When ‘Star Trek Into Darkness‘ hit theaters on the heels of its remarkable predecessor, fans were hungry for J.J. Abram’s continued take on the beloved franchise, though their opinions changed a lot by the time they left those screenings. Questions began to be asked about the future of the franchise and the Federation itself, based on the earth-shattering discoveries made in the film. Were humans immortal now that they had the blood of Khan and his people to bring them back from the dead? Were starships obsolete now that they could beam a person across huge distances in space? Was Kirk going to settle down with Carol Marcus for good?
Fortunately, while preparing ‘Star Trek Beyond,’ it seems Justin Lin and his writers were willing to edge around those issues, aware that embracing them might just fundamentally change what ‘Star Trek’ is. In a recent interview with Birth, Movies, Death, Lin in a matter of words all but admitted that he did not like some things from ‘Into Darkness’ either, and was choosing to skirt around the issues left over from Abrams’ last foray into Trekdom:
“Simon and Doug and I have spent some time on that. Star Trek has been around for 50 years, and every filmmaker that comes on has a different point of view, and it’s a universe that can support many points of view and journeys and adventures. I embraced what JJ has brought – without him this whole group wouldn’t be together – so I’m definitely very appreciative of him. At the same time, do we address it? No, but we don’t discount it. We don’t sit there and say it doesn’t exist, it’s part of this universe now.”
When Lin was asked about the fate of Kirk and Carol Marcus’ relationship, he was light on details, but did make it known it would not be a factor in ‘Star Trek Beyond’:
“We pick the crew up about two and a half years after Into Darkness. There were many iterations where we did go and explore [Carol Marcus], but we figured it was two and a half years…it was something we talked about and worked on, but in the presentation of this film it didn’t quite fit in. It’s there with the transporter and everything.”
And as for the other big relationship in the franchise, that of Mr. Spock and Lt. Uhura, he was also somewhat cagey in his response, leading one to believe that the pair’s relationship might have cooled in recent years:
“What we’re doing is appropriate to the two and a half years. It’s a continuation in a way, and I don’t want to ignore things and act as if they don’t exist, so there’s an acknowledgement and I think their relationship is consistent to the way it was before.”
That’s a lot of information to absorb, but in a nutshell Lin is not negating what Abrams did, he’s just “politely ignoring” the parts that do not work for his film. Which is just fine by me, as no filmmaker should be dragged down by continuing the mistakes of previous films, no matter what continuity exists (otherwise I’d be very worried about ‘Star Wars’).
What are your thoughts about Lin’s attitude toward left-over plotlines from ‘Into Darkness?’ Do you feel these things should have been addressed? Share your opinions below!
