasing the spectacle on offer too. One returning character who didn't get much screen time in that latest bit of footage was Zachary Quinto's Spock, but that won't be true of the film itself.

"[He is] in this existential moment in his life and at a crossroads between his obligation to his Starfleet and his Vulcan roots", Quinto told Entertainment Weekly. "His planet was destroyed and they’re rebuilding, and he’s trying to figure out where his energy is best directed to help other people. He comes into a new awareness of his own mortality for a number of reasons, and there’s a lot of stuff that he’s trying to figure out in this film. By the end, I think he realizes the best path for himself moving forward".

That won't be all that's on Spock's mind though, as he'll still be trying to figure out how best to move forward in his relationship with Zoe Saldana's Uhura; "Part of Spock’s existential crisis is, does he need to be with a Vulcan? Uhura recognizes this, so they’re not necessarily at the height of relationship bliss in this film, but they love each other deeply and they want each other to be happy, to be fulfilled, to serve their purpose, and to realize their potential. It’s an ongoing relationship; I don’t think that it’s resolved necessarily in Star Trek Beyond".

Speaking of Uhura, Saldana teased intense challenges ahead for the U.S.S. Enterprise crew; "Life has a different journey for us, and instead of us having to go out and aid another population, another planet that has been the target of violence, we are the target, so this is very different. We are tested at the craziest level and not just our lives are tested, but our characters and our relationships are tested".

Exciting action sequences in Star Trek Beyond are a given, but these quotes make it sound like there will be a fair amount of character evolution too. That's a winning combination, and thankfully we don't have to wait long to see if Justin Lin and co pulled it off.

Directed by Justin Lin and starring Idris Elba, Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, Star Trek Beyond warps into UK and US cinemas on July 22, 2016.

Images: Paramount

Amon is a contributing editor and columnist for Empire magazine, but is also a Film and TV writer for GamesRadar+, Total Film, and others. He has also written for NME, Composer Mag, and more, along with being a film critic for TalkSport. He is also the co-host of the Fade to Black Podcast, and a video mashup creator. Can also do a pretty good Bane impersonation.