The movie, (which sparked a debate among my friends and I), rejuvenated the Trek franchise, adding a fresh perspective for new audiences and including a lot of classic references to appease many fans of the original. So what will they do for a follow-up?
They likely will come up with a brand new story, but since the characters will still be the crew from the original series in their alternate timeline, there are plenty of opportunities for inspired references to Star Trek canon.
Here are some of my ideas which Abrams and his gang at Bad Robot Productions can use free of charge. (If, however, they wish to hire me as a writer or as an actor on the next film, I am open to negotiations.)
Warning: Spoilers ahead if you still haven’t seen the latest Star Trek.
1. Reboot Gene Roddenberry’s first Star Trek story. The first pilot for Trek was called “The Cage” and featured Jeffrey Hunter as Christopher Pike, Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Footage from that episode was reused as flashback scenes in a great two-parter called “The Menagerie.” Bruce Greenwood played Captain Pike in the new film. Now that history has been changed thanks to Nero’s screwing around through time, James Tiberius Kirk has become Captain much earlier than in the original timeline. So, Abrams and his writers can explore the adventure on planet Talos IV and the illusion-generating alien inhabitants with Kirk as the protagonist instead of Pike. Maybe Pike can still be a featured player as Kirk’s mentor. It would be great to see a re-imagined version of the radiation accident that crippled the character in the original story.
2. Retell Roddenberry’s second Star Trek pilot. “Where No Man Has Gone Before” is one of my favorite episodes, with Kirk’s friend Gary Mitchell (played by Gary Lockwood) gaining god-like powers that corrupt him and threaten the crew of the Enterprise. I would love to see a retelling of this tale and discover what Abrams and his team come up with.
3. If more time travel is necessary, use the Guardian of Forever. The portal entity from the classic episode “City on the Edge of Forever” is a great device to traverse the span of time (and maybe even alternate realities). The producers might have to probably pay a fortune to writer Harlan Ellison for the rights, but that’s a small price to pay for what could be an excellent tale and another blockbuster film.
4. Visit another alternate reality, the Mirror Universe! Another great storyline from Classic Trek is the episode, “Mirror, Mirror,” where the benevolent Federation of Planets is a fascist Empire populated by twisted, evil versions of the characters we know and love. This could offer up a lot of possibilities to tell some mind-tripping stories with lots of Easter eggs for fans.
5. Bring William Shatner on board. The last movie had Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, serving as the perfect connection to the old series. The only thing that could be more perfect, if that were possible, would be to have Shatner reprise his iconic role as Captain Kirk in some plotline that would connect the new Trek universe with the original. Maybe Spock-Prime might figure that since time has been fudged-up so badly he might as well try to go back to the future and save the life of his old friend Jim (who was killed in Star Trek: Generations by Malcolm McDowell’s Dr. Soran).
6. Offer lots of cool cameos. If the central plot turns out to be something original with nothing to do with classic storylines, at least insert lots of characters from the original series in the next movie, however briefly. I’d love to see the Gorn, the Klingons, Harry Mudd, Nurse Christine Chapel, Yeoman Rand, and others. How sweet would it be if the final scene of the next movie was the Enterprise discovering the Botany Bay (Khan Noonien Singh’s ship) drifting through space?
That’s what my geek mind can come up with off the top of my head. I don’t expect to see any of these ideas brought to life on screen, but I hope the filmmakers can continue to blend fresh ideas with some nostalgic stories and characters, satisfying old fans and continuing to build new ones.
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Comments
Me, I'm hoping for the Guardian of Forever. Just please don't re-do City on the Edge of Forever. Harlan Ellison will throw another decades-long fit, and I don't think I could stand that (I already can't stand him).
But it was his genius to market them well as though they were "new" and orginal that was his true genius.
You are right. Now is a time to update them by mixing the classic with the postmodern. I won't say new because "there is nothing new under the sun."
But.. I thought the birth scene was a waste of space.. and..
Where was Shatner?!! That hurt.
Seems like Shatner is a polarizing figure! I still hope he's in the next film, even in a cameo role.
It's a good thing he's such a technophobe - otherwise he might finally have to confront the fact that he's outlived his epoch and is, like Norman Spinrad, only a legend in his own mind now....
Me, I'd rather see an episode dealing with Kirk realizing just what it means to be a starship Captain right out the gate, and how much incredible responsibility he's taken on that he hasn't yet had the seasoning for - and how he learns to discipline himself so he doesn't let everybody down.
I'd also love to find out the Andarrans are a HIGHLY sexually-active and capable of breeding true across all humanoid species race that has evolved a very...OPEN view of sexuality - as Kirk and Bones discover when Kirk's former Andarran girlfriend (and her brother, played by John Barrowman!) suggest a foursome.... ;)
And then they need to flush the whole series.
Forever.
As for sequel ideas, i believe the first film set up the characters for newbies and let old fans come to accept them (c'mon, you have to admit all the actors did an amazing job... this interpretation could of easily been a disaster.)
So, with all the "fun" aspects of trek on display in the first film, i believe the second one should find a balance with what star trek is really all about: philosophy and humanity. Perhaps we should get a totally new story (and give time travel and dimension jumping a rest for at least one movie). This is a perfect time to re-introduce the klingons... maybe craft a story that is somewhat timely.... klingons as the terrorists of the quadrant.... the federation can be struggling with political and moral obligations... throw in a suspenseful plot... The movie can be another great adventure while giving audiences a story that requires them to use their minds a bit more than usual.
With the first one out of the way, this cast deserves to set sail on their own without without the help of their grandparents. An occasional echo of previous classic tales would be enough in to satisfy the Trek faithful. Give us some new tales within the 1st Generation universe we know so well.
The other planet is run by an AI mind which has simply eliminated most of the population of the other world for simple efficiency and launches a deadly attack with nano-conversion machines and robots on the Enterprise and the populace of the other world.
Abrams is free now, because of the time shift, to do ANYTHING. And that's where the fun will begin. He has parameters--the abilities of the ship, the races present in the universe, etc. But within those, the universe is open.
There are enough possibilities to bring in references from the old series here and there, but the main storyline, I think, should boldly go off in a new direction that no one anticipates.
Before the new hot fresh young actors get any older! (get on with it, JJ!)
By the way... for those of you who haven't watched your new DVD yet (and I know you have one)... look for the tribble. There's one in the movie. I missed it on the big screen. That's the kind of thing they can do for us die-hard geeks. Put in those little touches, and leave the main storyline for something new.
Never mind Shatner. Just make sure there's plenty of Zach Quinto.
JJ Abrams should direct sequel. I still hate what happened to the Alien franchise when the follow-up fell to James Cameron.
Oh, and could there possibly be a part in there for Tom Wisdom???
I agree! Who cares about Shatner. I just need plenty of Zachary Quinto. Fantastic actor, excellent portrayal of Spock, and not bad to look at either!
I think behind the scenes Abrams and the other higher up folks at Paramount had a good laugh at the trekies, by not bothering to deal with the continuity errors. I just don’t undertsand how all this happened, especially in an age when directors release “special directors cut” editions with all the nerdy stuff (like Watchmen for example). Trekies didn’t even get that bone thrown to them.
However with all this, I was thinking that we should just consider the Abrams Star Trek the “Mirror Universe” told as revisionist history. Once the Abrams version is no longer “Hot Stuff” hopefully a writer knowledgeable about “canon” can come along and upend the whole story and say, "well, that was the Mirror Universe and nobody told you so at the time". BTY, I was influenced to this idea on another board.
My point is, we should just accept this universe to be the mirror universe of the Terran Empire. It makes all the continuity issues more tolerable:
1) This would explain why the USS Relativity doesn’t show up to fix the timeline. Because it’s the mirror universe and the future Federation doesn’t care about what happens in the Mirror Universe timeline.
2) This would explain why there is no George Samuel Kirk. The Mirror Kirk may not have had a brother in the Mirror Universe, so he is essentially George, but is named Jim due to the destruction of the USS Kelvin and early death of his father Lt Kirk. It also explains why he is such a trouble maker without conscience, unlike the original Captain Kirk. Mirror Kirks background was never discussed, so to a certain degree anything goes.
3) This would also explain why Uhura and Spock have a relationship. This Mirror Spock doesn’t care about his bond with T’pring and with the destruction of Vulcan she dies anyway. Not the best explanation in the world, but its better than just outright ignoring the Amok Time episode.
4) Why does Pike not get court martialed for doing such a poor job defending the planet Vulcan and directing the Federation fleet? Because he is an officer of the Terran Empire, not the Federation. To some degree the Terran Empire doesn’t care otherwise, whether Vulcan survives or not. Since the Romulan Empire is independent in the Mirror Universe, the issue of defeating a new powerful Romulan Ship is a more pressing matter than saving Vulcan.
5) It would also explain why the USS Kelvin looks so weird. The design of the Kelvin that we see in the Abrams film could have been influenced by the appearance of the more advanced Constitution class USS Defiant, which appeared in Tholian space during the time of Captain Archer from the Terran Empire, not the Federation. This could explain the earlier diversion of the timeline that precedes Nero and Narada and makes everything so radically different (i.e. technology differences, earlier ecounters with the Cardassians and the existance of nokia)
I think it will be cake for writers to retcon this version of Star Trek in the future. If the Tholians could open a gateway into an alternate future universe, then the Red stuff that Spock was using could do the same effect into the past. In fact this timeline could be an attempt by the Terran Slave resistance to keep the Terran Empire from losing power to the Alliance with the assistance by maniputating the time line in the Mirror Universe behind the scenes.