by Bennett Campbell Ferguson
“What’s next?” That was one of the first things I thought as
I finished watching “Star Trek Into Darkness” (which was just released on DVD)
for the third time. Indeed, while I
enjoyed the movie more than I had previously, it was hard not to wonder what
might befall the adventuring crew of the starship Enterprise in the future.
What new adversaries might they encounter? What new planets might they next
explore? And of course, what new hookups
might cause emotional strife throughout the crew?
We won’t know the answer to any of these questions until
the next film’s rumored 2016 release date.
But for now, there are plenty of intriguing hints and setups in “Into
Darkness” to begin pondering the possibilities.
So here, for your pleasure, is analysis of what might be next for the
heroes of the twenty-third century.
EXPLORATION
In
the first two films, the Enterprise crew
(including Chris Pine’s reckless Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s coolly
logical Commander Spock) spent most of their time fighting vengeful maniacs
with a taste incinerating everything from San Francisco skyscrapers to entire
planets. But that’s likely to change in
the next film. At the end of “Into
Darkness,” Kirk announced that he would be leading his crew on a five-year
mission into uncharted space to seek out new life and new civilizations (just
as he did in the original “Star Trek” television series in the 1960s).
Considering
this new mandate, it seems likely that the new film will be less focused on war
and more on the exploration of the unknown.
Of course, all of the “Star Trek” films have focused on action, but
Kirk’s new mission opens up the possibility that the crew’s next trek could be
a blockbuster in the vein of “Inception”—violent but philosophically
complex. Keep your fingers crossed.
THE
RETURN OF KHAN “My name…is Khan!” With those words, actor Benedict Cumberbatch
sent a chill through Kirk and company as he revealed his character’s true
identity in “Into Darkness.” Khan, it
turned out, was not a mere terrorist as Kirk initially thought, but a genocidal
supremacist hell bent on exterminating anyone he believed to be “less than
superior.” Indeed, Khan turned out to be
so clever and powerful that it was only through sheer determination and luck
that Kirk and Spock managed to defeat him.
That’s when things got interesting. Unlike most “Trek” villains, Khan did not
perish in the film’s climax. Instead, he
was taken into custody by the authorities and cryogenically frozen to prevent
him from doing anymore damage.
Unfortunately for Kirk and Spock (but fortunately for us), this left the
door wide open for Khan to return and resume his role as “Star Trek” villain in
chief in future films.
If
we’re lucky, the next “Trek” (or potentially the one after that), could involve
Khan’s untimely escape to wreak further havoc, with the help of his followers
(who have remained mostly off screen thus far).
This is the most interesting possibility of all. “Into Darkness” stressed Khan’s emotional
attachment to his people heavily, leaving us to wonder what the nature of their
relationship with Khan might be like and how they will affect the course of
future events.
KIRK
AND CAROL MARCUS It’s no secret that in the original series that
Kirk had a child with his colleague, Dr. Carol Marcus. Considering that history and Carol’s presence
in “Into Darkness,” the prospect of entwining the lives of the good captain and
doctor once more seems too good to resist.
Perhaps
the most enticing thing about this potential romance is the fact that the new
“Star Trek” movies do not follow the storylines of the original TV series. In that version of events, Carol concealed
her pregnancy from Kirk and as a result, the captain didn’t meet his son for
some time. But with a clean slate,
writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (who are reprising their duties as
“Star”-scribes for the next film) could change things drastically. They could even have Kirk and Carol get
married if they wanted.
If
anything, the future of Kirk and Carol is what excites me most about the
continuation of “Star Trek.” The idea of
an explorer/action hero who is in a serious relationship (or even married with
a child) while on a five-year mission through deep space could shake up the
series’ status quo and that of blockbuster cinema itself, as our beloved heroes
and heroines trek further and further into the unknown.
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