Star Trek Beyond

The entire marketing campaign and dialogue around Star Trek Into Darkness — not to mention most of the runtime of the actual movie — was about the mysterious identity of its villain. Who was this guy Benedict Cumberbatch is playing? Was he an old character from an earlier movie? Could he be Khan? Oh, no, he’s “John Harrison.” Wait, who the hell is John Harrison? Why all the secrecy around a nobody named John Harrison? Are we sure he’s not Khan? No, J.J. Abrams insisted he wasn’t Khan and he wouldn’t straight-up lie to our whoops no never mind he straight-up lied, he’s Khan.

You’ll find something in this year’s summer movies that has never happened before: two gay couples in two major franchise films. Considering the scarcity of LGBTQ characters in Hollywood, that’s a pretty big deal.

This has been one of the strangest summers in recent memory when it comes to box office analysis, not because so many high profile movies have disappointed (although that has certainly been interesting), but because so many new releases are hanging out in the grey zone between hit and misfire. In an era where the success of so many movies is determined purely by opening weekend numbers, we’ve spent the past few months watching as movies has defied expectations after a weak opening or rode a solid opening into oblivion. The cut-and-dried successes can be counted on one hand.

It’s been a while since the crew of the Starship Enterprise visited a strange new world in search of new life and civilizations. The Star Trek of television was full of strange new worlds; the Enterprise seemed to discover one every single week. The Trek movies, so focused on special effects, violence, and intricate revenge plots, have frequently strayed from Trek’s original mission. And while there’s plenty of action and excitement in Star Trek Beyond, there’s also a clear attempt to return this series to its core principles: Exploration, diplomacy, teamwork, and the hope for a better tomorrow. After the missteps of the punishingly bleak and the unfortunately rehashy Star Trek Into Darkness, it’s a necessary and welcome course correction; a Star Trek back into the light.

It may seem a bit soon to be discussing the future of a franchise when the latest installment hasn’t even hit theaters yet, but the early buzz surrounding Star Trek Beyond is so positive that Paramount has already announced plans for Star Trek 4. Following the recent, tragic passing of Anton Yelchin, some fans have wondered how the Trek universe will address that loss, and producer J.J. Abrams has an answer.

Paramount has released the fourth and final trailer for Star Trek Beyond ahead of the film’s July 22 release, and if early word is to be believed (and we think it is), you have every reason to be optimistic about the new sequel. Shorter, punchier and more action-packed than the first three previews, the latest and last trailer may be the best of the bunch, and if nothing else, it looks like Justin Lin was definitely the right pick to replace J.J. Abrams in the director’s chair.

Producer (and former franchise director) J.J. Abrams has been teasing it during the Star Trek Beyond press tour and now it’s official: The new Star Trek series (now often referred to as the “Kelvin Timeline” movies) will get a fourth installment. And much like the fourth installment of the original Trek franchise, this one will involve time travel. Via a press release:

Good news for Star Trek fans: not only have the early reviews of the film been pretty positive, the last few days saw two final Star Trek Beyond clips hit the internet for those looking to dig a little bit deeper into the movie. So all those coworkers of mine who keep asking me, since I’m a film critic, if they should be worried about the lack of Star Trek Beyond coverage, relax! Things are looking pretty good.

The poster for Star Trek: The Motion Picture is so dramatic. The faces of William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock, and Persis Khambatta’s Lieutenant Ilia refracted through a rainbow spectrum of light. That image promises excitement beyond imagination. Adventure! Passion! Every color under the rainbow!

This week brought some great news for the future of diversity in Hollywood. John Cho announced his ‘Star Trek Beyond’ character, Hikaru Sulu, would be revealed as gay in the upcoming movie. But sadly not everyone was thrilled about it.