Justin Lin has been hot on the promotional trail for ‘Star Trek Beyond‘ in the days since the trailer was released online, with a lot of information going out about the identity of Idris Elba’s character in the film, a being known as Krall. And while it might sound like a Klingon name, Lin assures us Krall is definitely not a Klingon, while also telling us about how much he enjoyed worked with Elba on the character, and how worth it was for the acclaimed actor to have to spend 4 hours a day in make-up:

“I’ve worked with some really great people and Idris immerses himself and I really enjoyed working with him because he’s all about the character and what’s best about the character’s journey in the film. The only thing that sucked is it took four hours every time we needed to get him on set.

When [Idris] came in, he had a lot of [prospective] projects and when I talked to him about this character, it wasn’t about this or that it was about building or having a philosophy or point of view. And I like his character because his character is really challenging the way of the Federation’s philosophy and there are a lot of things that when I was growing up I wanted to see.

He’s a character that has a very distinct philosophy that’s very different…I think it’s great to be a fan and I watch utopian San Francisco and go, oh wow, when you’re building this movie you think, they don’t have money, how do they live? How do they compete? And those are things that his character, in a way, has a very distinct and valid point of view.  It was just really embracing the idea that the Federation, what would happen if you were going on a five-year journey and you’re trying to also not only explore, but also maybe introduce other people to this way of thinking. What would that mean? What are the consequences to that? I mean, spreading a philosophy that you believe in that you think is great, are there gonna be any other points of views that’s gonna counter you? And I think that those are the things that I thought of as a kid. And also then as an adult when I watch Star Trek. And I think we got to kind of explore that a little bit.”

Lin also assures us that Krall is in the new trailer, and can not only be seen (check out the picture above), but also heard uttering the words: “This is where it begins, Captain. This is where the frontier pushes back!” It’s a chilling line, especially in light of the ‘Enterprises’s’ mission to explore new frontiers. To learn that some of those frontiers might not be too pleased with the Federation and its crew poking their nose into its business has got to be eye-opening for Kirk and his crew, who are always looking out for the best interests of those they encounter while out on a mission.

While on the subject of the ‘Enterprise,’ Lin also spoke about the attack on the famous ship featured in the trailer, and how it more closely mirrors modern warfare instead of the ship to ship warfare favored by ‘Star Trek’ in the 60s (the kind where the bigger ship almost always won).

“I grew up and Star Trek has a very 1960s sensibility of who has the bigger ship usually wins, right? And if you look at it, the attack, these ships are 40 feet long. And but there’s like 4,000 of them. And so I think even in the way they’re being encountered and how people are coming is it’s you can’t help but, I mean, we live in a world that is ever evolving. And I think that that’s always made Star Trek sci-fi great is when you’re able to at least acknowledge what’s happening today.”

Of course, based on those comments he was asked whether the attack on the ship somehow mirrors events like what happened recently in Paris, and Lin quickly replied:

“Well I’m just saying anything that comes, even in the way we are as a country and how people engage in conflict. That’s something that I felt like in this Star Trek, you see that it’s different. I feel like when I do think about Star Trek, a lot of times it is about the size, it has a very different sensibility. But at the same time, I think it’s also, that’s also part of moving it and taking risks and saying there’s a lot of different ways people engage in the universe.”

What are your thoughts on Krall and what threat he might be for the crew of the ‘Enterprise?’ Do like ‘Star Trek’ embracing more modern warfare techniques? Or do you wish it would remain true to its roots, and be more of an escape from what we deal with in the modern day? Share your take on the matter in the comments below!

Source: /film