Since the first Golden Age of Television, the Star Trek franchise has been a major part of the science-fiction community. Then during the 1980s, it achieved mainstream popularity with the movies featuring characters from the original series. But following the Next Generation movies in the 90s, there was a dry period for Star Trek-related films.
Yet this changed with J. J. Abrams’ Star Trek remake and its sequels. There’s even a new Star Trek series, which has been thriving in contrast to the films. So we have to ask ourselves: do we need more of these movies or not?
NEED: There’s Still A Demand
Because of the mixed reception of Star Trek Beyond, plans for an immediate sequel were put on hold. In addition, Quentin Tarantino’s planned Star Trek movie might not be happening thus implying the Star Trek movies are in a dire situation.
Recently, though, it was announced that two Star Trek-related movies are currently in development and a new director has been picked for Star Trek 4. But when these movies are going to come out is uncertain, let alone if they’ll see fruition. Still, this seems to imply that contrary to popular belief there is still a demand for Star Trek movies.
DONT NEED: Too Many Films Already
It’s commonly assumed that the more films a given franchise have, the more successful and culturally relevant it is. While this may be the case with franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s the downside of too many movies spoiling the creative potential of a franchise.
Take the Original Star Trek movies, for example, which ranged in quality from being really good to downright mediocre. And given how the recent Star Trek films have fared in a similar way, there’s no telling if the next movies will certainly be better or not. On top of that, these movies don’t have the same continuity thread as the Marvel ones do.
NEED: To Further Develop Characters Like Jaylah
While Star Trek Beyond’s ending was fairly conclusive with not too many loose ends, it still left enough elements to possibly explore in future sequels. One of these is Jaylah, who was arguably one of the best parts of Star Trek Beyond.
Stranded on a planet trapped within a nebula, she was not only a technical genius like Scotty but also able to defend herself if need be. Thus, it would be interesting to see future movies with Jaylah playing a prominent role while continuing her character-arc of learning to trust others. Of course, she’s not the only character in Star Trek who deserves further development.
DONT NEED: The Current Actors Might Grow Tired Of Their Roles
As we saw with Robert Downey, Jr., and Chris Evans’ characters in the MCU, there may come a point where the cast members of the recent Star Trek movies decide to leave the franchise. In fact, some of the actors have already been starring in other franchises such as Zoe Saldana and Chris Pine.
Now even though both have expressed interest in appearing in future Star Trek movies, that doesn’t mean they won’t change their minds later on. If that happens, though, they will most likely either be written out of the franchise like Leonard Nimoy’s Spock or replaced following another reboot.
NEED: So Many Stories Left To Tell
Due to the long history that Star Trek has as an ongoing franchise, there are many interesting stories that could be adapted into a film. This was proven with the current ones which borrowed elements from Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
So who’s to say some of the other great movies like Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: First Contact couldn’t be remade? Even famous episodes from the shows could arguably work as movies like “The City on the Edge of Forever” from the original series.
DONT NEED: Why Ruin A Perfectly Good Trilogy?
With speculation on how Star Trek 4’s new chosen director Noah Hawley will handle the project, it also raises the question of whether we need a fourth Star Trek movie or not. Sure, the recent trilogy of films hasn’t been as consistently good as the MCU but they have solid story-arcs.
For instance, Kirk and Spock had to learn to trust each other in the first film. This continued into the next two films with the latest one cementing their friendship for good. So why keep going when the major story-arcs seem to have reached decent resolutions?
NEED: A Solid Alternative To Star Wars
For years, fans of Star Trek and Star Wars have duked it out on tweets and in-person about which franchise is superior. Though if we take a step back, we realize that the popularity of these franchises comes from meeting certain needs and expectations from the fans.
Those who like fun action-adventure stories, for instance, tend to like Star Wars over Star Trek which tends to offer more serious science-related stuff by contrast. Because there’s an audience for both of these valid approaches to the science-fiction genre, it would seem unfair to deny one of them.
DONT NEED: Complicates What Was Canon
One of the clever elements of the new Star Trek movies is that they exist outside the established continuity of films and shows that came before. Hence, they’ve been dubbed the Kelvin Timeline films after the ship that Kirk’s father was on.
So on the one hand, this allows new fans to get into Star Trek without having to do too much catching up. But for older fans, it messes with what was once canon especially since the Kelvin films have been borrowing and even remaking whole Star Trek films that already exist. Thus, further installments will just complicate things even more continuity-wise.
NEED: Gives Us A Positive Future To Look At
For all the ups and downs that the franchise has had, one enduring aspect that makes Star Trek unique from other science-fiction franchises is its sense of optimism for our future. This aspect can even be seen in the current movies, despite their more action-oriented tone.
Thus, they offer not only a form of escape from the brutal reality we live in but also give us hope that things will turn out better in the long run. Now given that some of the positive things predicted in Star Trek have come true, it shows this sense of optimism is ultimately good for us.
DONT NEED: TV Is The Better Format
Since Star Trek began as a television show, then logically it’s the better format for the kinds of stories that Star Trek usually tells. Even the best Star Trek movies could be seen as just extended episodes of the shows they were based on.
Plus, television is better at telling ongoing narratives in general as opposed to movies as they can only fit so much material per film. Then with streaming, people can watch multiple episodes at a time on TV instead of seeing just one movie at the theater. With those things in mind, it’s no wonder Star Trek-related shows have remained popular to the present day.