As Paramount Studios reportedly turn their attention back to the next Star Trek movie, there is a question over whether they should press ahead with Star Trek 4 or reboot the franchise altogether. The fourth movie in J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin Timeline series has been stuck in development hell for over seven years and has burned through multiple big names like Quentin Tarantino, Matt Shakman, and Noah Hawley. Recently, writer-director Lindsey Anderson-Beer stated that Star Trek 4 was “still on the tracks” after she left the project to work on Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.
Now, new reports suggest that Star Trek 4 will be a reboot, which is hopefully borne out of a misunderstanding. It’s been seven years since Star Trek Beyond, so perhaps the fourth movie will be a soft reboot that brings back the cast without explicit ties to the Kelvin Timeline continuity. That would be the desired outcome, given how many fans still want to see more from Chris Pine and the Kelvin Timeline crew. However, a reboot is more suggestive of a desire by Paramount to push the movie franchise into new territory, leaving the Kelvin Timeline behind forever.
Should Star Trek 4 Be A Sequel Or A Reboot Movie?
It’s been seven years since Star Trek Beyond, which is a long time but shouldn’t be a reason not to follow it up with Star Trek 4. Not least because Paramount’s biggest box office hit of 2022 was Top Gun: Maverick, a sequel to a 36-year-old movie, which puts the widening gap between Star Trek Beyond and Star Trek 4 into perspective. Rebooting a movie franchise within less than a decade never works, as Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man movies and Josh Trank’s critically panned Fantastic Four movie both show.
It’s strange that despite Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto’s desire to return for more Star Trek movies hasn’t convinced Paramount Studios that Star Trek 4 is a better option than a reboot. While a hard reboot can rely on Star Trek fans to turn out to movie theaters, it could have a harder time appealing to a broader audience. With a ready-made movie franchise, a willing cast, and a demonstrative audience interest, Star Trek 4 should be the next movie.
What Would A Star Trek Movie Reboot Be About Vs. A Chris Pine Sequel?
Thanks to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a movie reboot cannot be about Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the USS Enterprise NC-1701. Any reboot that recasts Captain Kirk would put enormous strain on the unfortunate actor cast in the role. They wouldn’t have to just live up to William Shatner, they’d also be competing with Chris Pine and Paul Wesley. Instead, any Star Trek reboot should explore the wider canon to find untold stories that could benefit from the big-screen treatment. There are various historic moments in the canon such as the Earth-Romulan War or the Cardassian Border Wars, that could be realized on the big screen with a brand-new starship crewed by Hollywood stars.
A Chris Pine-fronted Star Trek 4 movie should wrap up his arc by focusing on the aging crew of Kirk’s Enterprise as they contemplate moving on. The best of the TOS-era Star Trek movies were all about the crew addressing their legacy. Revisiting the David Marcus plot from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan could be the perfect way to reconcile the father issues of Chris Pine’s Kirk. There still feels like a good deal of potential in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek cast, which is why the rumors of a franchise reset are so concerning.
