Pikes embodies the best ideals & virtues of the Federation. He’s “Mr. Federation Guy”.That’s his contribution to “the triumvirate”, or trio, of Kirk-Spock-Bones(which, in this altered Trekverse,should no longer be “the trio”,but “the quartet”).

Anyway, I’d like to see Pike right up there, with Kirk-Spock-Bones, whatever the story might be.

For the love of Crom, can we get an original story? What was the point of re-booting in a new universe if we are going to be basically re-telling old plots? If this team is so creative then why don’t we let them be creative? I have already seen the Doomsday Machine. I have more than one copy of it at home. Same with Khan. And Arena.

Obviously with 40 years of Trek there are going to be a lot of stories that will bear similarity to each other. But to out an out retell episodes is ridonculous. If it was going to be the same universe that might have been interesting. But I thought that the film makers chose another universe to tell their own stories. So do it. Tell your own stories.

It won’t be “kahn”.

It will be KHAN! :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Noonien_Singh

Khan Noonien Singh, commonly shortened to Khan, is a villain in the fictional Star Trek universe. According to backstory given in the character’s first appearance, the Star Trek original series episode “Space Seed”, Khan is a genetically engineered superhuman tyrant who once controlled more than a quarter of the Earth during the Eugenics Wars of the 1990s. After being revived in 2267 by the crew of the Enterprise, Khan attempts to capture the starship, but is thwarted by James T. Kirk and exiled on Ceti Alpha V to create a new civilization with his people. The character returns in the 1982 film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, set fifteen years after “Space Seed”, in which Khan escapes his imprisonment and sets out to seek revenge upon Kirk. The character was portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán in both the television episode and in the movie.

Boborci: since his cameo was cut, PLEASE bring back Victor Garber in some capacity. Terrific actor that can bring so many layers to any character he portrays, his Klingon interrogator was terrific.

…and more shots of the Enterprise!

John from Cincinnati, I think you are missing the point entirely.

First your argument is flawed. You could not call it Star Trek if it did not contain 99% of the items on your list you claim have been done before.

They chose TOS era because it is the best and most iconic of all of them, and TNG already imploded at the box office and Enterprise was cancelled. They sure weren’t going back to those. And Hollywood does not just come up with a brand new concept when there is a perfectly good one sitting on the shelf which has proven itself before at the box office. Otherwise they were going to have to come up with yet another spinoff which might not do as well as Nemesis.

But the point was not whether they did the basic concept of Star Trek before. The point was once they took the iconic elements that made the original series great, whether they take them on new adventures or simply re-hash the same stories they told already. Khan is NOT a core character of Star Trek. In fact until Harve Bennett dredged him up again from 1967, he was merely a guest star of the week. Harve found something more to do with him. JJ Abrams MIGHT wring a few more drops of juice out of Khan, but is there enough to fill a whole glass? For those of us who have seen it before, I’ll bet not. Certainly he can make this movie for a brand new audience who’s never seen Khan before and the fans will likely go see it. But is that really why they rebooted Star Trek? Just so they could remake all the TV episodes in a different way for the big screen?

If anything, the “cop out” is rehashing the classic stories of the original series, and not creating new classic stories that challenge the bounds of the fans imaginations.

There is also the question of how soon the sequel will be set after the original. If the time line is kept fairly tight, I think keeping the sequence close would be better. It would give the characters time to develop, and allow the actors to really connect with the persona’s they are adopting.

With Vulcan destroyed, along with a number of Star Fleet ships, the Federation may be seen as weaker and vulnerable to attack. This might lead to both Klingon and Romulan incursions, either on a tactical or a political level. During all of this, the Vulcans are trying to establish their colony. And, I feel the preservation of the Vulcan people and their society would be of critical importance to the Federation. Pike could either be liaison to the Vulcans or dealing with Klingon incursions near the border.

Exploring a new Vulcan homeworld might be an interesting kick off to the next film ( a whole “strange new world”), with the Vulcans finding a world very different from the one expected by Spock Prime. Remember, with an altered continuity, you also get altered time travel events from the future – whose to say just how badly causality could be disrupted.

Ancient ruins, possibly “proto-vulcan” in nature, that were non-existent in the Prime time line are discovered. The investigation of which releases adversarial beings of pure intellect that are able to possess (red translucent eyes – homage to “RedJack”?) the human crew (but not the Vulcans). After causing some degree of havoc, they leave through space on a specific course.

Reds may appear as mist-like phantasms, taking psychic forms which manifest what victims fear, as uncontrolled minds are defenseless against them.

After recovering, the crew learns the course set will take the entities to (or through) inhabited systems. The crew won’t realize that some of them have stayed behind. It might keep it edgy if we don’t know who the bad guys really are & they could even be your crew (by-by more red shirts!).

Have the Reds be a threat to all worlds between “new Vulcan” & the unknown destination, including one that happens to contain a large population & McCoy’s Ex-wife (just because). Maybe she could even be possessed by a reasonable, but still insane, baddie (Seriously, who’s trying to kill Bones – the alien monster, or the ex-wife?).

Pike’s fleet encounters “Reds” near the border (I’m assuming no neutral zone or Organians – yet) and are partially possessed. The ships begin fighting each other. His ship is damaged, but he lives through it. Enter Klingons who detect the skirmish, but don’t know the reasoning behind it.

Reds possess Klingon ship and go on rampage. Kirk and Pike have to destroy the vessel(s), to save the nearby systems, but the Klingon’s don’t see it that way (Klingons now HATE Kirk). They take offensive action, with Pike being somehow injured – badly (now Kirk HATES Klingons).

Crew manages to capture a Red (perhaps McCoys, now sedated, Ex-wife?) and analyzes the creature. Enter a Classic Spock mind meld with the possessed to find out the Red’s plan. Uhura figures out how to tap into their sub-space communal mind only to be possessed. Causes major problems (ie. “kicks ass”). Enter Vulcan nerve pinch (and possibly a “deep meld” to free her – it could also be their first mind meld?).

We see flashes to an old Vulcan examining the ruins on the colony world. Spock Prime figures out how to make humans immune via mind meld and some details of what the creatures are – relays info to Enterprise. Enterprise gets message from Spock … who’s standing on the bridge as it comes in. Kirk & Spock look at each other and take the message on secure view.

With data from analysis of the captured Red and from Spock Prime, Scotty develops new Phaser design that “jams” the Reds (or discovers that Klingon disruptors have the same affect on the Reds) and adjusts Phasers to compensate. Also develops shield modulations that inhibit Red attacks on ships.

Stun level hits on inhabited planets and possessed ships cause Reds to disperse and coalesce into hyper-mass. Enterprise hits mass of Reds with lethal force. Most are destroyed, others disperse in all directions, in & out of Federation space. Future & ongoing problem for the Federation and other Alpha Quadrant worlds/empires?

Records from Vulcan colony world show “old Vulcan” activating an alien “archway” discovered on the planet and vanishing into it. I much prefer Spock Prime “riding into the sunset” and not being killed. Even if the new stories can’t live with him, I’m not sure we can live without him.

Kirk shown brooding over Pike’s body in deep medical stasis. Bones showing support. Pike is alive, but bringing him back could be a long process. McCoy might tie in a virtual mnemonic interface and create a Pike “avatar” that can be interfaced with?

I see lots of possibilities that don’t involve dragging the whole of the old universe into the mix. It is possible to honor the classic series without rigidly rehashing every story concept. Everyone should strive to keep an open mind.

I also agree with Saldana with Uhura, there is room for her to be more active. I do also think they need to extinguish the Spock/Uhura flame.

Lastly, I would prefer to see Kang, Kor and/or Koloth before we see Khan. Alternatively, I wouldn’t mind seeing a darker Harry Mudd (he was a borderline dark character in Mudd’s Women, and then clearly just a comic egomaniac in I, Mudd)

@74: To be fair, when they made TOS, just getting the character of Uhura on TV was a major victory. I imagine if they tried to do an Uhura-centric storyline, or, God forbid, something as un-womanly as an action scene (gasp!), the network suits would have come down on Gene Roddenberry like a ton of bricks.

On that note, it’s not the 60’s anymore. A black female character can do more than just exist, so by all means, give Uhura more to do.