Chris Hemsworth reflects on the idea of reuniting Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk with his father in Star Trek 4 & explains why the film did not come to fruition. After more than four decades of Star Trek films and TV shows, director J.J. Abrams released his own big-budget reboot in 2009. The film begins with a scene of Kirk’s father, George (Hemsworth), sacrificing himself to ensure the life of his pregnant wife. Hemsworth did not return for either of the 2 Star Trek sequels, but writers Patrick McKay & J.D. Payne announced earlier this year that their failed Star Trek 4 pitch involved Kirk and George embarking on a galaxy-spanning adventure after being reunited by a cosmic event.
In a recent interview with Josh Horowitz for the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hemsworth discusses his concerns about the execution of the father-son pitch for Star Trek 4. While the actor does not provide any additional information about the canceled storyline, he does reveal that he was open to improving & revising the idea, but that scheduling ultimately prevented things from moving forward. Check out Hemsworth’s full statement about why Star Trek 4 didn’t happen below:
“A few reasons, but it wasn’t what I was thinking it would have been or could have been. And I thought, ‘Oh, cool, let’s figure that out and keep going’ and then I think everyone just got busy and so on. It’d be a bit weird now to flash back to your father and ‘Why is he so much older than when he died?”
What Could Star Trek 4 Be About?
Although Payne & McKay’s Star Trek 4 idea with Kirk and George appears to be dead in the water, there is still interest in bringing back original cast members like Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaa, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and John Cho for a fourth film in the franchise. Earlier this year, excitement seemed to be building for Star Trek 4, but the film was recently removed from Paramount’s release schedule after director Matt Shakman left to direct Marvel’s Fantastic Four. Many cast members have expressed interest in returning for Star Trek 4, but there are currently no details on what the film may be about.
The Kelvin Timeline’s three existing Star Trek films have featured villains such as Romulan Nero (Eric Bana) & Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), but there are many foes from original series who could appear in Star Trek 4. For example, the Borg are a group of cyborgs who frequently served as antagonists in the show and could make for thrilling villains in the next Kelvin Timeline installment. Similarly, certain episode plot lines, such as fan favorite “The Doomsday Machine,” in which Kirk and the Enterprise confront a large mechanical space monster hellbent on destruction, could appear in Star Trek 4.
It’s unclear whether Star Trek 4 will ever happen, but most of the main cast members appear to be open to returning if their schedules allow. Fans are unlikely to see Kirk and George reunite anytime soon, but there are plenty of ideas to adapt from Star Trek: The Original Series, such as the show’s many villains. With actor & fan enthusiasm for the project remaining generally high, there is reason to believe that Star Trek 4 will happen eventually.
Source: Josh Horowitz/YouTube