9 Possible Plots For Star Trek 2
Our take on the sequel to JJ's stellar reboot...
Next: Khan!
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"Certain people are destined to cross paths and come together, and Khan is out there ... even if he doesn't have the same issues."
We’re not saying we want another Wrath Of Khan – even with their success, the new Trek team should in no way try to emulate that classic – but it would be interesting to see the two Ks clash again.
Space Seed is a great episode of the original series to base the story on, the plot shifts of the first film don’t affect Khan's origin, and he’s certainly a better villain than Nero.
Javier Bardem as Khan, please.
Next: A Trip To The Mirror Universe
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Next: A New Threat
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Next: Gorn Again
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But after the shonky CG version on TV’s Enterprise, maybe the men-in-suits approach would be wiser. Just make the suits better.
Next: Mudd In Your Eyes
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6. Mudd’s Women
Plenty of fans – and non-fans, to boot – like the level of humour in Trek.
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman brought lots of the funny to the first film, and there’s no reason the villain in the second movie couldn’t carry a less angsty, more comedic tone.
Nero was many things, but aside from his moment on the viewscreen (“Hi Christopher, I’m Nero...”), funny he was not.
One of the more beloved comical villains in the original series was Harcourt Fenton “Harry” Mudd, a con man and scoundrel who crossed paths with Kirk and the crew twice.
He’s gone on to have massive popularity, appearing in comic books and spin-off novels.
More recent rumour guff has seen Jack Black in “negotiations” for the role, but regular Abrams collaborator Greg Grunberg (mind-reading cop on Heroes) has also mentioned he’d like to play the role.
“I would absolutely love to play Harry Mudd - that would be incredible,” he told Trek Movie.
“I would have to redefine the character and do it the way I see doing it, but that character to me has comedy and brings levity and I would be able to work with robotic chicks. How fun would that be?”
Fun? Yes. Robotic ladies? Maybe we’ll leave that bit in the ‘60s…
Next: Parasite Plan
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7. Alien Parasite Attack !
Easily one of the greatest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Conspiracy featured a nasty race of alien parasites that infested Starfleet command and saw Picard and his crew facing down their own commanders in a race to stop the creatures taking over the Federation.
We like it so much, we even made the parasites one of our favourite Trek monsters a while ago.
How about exploring something similar with Kirk, Spock and the rest, allowing the filmmakers to explore corruption and illegal wars, Trek-style?
McCoy could get infected, forcing Kirk and Spock to try to save their - ironically ailing - doctor friend...
Drama, tension and weird beasts sprouting out of flesh. Trek does Alien!
Next: Klingon To Something Classic
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Next: Personal Conflict
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Some of the more emotionally satisfying moments of the original series saw the two friends brought back into conflict, either through emotional means ( Amok Time , which sees Spock’s mating urge lead to him battling Kirk on Vulcan) or necessity ( The Cage , with Spock disobeying orders to help Captain Pike).
There's plenty in the new film that could lead to issues down the line – what if some of the surviving Vulcans decide that revenge for the destruction of Vulcan is logical and Spock decides to help?
We’ve seen he can be a callous git in his treatment of Nero at the end of Trek .
It would be another personal plot that would let Orci, Kurtzman and fellow writer Damon Lindelof explore the characters they crafted even further, without needing some huge, wannabe epic threat.
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James White is a freelance journalist who has been covering film and TV for over two decades. In that time, James has written for a wide variety of publications including Total Film and SFX. He has also worked for BAFTA and on ODEON's in-cinema magazine.