Star Trek Beyond

Well this is certainly unexpected. Earlier today, we learned that Star Trek Beyond will reveal that John Cho’s Sulu is gay, a move partially intended to honor the legacy of George Takei, the actor who originated the iconic role in the classic television series and who himself came out as gay in 2005. You’d think that Takei of all people would be thrilled by the decision, but that’s not exactly the case.

Some very cool news about this summer’s Star Trek Beyond, via the Australian newspaper the Herald Sun: They report that Beyond will reveal that John Cho’s Hikaru Sulu is gay. The character is also revealed to be “the loving father of a daughter with a same sex partner. And in typical trailblazing Trek fashion - it’s just not a big deal.” At least the daughter aspect fits with what little the previous Star Trek series revealed of Sulu’s private life; in 1994’s Star Trek Generations, Sulu’s daughter, Ensign Demora Sulu, serves as the helmsman on the Enterprise-B.

It is interesting that, given a reboot could theoretically go off in any direction it chooses, that the relaunched Star Trek has begun to repeat events from the first Star Trek movie series. Star Trek Into Darkness was essentially a revisitation of The Wrath of Khan; the movie not only reintroduced the title character, it also flip-flopped the famous end of Wrath of Khan where Spock dies saving the Enterprise. (This time around it was Captain Kirk who made the ultimate sacrifice ... for about 8 minutes, and then he got better.) Certainly the circumstances of the film are very different, but Star Trek Beyond shares one crucial ingredient with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, namely the destruction of the Starship Enterprise, and the shipwrecking of its crew on a distant alien planet.

Just a few months ago, a Star Trek fan film made headlines in a way no one wants their fan film to make headlines: As the target of a lawsuit. Paramount sued the producers of Prelude to Axanar, a Trek fan movie that had raised over $500,000 on Indiegogo, claiming it was infringing on their many of their copyrights. They were almost certainly correct, but the story got a lot of attention, as stories about big conglomerates suing the pants off poor individuals often do.

J.J. Abrams’ first two Star Trek films weren’t entirely about spectacle — they certainly dealt with some #issues and bigger ideas, but they were still glossy, big budget blockbusters at the end of the day. Although co-writer Simon Pegg has said that Star Trek Beyond goes back to the series’ roots — more fun, more interesting concepts — his co-star Chris Pine has a slightly more cynical take on the franchise.

Following last weekend’s debut of that great new trailer for Star Trek Beyond, Paramount has released a whole bunch of official stills from the upcoming sequel. The images offer new looks at Sofia Boutella’s alien character, along with Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Simon Pegg’s Scotty (and that little rascal Keenser) — speaking of which, Pegg has also offered some details on that mysterious space station you may have spotted in the most recent trailer.

The new trailer for Star Trek Beyond premiered over the weekend following a 50th anniversary fan event in Los Angeles attended by director Justin Lin, producer J.J. Abrams, and a few members of the cast. In addition to screening the latest sneak peek at the upcoming sequel, fans were treated to some exclusive footage and a special announcement regarding the world premiere. If you’re a Trek fan and you’re able to make it to San Diego Comic-Con this summer, you should probably do that.

If you weren’t particularly sold by the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond, then you may find the latest preview for Justin Lin’s sequel far more persuasive. It has a bit of everything: emotion, drama, epic intergalactic action, and Idris Elba as a menacing new villain unlike any the crew of the Enterprise has faced before. One thing is clear: this isn’t your average Trek mission.

We briefly glimpsed the new Trek villain in the first trailer for Star Trek Beyond, but Idris Elba’s big bad hasn’t appeared in the few images Paramount has released to promote Justin Lin’s upcoming sequel. Lucky for us, the latest official photo features Elba’s Krall, a completely new Trek character created specifically for the film, and as the actor explains, one who’s got a bone to pick with the crew of the Enterprise — obviously.

While William Shatner has shot down the possibility of making a cameo in Star Trek Beyond, you better believe Justin Lin still has some fun surprises in store for fans of the franchise. One of those surprises (or two, rather) is the focus of a new contest the director is holding, and if you can correctly guess which actors are making a cameo in the film based on this set photo, you’ll win some neat prizes.