Star Trek 2 writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman recently sat down with The Geek Files to talk about what ideas are currently floating through their creative minds, and like any good conversation with geeks the topic of Star Trek came up – specifically the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ reboot, which was a highlight of Summer ‘09.
For months we’ve been getting bits and pieces of Star Trek 2 updates, although most of it has admittedly been logistical info (the movie is being released in summer 2012 it will begin pre-production late this year, etc). That’s all good, but fans have mainly been concerned with issues like what villains will be in the film and what the plot will be.
Last week we had J.J. Abrams joking that old-school Trek villains The Gorn will be in Star Trek 2, and before that there’d been whispers of everyone from Klingons to Khan being featured in the next film. A lot of Trek fans were unsatisfied with Nero, the villain played by Eric Bana in the Star Trek reboot.So how are Kurtzman and Orci approaching the sequel?
Kurtzman: I think our idea on this is that the first of any series is about them coming together or the formation…Whereas I think sequels are very much about the villain. Because while [in the first one] the villain serves to bring the crew together, the second one I think has to be a true challenging of what that family is about. That is why Wrath of Khan was so amazing. Khan tested each one of them and ultimately asked for the ultimate sacrifice, and that is why that movie held up so well.”
If you want to hear Orci and Kurtzman talk more about Star Trek 2 villains and their desire to tackle Indiana Jones, Go HERE.
It’s kind of weird for me to think of a Star Trek villain in what I would dub “Batman Movie Mentality” (i.e., villain-driven narrative), but the more I think about it, it’s pretty much true: Ricardo Montalbán’s Khan was easily the best villain of any Trek movie, and it was indeed his ability to push the crew of The Enterprise to their limits that made him so epic and awesome (that, and his hairdo).
The only question I have for Star Trek 2 is: Should they bring back a great villain – like Khan – or give us something new?
My vote: SOMETHING NEW.
Sci-fi is such a rich genre because you have the entire known (and unknown) universe to play with, and almost nothing you create is off limits. As much as some Trekkies would like to see the return of Khan, or the Klingons or even The Gorn, what I want to see is somebody new – somebody more cunning than Khan and fiercer than the Klingons – I would like to see a schemer, dark and ruthless and disturbingly brilliant. A Sith Lord of the Star Trek universe, so to speak, playing galactic chess with all players and alien races we know and love. I want Kirk and Co. to be pushed to the brink both as individuals and as a team, in a story that possibly spans two films.
But I digress.
I know you Trekkies out there already feel some kind of way about all this. So why don’t you let us know who or what you want to see taking on The Enterprise in Star Trek 2. The movie hits theaters on June 29th, 2012.
You can also discuss with me on Twitter: @ppnkof
Source: The Geek Files
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