That said, I wouldn’t be opposed to elements from the Prime universe continuing to show up–be it the Cardassians, Tholians, Organians, etc. But I want to see new stories, rather than AOS versions of TOS stories. It needs to evolve in its own direction, not unlike how the Mirror Universe evolved over time, as each spin-off series had their own Mirror Universe episodes, culminating in the cracktastically awesome ENT entry which introduced Empress Hoshi (it may be my all-time fave Mirror story, after the original).

As for the Klingons… their fleet was if not completely wiped out (I mean, seriously, 47 ships), it was nearly wiped out. Tho one does wonder, if the Narada crew were in prison for 20 years, how was their ship not taken apart and reverse engineered by the Klingon Empire? And what does that say for the Klingon/Romulan Alliance?

I mean, if there would be new film with the Klingons as bad guys, this would seriously tip the balance of power in their favour because the future-tech would still be a serious threat.

(I’d hate to see the Narada storyline dragged out over another film, but it could be an inetresting element to explore, someday.)

Some tie into the events from Enterprise series

I also see that we are still in the period before the TOS series

Definitely develop the Kirk & Spock relationship with a side of McCoy. The story should be meaty so all the main cast can get involved, developing their friendships and working relationships along with getting involved in some alien culture. I agree that Kirk should make mistakes as part of the learning curve for his new responsiblities. He is really young to be Captain.

As much as I loved the really fast pace of STXI (I’ve seen it 13 times), I want the next movie to be deeper and a bit slower. I want to feel what these characters are going through as they grow into being the finest crew as well as ship in the fleet. They are a gorgeous cast and they all deserve to get their moments to really shine. Thank you Orci & Kurtzman for not only the birth of James Tiberius Kirk but for the rebirth of Star Trek.

IMO it’s a no-brainer for the next movie to feature the Klingons as villains. I know that, typically, the expectation in a Star Trek movie they have to save the planet Earth — but that hasn’t been the case in many of the movies.

I agree entirely, and I’ve never suggested otherwise that I can recall.

Please let it be Chekov.

_

511 / 520 I totally agree with the characterization of Kirk as “intelligent, but inexperienced”. He WILL have to suffer (but not necessarily by losing family members).
Just once I want to see the crew accepting the old “The needs of the many …”-rule, regardless of the pain this may bring. Especially from TNG on it was always: “Even if the captain ordered us not to, we have rescue him at all costs!! … Oops, there goes a planet with a billion sentient beings on it! But we saved the captain and 2 redshirts – we won the day after all!”
Kirk should be forced to make really hard decisions, like his father before him. (And maybe even realize that the opposite of a “no win-scenario” isn’t necessarily a “win it all-scenario”). The person he has to sacrifice or abandon could even be Pike.
There would be the additional bonus that Kirk would loose the slightly annoying “I’m great, I’m cute, all women want me” attitude faster (he’s almost 30, not in high school).

McCoy taking center stage in the next movie is a great idea. Urban is nearly perfect as Bones without copying Kelley.

I have no problem with the Iowa shipyard. After all, ships are initially built on land. After launching, they are towed by strong tug boats to the place (mostly a pier) where construction is completed. So: Several tug shuttles (with very strong tractor beams). Orbital dock.
Maybe we’ll get to see the launching of the Enterprise-A in the 5th or 6th movie …

And to get a little fannish here: I have rationalized how Gaila could have survived! When the Enterprise drops out of warp at Vulcan, there is half a saucer section floating in space. As segments of starships can be automatically sealed off from each other (and have independent emergency life support), there could have been survivors in it, including Gaila. Yay! (The “sealed segments” construction is a) logical and b) described in the TNG Technical Manual).