The Star Trek movie is still in theaters, but it appears that the casting rumor mill for the sequel is just starting to gear up. The latest seems to be Jack Black as Harry Mudd with word that he was having meetings with the Abrams team. JJ Abrams addressed this rumor directly by telling AICN that he had indeed met with Black, but not for Mudd, details below.
JJ – no Mudd for Black
In an email to AICN’s Harry Knowles JJ said they were talking to Black about "doing something — but not Mudd." Knowles notes that it is very likely something not related to Trek, which would be backed up with JJ also noting that besides "blue sky" conversations he and the rest of the Supreme Court (Bryan Burk, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman) "have not had MEETING ONE about a sequel". JJ did joke that the sequel should have "a sh–load more lens flares."
Regarding Mudd, there still is no word on if the lovable space pirate originally played by Roger C. Carmel would be in a sequel, but if he were to be, Black would be a good choice, but I kind of like the idea of JJ’s best bud Greg Grunberg in the role. In April Grunberg told me that he would "absolutely love" to play Mudd, and would even don the big mustache and earring.
Grunberg as Mudd, should Mudd even be in the movie?
To Mudd or not to Mudd?
So what do you think, should they bring back Harry Mudd? Or Cyrano Jones? Or any other more whimsical characters from The Original Series? If so, should they just be minor characters? Say what you think in our new poll and in the comments section below.
While you contemplate that, watch some clips from "I, Mudd"
Would be a cool move, but won’t happen.
“Jack Black NOT In Talks For Harry Mudd”
GOOD.
Well, at least Grunberg is as annoying as Mudd.
However, I don’t see that character in a Trek movie. He’s just too goofy to be a villain or anything else.
Okay, I’ll go there…
William Shatner as Mudd!
I think haveing Harry Mudd as an interwoven side story would be great, like stealing something from the real villain in the story.
Less Harry Mudd, more android women please.
they can only do a number of things for the sequel:
-Khan like villian (maybe even Khan)
-mysterious force threatening earth/galaxy
-like hearted villian like Mudd/Q (which i dont think would happen)
-Klingons/Romulans/Borg
-Timetravel
Cyrano Jones makes more sense….if there was any sense to it at all.
Nah, I have no interest in seeing Harry Mudd in a motion picture.
If Jack Black is ever in ANY “Star Trek” movie, ever, I’ll drive to LA and slap JJ Abrams right in his face.
They won’t bring mudd in unless they want to aim for the wiggles market.
@7 add to that list – Something completely new.
Awww, come on! Jack Black, for Mudd! It’s in the eyes, he’s PERFECT!!! Roger C. Carmel would be good too, but I just don’t see it.
7. God, I hope what you say isn’t true. Other than the third plot point (which you said won’t happen) the others have been done to death! I want some originality! Cool, they started a new timeline to throw off constraints of canon. NOW, how about throwing off the constraints of formulaic Trek and do some sci fi that is truly unique and interesting! Something mysterious. Something with some exploration. (This can be done and made exciting and interesting and with action if the writers don’t go for lazy, hackneyed seen it a gazillion times revenge, war, time travel, and unstoppable alien threat stories). That’s my hope. As I see, the sequel could go either way, though I worry a bit about J.J.’s instincts.
That said Mudd would be an interesting change of pace for the Trek films, though I can’t see him as the ‘A’ story. Perhaps he would lead into some greater mystery.
(I’d much rather see that than see them try to resuscitate Khan or do more mindless stuff with Klingons, Romulans, or Borg).
And although, I like the Mudd idea a bit, mostly I think they shouldn’t rehash things. What is the point of this alternate timeline if they are going to pick through Trek history and recycle it (from what little I saw Enterprise tried to do that too self-consciously in its last season it just got to be too much).
Jack Black is playing the Borg Queen.
Sorry for the big spoiler and no warning.
Please, no Mudd or Jones or any other goofy TOS character, unless they get quickly jettisoned out of an airlock. Please!
@7
I think I agree, though I very much doubt that they’d do time travel,
I think orci and co. even stated that they wouldn’t.
I personally hope for a bit more exploring like in the series because that’s what STar Trek should be about , though I guess that’s kind of hopeless because none of the movies was about that. . .
@ChrisFawkes: Borg Drag Queen! :)
Maybe Mudd for a (very) small side story/cameo, but not as main story. Love to see Grunberg though!
I have to say I loved Harry Mudd
“Spock you’re going to love it here” Lol
But as a B story – I think he adds a lot of colour to TOS episodes he is in.
Please no Mudd in the next movie.
Maybe interesting to have Harry Mudd be the one who finds the SS Botany Bay this time round, on a salvage operation
No goofyness – Harry Mudd was way too cheesy for my taste.
I don’t want Khan either – he’s been done, and done well. Plus, the old ‘destroy everything for revenge’ thing has been done pretty comprehensively by Nero as well.
I’m quite looking forward to the exploration of Vulcans as a kind of refugee race – I always thought in TNG that the El Aurians could have been used to much greater effect. Now they’ve got a chance to do it properly with Vulcans. And I’m not talking about Vulcans tending bar or chasing energy ribbons either.
And I would like to see some Klingons. Maybe not as main villains – that’s also been done to death – but they should definitely feature.Maybe some contact with the Cardassians and/or Bajorans?
Please JJ, something completely new and original! That’s why the new movie was a reboot in the first place.
Well my theory is still that Nero will be back. I don’t know, I never saw him die… could have survived in a borgified escape pod (Countdown). And if Sci-Fi told us anything it is that black holes are portals through space time, so….
Maybe Nero didn’t believe in the no-win scenario neither…
Please,no Mudd,no Khan in the next movie!!!!!
Be original PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
too bad, how freaking great would that it be?!
i cant believe they overlooked Finnegan in the movie… just one scene would have been great…
I don’t know about an actor to play him, but I like the idea of bringing Harry Mudd in. Even if it’s just as a secondary character. Although it’s interesting, since Carmel played Mudd differently in his two appearances. Would a new Mudd be some kind of third vision of the galactic rogue?
Jack Black? Noooooooooo!
His movies have sucked lately.
I think JJ should reinvent Harry Mudd with a Joker “personality”. Make Harry Mudd a sinister psychotic villain. He would kidnap Uhura. That would really make Spock be emotionally compromised.
NO! It would not be great at all. Mudd was a minor character, not motion picture material. Mudd should not be in the movie, but Jack Black would make a GREAT Mudd! I mean I could not see Simon Pegg as scotty same with a few other but they all carried their weight well and in a respectable manor. Jack Black may be immature, cooky and not the best actor, but if he did star trek I believe he would step up to the plate and outperform his last roles, like the new actors did and perform admirably and honor the franchise. As great as Jack Black would be for Mudd, A: I don’t want the character of Mudd in a new star trek movie, there are far better characters out there not to mention the ones that have not even been created yet! B: I don’t want Jack Black in a Star Trek movie.
Hugh Jackman as Trelaine. Jack Black as Q!
Gay.
Bob O…
PLEASE BE ORIGINAL!!!
I’m not against seeing some old characters like Mudd in the film, but I’d sure like to see an original adversary/threat in this next film…
I’d get a kick out of a Harry Mudd appearance…but not as the main focus. I wouldn’t mind seeing Kirk go up against Kor for the first time in a battle of wits and ships. a villian doesn’t have to be driven by revenge…just a decidedly different point of view. kor was a great military leader and he believed his actions (and empire) were completely in the right. and so did Kirk…which led to a great conflict. And drama.
What about a new small (or bigger) series with the new crew trying to restore the original timeline (at least timetravel). In the end they could be early enough at the supernova and use the red matter to destroy it.
So, the original timeline will be restored and they will have a couple of new adventures in between – maybe with Harry Mudd.
Straight.
As much as I adore the classic series and all of those characters/vilians; I really want to see them go somehwere new with new characters (not necessarily villans). I voted for Mudd as a minor, but please do these familiar characters as a nod to die-hard fans, rather than making them the focal point of a movie.
While I am one of the few that thinks “City on the Edge of Forever” is a tad bit over rated, I’d love to see something more “science fictiony” like that….rather than a villan/threat of the week. Just my 2 cents.
Mudd yes. Jack Black?…uh…NO. Wrong personality entirely.
#33-I like your idea, too. But not as the main focus. Also, PLEASE no TNG aliens (Cardassians, Borg, Bajorans, etc.). Focus on the original aliens OR create new ones.
My casting wish is that they include more women in the crew next time. The second film should give a significant role to Nurse Chapel (already heard as an off-camera voiceover), Yeoman Rand, maybe Elizabeth Dehner or Helen Noel or somebody. Maybe even a new female character, but there are a number of existing ones to draw on.
25: Since this Kirk entered the Academy 5 years later than his counterpart, he would’ve never met Finnegan.
As far as Harry Mudd is concerned…he was a goofy character. However, he WAS a pirate and slave trader…something that could easily be made into a more serious villain. I guess I’m kind of on the fence about this. I could see the character as a true threat with a sharp-witted and sarcastic tongue. But for a theatrical movie I don’t think I’d like to see the caricature portrayed in the old series. That was fun for a couple TV episodes but not fitting for what is now a blockbuster franchise in the making. Less cheese and more threat is needed.
I agree with most here that I don’t think I’d like to see Khan in the new movies either. It’s too iconic a villain from the original cast movies and I believe it is better left as undisturbed sacred ground.
Some dude wrote a script I read a while back with Mudd in it. He came across like a Rick Blaine/Casablanca meets Han Solo-type who ran this casino in a Las Vegas-type place way out on the fringes of the Federation–near the Klingons. Actually now that I think of it, it was a really good story–and Mudd was still an ”operator” but had a history with Gary Mitchell–who was also in it. His character didn’t come across at all ”contrived.” I think Mudd is a valid character to explore–just intelligently I hope.
Either way, someone should ”clear up the Mudd issue.” Yeah, I know…
People who believe that ST XII should retell old stories (Khan etc.) should be hospitalized. Srsly.
I think Mudd is a great choice.. the best parts of these movies sometimes is the humor between the characters in the face of crisis…. and the Mudd character has a tremendous amount of potential…
As much as I’d love to see Mudd I keep hoping for Kang or some other Klingon that Kirk ran into.
Bring back Lee Merriweather. Oh, oh, oh…or Marriette Hartley. She’s probably still in that frozen wasteland where Spock left her. She could be pretty PO’d for being there for 40 years.
No, no, no, no, no. No.
While Jack Black as Harry Mudd is an interesting move, just do Space Seed. It’s what we want. Devote 2 hours of movie to that plot. Then we can leave STII alone, and Chekhov was at least on the ship this time.
I suppose anything can be done well.
I’m not really a big fan of Jack Black’s work. It seems very lazy, like much of Will Ferrell’s. Yes, I know both make more money before they shave than I make all lifetime. Still, both have turned in a lot of empty calorie movies.
Do we really want TOS remade ep by ep? Sure, it worked great for Khan, and it was nice to see Sarak as well. But, do we need a JJ version of The Apple? Or Mudd? Or Way to Eden?? (Ye, brother!)
JJ has shown more creativity than that. I’d love to see new actors take on Rand, Mitchell, or Kor, but in NEW stories.
Wouldn’t mind if Mudd showed up to HELP the crew in a surprise twist. Ricky Gervais would be my choice for Mudd.
What about Dan Aykroyd for Harry Mudd???
NO!!!
For chrissakes, COME ON. No Harry Mudd, no Cyrano Jones, NO freakin’ KHAN. I mean come on people—can’t you envision ANY originality for these future films? Are we really going to go back and rehash episodes from the original series? And above all KHAN? Do we really need to see that character again? We had his story, and he went from beginning to end. I for one one feel it would simply ruin *everything* to bring him back.
And I don’t care if there’s actors out there who could pull off Mudd, Jones, Khan, or whomever. It’s irrelevant. This is as much admitting that people making films today are incapable of coming up with fresh, original ideas, if you go back and rehash those characters. Now, granted—there’s a lot of evidence that people making films today CAN’T come up with fresh, original ideas—this latest film, while I liked it a lot, can be viewed as more proof of that. But all the same, let’s not return to “crutches” to support stories. No more Khan, Mudd, or any other side characters. A Klingon maybe—that’s different—they’re generic bad guys, even if you bring back one of the captains from the original series—that’s not the same principle. But I particularly loathe the idea of bringing Khan back, as though the struggle between Khan and Kirk was the main thing Star Trek was ever really about. It wasn’t. It made for one good story arc, from the original episode to the second movie—and THAT WAS IT.
We have to get out of this notion that Star Trek needs “a villain” in every movie. That reduces what it was about to “Captain Video” levels, only with gazillion-dollar special effects. What Star Trek needs is a CHALLENGE, not a villain.
I found the latest film enjoyable as hell (the actors particularly did excellent jobs—not a bad one amongst them, and many of them absolutely NAILED their roles) but I found Orci and Kurtzman’s writing sloppy and the plot rushed. The film had an oddly claustrophobic feeling for me—whizzing by at great speed and up and down like the rollercoaster ride it was supposed to be—but somehow too contained and limited in vision. I’ve seen it twice and still can’t put my finger on why I felt that way about it. But I wish to god that the writers, next time, would seek out real science fiction writers—or at least specific inspiration from sci-fi—for their story ideas. THAT is where the best ideas from the original series came from, and it’s those kinds of ideas that the next film needs to succeed… NOT going back and rehashing OLD ideas that have been done and done adequately well.