Star Trek Beyond Adds Joe Taslim To The Cast, Becomes Faster, More Furious

taslim

With less than a year until Star Trek Beyond beams, warps, or is hurtled by a powerful alien known as the Caretaker into theaters near you, news of the production is beginning to trickle in. The most recent news item is that actor/martial artist Joe Taslim is joining the cast.

The actor was relatively unknown outside of his native Indonesia until he jump-kicked his way on to screens with 2013’s Fast & Furious 6, directed by Justin Lin, who is also helming Star Trek Beyond. The Hollywood Reporter broke the story over the weekend.

Here’s the talented fighter in action:

So far there’s no official comment from the actor or the studio on what role Taslim may play, but it is presumed that he will be a minion of Idris Elba, widely thought to be the film’s villain. In terms of my own wild speculation, it seems likely that at some point he will square off against John Cho’s Sulu in some form of space-karate match. That may seem like a stereotype to presume that two Asian guys, in a movie directed by an Asian guy, will inevitably come to blows – but that would also be awesome, so I am sticking to that presumption.

If Elba is playing a Klingon, then it follows Taslim probably is too. But Simon Pegg mostly dispelled the rumor, so I am going to stick with my presumption that Elba will play Dr. Richard Daystrom. If that’s true, then the bad guys’ minions might be robots; if that’s true, then Taslim could maybe play Data’s creator Noonian Soong (who would have been a young man in the TOS time period).

Soong (or Song) is an Asian surname, although Brent Spiner isn’t, so I may be grasping at holo-straws.

Apart from Sulu, there are not a lot of specifically Asian characters from The Original Series to choose from, unless he’s the Excalbian-reproduced Genghis Khan from The Savage Curtain. In that case, predict the studio to be very coy about how Taslim is not Khan, but how he actually is in a twist that surprises exactly no one.



 

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Thanks Jared for this new news.

*Sigh* Just not looking to be what I signed on for over four decades ago. But I’ll try to keep an open mind.

Its a strategic signing I believe.

Sure to draw South East Asian movie goers into the cinemas.

Thanks, Jared. Took awhile, but good to see some movie news …

Unless my post gets deleted like in the last thread …

Regards,

Well…it is news. Not that it’s perfect news, but still good news. Perhaps he’s the new villain?

5. Mikey1091 – July 27, 2015

Hi Mikey,

His is supposed to be part of the Idri’s crew or even 2ic I think.

So the guy can kick and punch.

(YAWN)

Who gives a f*ck?

Hollywood has lost it’s friggin’ mind.

The crapfest continues…

The fans demanded more fisticuffs. Paramount is delivering!

It’ll be even better if his character trains Keenser in martial arts. Can’t wait for July, 2016!

Or… Red Shirt Banzai?

This is gonna be great. I hope.

So what would a “Star Trek: Beyond Fast and Furious” look like? Lots of action, and perhaps that good ol’ philosophizin’ and speculatin’ that we Trekkies like. I do hope we can avoid a meditation on the effects of Warp 10 travel (what with it turnin’ people into lizards and all — see VOY episode pertainin’ to same).

Seriously, though — I do think we’re in for a different sort of ride under this new director, and I am confident he’ll find something new for us to enjoy.

As someone once said: “Young minds, fresh ideas. Be tolerant.”

…should be some good fighting at least! =P (…or a waste of talent)(eyesroll)

#7 – Yet clearly you do give a crap, Harry.

I suggest drinking a good cup of Dilmah tea in a nice China cup. I’m not sure, but I think that those leaf residues give the most accurate clairvoyant readings but if not, you’ve still got to enjoy a nice cuppa…:)

Then, there is always the “wait and see” method. I believe that can also work well. Just saying…:)

@13 Keachick

To paraphrase Spock in “Mirror, Mirror”……………………..

“Keachick,………..I shall consider it.”

:>)

2. Michael Hall – July 27, 2015

*Sigh* Just not looking to be what I signed on for over four decades ago. But I’ll try to keep an open mind.

You’re not thinking this is shaping up to be a dumb action movie, are you? Too fast, too furious?

Did I just witness Mr. Taslim employ the “Kirk Drop Kick” at the end of that video?

Both legs — check.

To the chest — check.

Falling to the ground along with your opponent — check.

And for comparison purposes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPuOMDpiNtM

Sorry, but I think that guy can kick Sulu’s keister.

Star Trek Beyond is going to be great!

@ 3. photon70 – July 27, 2015
If it is strategic, and if it works, then that will only mean good things for the overall global box office takings.

I am really looking forward to STB!

#16. Rastaman is right, there is so much hand-to-hand fighting in the original series, I don’t understand why people are claiming this means it’s deviating from the source material?

A Pegg script directed by Lin is sure to strike a balance between old Trek and appealing to new audiences in a way that JJ and Co. didn’t manage to. I’m pretty excited!

Oh, and on a side note, I reckon Taslim and Elba are both playing original characters.

By original I mean new, not original as in from TOS…that got confusing for a second

This Is What Happens If You Watch Fast & Furious One Too Many Times:

http://rob.1006playlist.com/happens-watch-fast-furious-one-many-times/

:-D :-D :-D

Jared,

What about the Kohms in Omega glory?

On a different subject, I just bought tickets to Shatner’s one man show in Brisbane in Oct!

Keachick, if you’re a Shatner fan, he’ll be in Auckland on Oct 10th!

Back to the thread.

The best of TOS has always been action and adventure sugar coating a message.

People who keep saying the new Trek has too much action might want to fire up their TOS DVDs for a refresher.

“*Sigh* Just not looking to be what I signed on for over four decades ago.”

Yeah I know. Four decades ago Star Trek didn’t have actors. Now they are signing on actors to do work in their films. This is not what Gene Roddenberry wanted!

BTW, Mods, why is “Harry Ballz” allowed to post still? It’s MORE than obvious that all he is doing is trolling at this point.

#20 SpudUK “…#16. Rastaman is right, there is so much hand-to-hand fighting in the original series, I don’t understand why people are claiming this means it’s deviating from the source material?”

It just demonstrates a lack of understanding the source material. There are many here that believe the formula followed by TNG and it’s spin-offs, in some warped way, should be indicative of what we see in a big-screen re-imagining of TOS. We’re not in 1992, anymore, Toto.

Star Trek Lives!!

@26 – jonboc
Yes and, Star Trek Kicks *ss ;-)

With all those ‘banzai’ people, Dr. McCoy may need to work overtime.

“Soong (or Song) is an Asian surname, although Brent Spiner isn’t, so I may be grasping at holo-straws.”

Not Necessarily. Remember Khan and the actors that have played him? His race was stretched so far it broke in Into Darkness.

No worries, here. The next Trek should be great. As long as the next Trek is not a Next Generation.

Are they writing STIV, yet?

The clip isnt overly impressive. Im sure he will play a strange alien on a far away planet that is well educated in Earth martial arts.

And as odd as the idea of him playing Soong would be, it would actually be hilarious if he played the role of a character previously seen to not be Asian. lol Maybe he’s playing Saavik, who in this universe is somehow a male Asian character.

This movie will be Beyond Boring. Great, let’s get some talentless martial arts oriental to take up valuable screen time. No buy for me, this movie will be straight-to-torrent

Well, even though Pegg lied about Khan in STiD, I still think he may be telling the truth about STBeyond. Elba and this new guy may just be all new characters and the aliens we see will be a new species.

I am hoping the girl is an Andorian, though. She was spotted with the white wig, but we have not heard about any blue skin, yet.

Also, remember that the original Star Trek had a lot of fisticuffs in in it. The suits ordered an historical second pilot because the Cage was “too cerebral”, so Roddenberry gave them “Where no man has gone before” which ended in a big fight between Kirk and Mitchell.

Star Trek will always have an action element to it.

There’s a difference between a movie having “an action element,” and being an action movie.

Some TOS episodes had little spurts of action—fighting and running around—typically for less than a minute in duration. It was actually in the poorer Season 3 episodes where they started relying more on action and less on story and thematic development, and this is not a coincidence.

Are all the guest stars non-Caucasian thus far? If so, I applaud their efforts to be more diverse. Assume this is for the international audience.

# 25. photon70 – July 28, 2015

” The best of TOS has always been action and adventure sugar coating a message.

People who keep saying the new Trek has too much action might want to fire up their TOS DVDs for a refresher.” — photon70

Odd, how you, yourself, correctly state the formula as a ratio then misstate the posit being asserted.

It’s NOT that there’s too much action in and of itself but that the ratio of action to thought provoking message is skewed too far to the one with little of the other.

It’s like getting a box of Cracker Jacks with one of the three ingredients missing: candy-coated popcorn, peanuts or a prize. Eating red bean ice cream but no bean. All ultimately disappointing.

26. jonboc – July 28, 2015

“l. There are many here that believe the formula followed by TNG and it’s spin-offs, in some warped way, should be indicative of what we see in a big-screen re-imagining of TOS. We’re not in 1992, anymore, Toto.”

I haven’t bothered to address this stale, tired argument–endlessly repeated on these forums–in ages, so here goes. Yes, J.J. Abrams and his Supreme Court did manage back an element of swashbuckling fun in these films that had been sorely missing from this franchise post-TNG. (Heck, even Rick Berman admitted as such.) What they missed was pretty much everything else (aside from the miniskirts) that made TOS special and unique: the often nuanced character drama and conflict; its more than cursory attempts to at least get the basic science right, consistent with said drama; the almost unprecedented pairing of exploration and humanitarianism; the use of allegory to frame present-day concerns (though I’ll grant that STID took a stab at this); and, most of all, a sense of awe and wonder and real possibility for a human future in space.

I have no idea where Toto finds himself these days. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a franchise tentpole moneymaker far more analogous to the Marvel factory’s output than anything Gene Roddenberry had in mind.

@33. Michael Hall,

Well said.

In the video for charity, Pegg said, “and you might even meet some brand NEW characters”.

Now, if he’s not lying, Elba’s character will not be from TOS days.

Regarding Asian TOS characters: The poor guy who was running the insane asylum with Garth of Izar in it was Asian…

But will Alice Eve be in the movie?

@ 29.TrekMadeMeWonder,

“Are they writing STIV, yet?”

Considering that Simon Pegg quit writing ‘Star Trek Beyond’ 3 times already, I would say it is way too early to think about ST 14.

Who says Elba and Joe have to play “bad guys” in this next feature? What if they’re just like many suggest: Richard Daystrom and, perhaps, his assistant, or people within the Federation — but who have so much character depth that the story doesn’t need a so-called “bad guy” (or bad guyS) to provide conflict? Just like the Doomsday Machine wasn’t a bad guy, nor was the whale probe, or even V’Ger, for that matter — they were causing conflict just because they were what they were. Hmmm…… Now THERE’S an interesting notion.

Even if Elba and/or Joe are playing antagonistic character(s), it’s fun to watch the cast promote that ‘FAN-ON-SET’ project that funds charities: Elba is obviously already “part of the family” as far as cast members go, and that can surely provide a LOT of great fun on the set during filming — which leads to a far better story when the actors get along and join the crew and production staff to get it in the can in the most optimistic, “Gene Roddenberryish,” way they can. That’s when we’ll get some really GOOD “Star Trek.”

Ah, yes….years of people fondly remembering Kirk and his ‘to close for phasers, switching to fists’ moves….and griping that Pine Kirk gets curb stomped way to often. Now, an actor comes on board with some martial arts experience, and suddenly we are sensitive about the fisticuffs. The double standards continue….

Ill go out on a limb and say the guest actors will be playing original characters. I think the studio is hyper-sensitive to the criticism of STID and want to do something simpler with new characters and action. In a way, less thoughtful than STID.

Which is also what worries me about any sort of 50th Anniversary references. But I have this weird feeling they have a secret Easter egg in store for us fans.

“It’s a really interesting, complex character,” Simon Pegg says about Idris Elba’s ‘villain’ character, and adds: “What we don’t want to do is have the same kind of villain [nuKhan] with the same motivation.”

SOURCE
http://www.mtv.com/news/2225690/simon-pegg-star-trek-beyond-idris-elba-character/

“Now, an actor comes on board with some martial arts experience, and suddenly we are sensitive about the fisticuffs. The double standards continue….”

Only if you believe that strawmen practice the martial arts. :-)

Okay – I’ll admit to jumping down to the comments section first, then going back to reading the article…..but really, because Taslim is Asian, the assumption is he’ll square off against Sulu at some point? So, why would Sulu be the natural choice…..

# 42. Michael Hall – July 28, 2015

“Now, an actor comes on board with some martial arts experience, and suddenly we are sensitive about the fisticuffs. The double standards continue….” – Phil

Not just that, Michael, but unless some new character steps in and seriously ups the Pine captain character’s Kirk-Fu, all is lost for our intrepid…err…enterprising young captain against this possible new opponent.

# 25. photon70 – July 28, 2015

” The best of TOS has always been action and adventure sugar coating a message.

People who keep saying the new Trek has too much action might want to fire up their TOS DVDs for a refresher.” — photon70

Odd, how you, yourself, correctly state the formula as a ratio then misstate the posit being a$$erted.

It’s NOT that there’s too much action in and of itself but that the ratio of action to thought provoking message is skewed too far to the one with little of the other.

It’s like getting a box of Cracker Jacks with one of the three ingredients missing: candy-coated popcorn, peanuts or a prize. Eating red bean ice cream but no bean. All ultimately disappointing.