The Star Trek franchise may have been rebooted, starting with 2009’s J.J. Abrams-directed movie, but that doesn’t mean the Original Series was completely left behind. Leonard Nimoy’s Spock appeared in both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness as 'Spock Prime'. It’s a move that original Captain Kirk actor William Shatner has now criticized in a new interview.
"Leonard Nimoy was in some of those films, but it was totally gratuitous," Shatner told the Daily Express. "They just wanted to put Spock in there and I didn’t admire that."
Shatner, though, would be open to his own return in the franchise on the big screen. "If they could come up with a way of putting a character I played in a movie where it functioned as a point in the movie [and] made the movie move along, I’d be delighted," he said.
For now, Star Trek’s movie future is looking fairly convoluted, even without Shatner. A new Star Trek movie, lined up for June 9, 2023, is in the works with J.J. Abrams as producer. It’s not yet known whether it’ll be a continuation of the 'Kelvin Timeline' of reboot movies with Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock – but that’s likely to be the case with Abrams onboard.
Fargo and Legion creator Noah Hawley, who is also working on an Alien TV series, is developing a separate Star Trek movie.
He told Variety: "We’re not doing Kirk and we’re not doing Picard. It’s a start from scratch that then allows us to do what we did with Fargo, where for the first three hours you go, 'Oh, it really has nothing to do with the movie,' and then you find the money."
There was also the hotly anticipated connection between Star Trek and Quentin Tarantino. A script has been written, though any further news has yet to materialize. Star Chris Pine, though, told ComicBook.com "that to have a Quentin take on it would be tremendously interesting and entertaining."
On the TV side of things, Star Trek Discovery season 4, spinoff Strange New Worlds, and Picard season 2 are all currently in various stages of development and production.
Find out what’s coming to a cinema near you this year with our comprehensive rundown of 2021’s movie release dates.
