Originally scheduled for release in December 2023, Star Trek 4 was removed from Paramount Pictures’ schedule last year, casting serious doubts over whether a Star Trek movie guest-starring Chris Hemsworth will ever become a reality. The Thor star is just one of several big names attached to the franchise’s long-delayed fourth Kelvin Timeline movie. Quentin Tarantino, The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith, and WandaVision director Matt Shakman have all been attached to the movie at some point or other, before eventually stepping away.
The idea of teaming up Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) with his deceased father Lt. Commander George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) was one of the earliest versions of Star Trek 4. Negotiations apparently broke down due to a dispute over pay for its two leads. Following that, work was taking place on a Star Trek movie by Quentin Tarantino, which would have sent Kirk back in time to interact with 1930s gangsters. With neither of these projects reaching the screen, and the movie being removed from Paramount’s release schedule, it’s worth exploring whether the Chris Hemsworth movie idea could still work over 14 years after the first J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie’s release.
Can Star Trek 4’s Chris Hemsworth Idea Still Work?
The idea of pairing Kirk with his father is a novel one, especially as the legendary Starship Enterprise Captain has quite a tragic family history in both the Kelvin and Prime timelines. In the prime Star Trek universe, Kirk tragically lost both his brother and his son. In 2009’s Star Trek movie, Kirk’s father was the First Officer of the USS Kelvin, whose death triggered the divergent Kelvin timeline of the Abrams movies. There’s therefore an interesting angle to explore in Kirk facing his own mortality by coming face to face with his father, who died young before Kirk ever had a chance to know him. This would be the better way to approach Hemsworth’s return to Star Trek, because it’s been so long since the last movie.
Chris Pine’s Kirk was a young man in need of a father figure, and he had Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to mentor him in Star Trek 2009. When Pike was killed in Star Trek Into Darkness, Kirk took his death so hard, he almost betrayed Starfleet’s principles as he sought vengeance against Pike’s killer, Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch). Having Kirk still struggle to find a father figure in Star Trek 4 would be a reductive move that would ignore the time that’s passed since Star Trek Beyond and could trap Chris Pine into still playing the angry young man with something to prove.
Does Star Trek 4 Need A Big Name Guest Star?
One of the most interesting things about the delays to Star Trek 4 is the apparent need for some big star to improve the movie’s box office. Interestingly, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the highest-grossing non-Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movie, despite the fact that a planned Eddie Murphy guest role was shelved. Times have clearly changed since then, and there’s seemingly less faith in the Star Trek cast to carry the movie. Hence, big names like Chris Hemsworth, Quentin Tarantino or, more recently Nicolas Cage, being linked to Star Trek 4.
Given the caliber of the Kelvin Timeline’s cast, this need for a big-name guest star or star director forgets the fact that the Enterprise crew are big draws. Zoe Saldana, who plays Uhura, has starred in Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water, two of the highest-grossing movies of all time. Meanwhile, Karl Urban is a cult-favorite from roles in Dredd and The Boys who would draw in his own audience. As proved by the ever-expanding TV universe, the Star Trek franchise still has sway with audiences, so regardless of Chris Hemsworth’s involvement, Star Trek 4 should still perform well at the box office, if it ever enters production.
