By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
(Originally submitted July 14, 2016, mildly updated July 25, 2016)
2016 is the 50th anniversary of Star Trek! And Paramount is celebrating like it’s 2299.
Coming up on July 22 is Star Trek Beyond, the third movie in the J.J. Abrams’ reboot. A fourth movie has already been announced, with both Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Mr. Spock) signed up.
There’s been some mild controversy, in that it’s been leaked that Mr. Sulu (John Cho) will be portrayed as gay in Beyond. That hardly seems surprising to me; one of the central themes of the show is tolerance – as startrek.com says, Star Trek “envisioned a world where technology and science improve the human condition and where peace and unity transcend conflict and separation.” Ergo, gay people should exist in Star Trek’s 23rd century, and further, that fact should be utterly unremarkable.
What drove this controversy, though, is that George Takei, the actor who played Mr. Sulu originally – and who is himself gay – disapproved publicly. He felt like the Sulu he played wasn’t gay, so the character should remain straight.
Far be it from me to argue with Mr. Takei. So we’re agreed: The Hikaru Sulu that Takei played wasn’t gay. But this is a different Lt. Sulu, one from – literally – a parallel universe. A universe where, it should be noted, Mr. Spock is knocking boots with Lt. Uhuru, something Leonard Nimoy’s Spock would never have done (without a whole lotta Pon Farr goin’ on).
All of which may be moot, because the next Trek on the screen is a new TV series, scheduled for January 2017. Star Trek: Discovery will feature entirely new characters, and will be executive produced by Alex Kurtzman, who was involved in producing and/or writing Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek into Darkness (2013).
But there’s a catch, one befitting the Ferengi more than Earthmen. CBS is going to air only the premiere episode on network television. After that it will only be available on CBS All Access, which CBS describes as its “digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.”
Allow me to apply the universal translator: It’s going to cost money to see the new Star Trek series. CBS All Access costs $5.99 per month. Now, CBS All Access does have all the previous Star Trek series available also, as well as thousands of episodes from CBS’ current and past seasons, and the local CBS station live. If that’s worth six bucks a month to you, then make it so.
Before that we have Comic-Con International: San Diego (July 21-24), which will have more Star Trek panels than you can shake a phaser at.
The main one is titled “Star Trek: Celebrating 50 Years,” and stars William Shatner (the original Captain Kirk), Scott Bakula (Captain Archer on Enterprise), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf on Next Generation and Deep Space Nine), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine on Voyager) and Brent Spiner (Lt. Data on Next Generation). Other Trek programming includes NASA astronauts, astrophysicists and engineers on how the TV show has influenced real space exploration; Smithsonian experts on working Trek technology, a preview of the Smithsonian’s Enterprise exhibit and clips from the upcoming “Building Star Trek” documentary; and, of course, strange new worlds of makeup, thanks to MAC Cosmetics.
There’s plenty more; go to http://www.startrek.com/article/star-trek-50-comic-con-details-revealed for the whole lineup.
Meanwhile, there are two Trek-related Humble Bundles:
* The Magazine Bundle: Star Trek, presented by Titan Comics, runs July 6-July 20. Various prices brings varying amounts of “Star Trek” magazine and special issues, all originally published in the UK.
* The Humble Comics Bundle: Star Trek presented by IDW ran until July 13. IDW Publishing is the current holder of the franchise, and has been publishing Trek comics since 2007. so the bundle had lots of options.
Yes, that one’s already over. But all that material is still available in collections, as well as tons of other Trek material from the publishers who’ve boldly gone where virtually every publisher has gone before.
Among the highlights:
* The first six issues of the first Star Trek series (Gold Key, 1967-79) were written by a guy who’d never seen the show and drawn by artists in Italy working from stills. They had absolutely no idea what the show was about. The Enterprise would land on planets on its tail, like a 1950s rocket ship, and a hot-headed Mr. Spock was as devilish as his appearance. Virtually everybody’s uniforms were the wrong color, and the artists didn’t have a still of James Doohan – so Scotty was entirely made up.
* Paramount restricted the first Marvel Comics series (the publisher has had the franchise twice) to just the concepts introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). So no Romulans, or Andorians, or Tellarites, or even the Squire of Gothos! The crew wore those awful beige uniforms for the entire boring series, which only lasted (mercifully) 18 issues.
* Various Trek comics have been set in school (Star Trek Academy), on Captain Christopher Pike’s Enterprise (Star Trek: Early Voyages) and in writer Peter David’s spin-off series of books (Star Trek: New Frontier).
* When Marvel published Star Trek a second time, the crew met the X-Men. When DC published Star Trek, they met the Legion of Super-Heroes. At IDW they’ve teamed up with Green Lantern; had a crossover with Ghostbusters, G.I. Joe and Transformers; and even visited the Planet of the Apes (Star Trek: The Primate Directive).
IDW still has the franchise, but its ongoing series about the rebooted crew is coming to an end next month, likely anticipating changes in the status quo from Star Trek Beyond. Meanwhile, legendary writer/artist John Byrne is still creating new adventures of the 1960s crew by photoshopping film frames from the original show (“New Visions”) and a new six-issue anthology series beginning in September (Star Trek: Waypoint) will include stories from every iteration of the show, from Enterprise to Voyager.
So happy birthday, Star Trek. Live long and prosper!
Reach Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), the Internet (captaincomics.ning.com), Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or Twitter (@CaptainComics).
Replies
A fourth movie has already been announced, with both Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Mr. Spock) signed up.
I like the idea of the rebooted universe on the big screen, prime universe on the small.
There’s been some mild controversy, in that it’s been leaked that Mr. Sulu (John Cho) will be portrayed as gay in Beyond.
It’s very low key. After returning to Earth, Sulu is greeted by a man (obviously his husband) and a small child. They walk off with their arms around one another.
CBS is going to air only the premiere episode on network television. After that it will only be available on CBS All Access, which CBS describes as its “digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service.”
BOO!
IDW still has the franchise, but its ongoing series about the rebooted crew is coming to an end next month..
Celebrating here in Canada too.
https://www.canadapost.ca/web/sites/en/pages/startrek/default.page?...|pdn|smc|608
IDW has announced a new series with the rebooted crew, as I kinda expected, with whatever changes accrue from Beyond. Waypoint is marking time in between.
Coming up on July 22 is Star Trek Beyond, the third movie in the J.J. Abrams’ reboot. A fourth movie has already been announced, with both Chris Pine (Captain Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Mr. Spock) signed up.
It has been announced that Chekov, played by the recently deceased Anton Yelchin, will not be recast.
A universe where, it should be noted, Mr. Spock is knocking boots with Lt. Uhuru, something Leonard Nimoy’s Spock would never have done (without a whole lotta Pon Farr goin’ on).
…and the Planet Vulcan was destroyed in the first movie.