Karl Urban, Star Trek’s new Dr. McCoy, is the latest Trek actor to weigh on on the production start guessing game. During a press event promoting his upcoming appearance in the vampire movie Priest, Urban said he thought the Star Trek sequel will "start to shoot at the beginning of next year." The actor also talked about the evolution of his character, Trek fans and how many Trek films he thinks he has in him.
Karl Urban Talks Star Trek Sequels
[Excerpts via comingsoon.net]
Q: What do you think of evolution of your character is going to be like in the next “Star Trek”?
Urban: I have no idea. I just know it’s going to be good. I’m really looking forward to getting on board that one and I feel now we’ve introduced all these great characters. It’s going to be really interesting to see where we can take it.
Q: Do you understand the “Trek” fans a little more now?
Urban: Yeah, but in a lot of ways I geek out maybe not quite as much some as the other ones – I don’t dress up but I love going there and seeing all the models and the different stalls of the different movies and TV shows. It’s a great way for everyone to collectively get together and celebrate the pop culture. I have a lot of fun there. I have a lot of fun walking around and checking everything out more so than doing the Q & A’s and the press.
Q: You’re signed on for two “Trek” sequels right?
Urban: Correct.
Q: Do you see yourself going beyond those two or is it just going to be a three movie deal?
Urban: I don’t know. I think that depends on many factors.
Q: Do you think you’d get bored with it eventually?
Urban: That is entirely dependent. It’s like anything – if you’re in a long running TV show or a play. If you’re running out of new territory, then sure, that could get potentially stagnant. The thing specifically about “Trek” is that you have to look at who is involved. J.J [Abrams] and Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, they’re all incredibly onto it creatively so I’ve got faith in them. If it goes beyond three, then I’d go for it.
Q: Have you made any requests to the writers about where you want your character to go?
Urban: No, I think that they’re geniuses and you should just let them do what they do. I have officially thrown a genius label on them. I’ve got full faith that whatever they come up with is going to equal and surpass the first installment.
Go to ComingSoon for more from Urban on playing the villain "Black Hat" in the vampire movie Priest, due out in January 2011.
Urban ready for two (and maybe more) Star Trek sequels
I want to see more of Urban in the next movie!
Most Under-Rated Trek Cast Member EVER
Yes, more Urban and more Spock vs. Bones interactions.
First, I loved Karl as McCoy! I only think that he could relax a little in the sequel and not portray Bones as being pissed off all the time.
yah, Urban was amazing considering I thought he was just bland and blah in LOTR, Doom, and Pathfinder, but he did a fantastic job inhabiting DeForrest Kelly.
I will also vote that while I like Bones being ticked off the entire time, I’d like to see him mellow out for just ONE scene and maybe hand out some booze to relax everybody. Then he can go back to being cranky the rest of the flick.
Good deal, Urbans rendition was the best of the lot, not to say that the other actors didnt do a great job in their roles, but he was the closest to DFKs style. He and Greenwood did their roles spot on IMO.
more Bones (Urban), more Scotty (Pegg) in the next Star Trek movie please!
the Bones introduction in the shuttle was pricless.
Glad he’s signed up for at least 2 more movies.
Urban stole the show (in my opinion) in the first film. I can’t wait to see where they take him this time.
# 6 I do agree. Urban is very close to the “Bones” we know and love. The full aspect of his personality will no doubt unfold in the sequel as with the other characters. Looking forward to see. What’s next Surprise me!
I think Greenwood actually did better than just channeling Jeffrey Hunter, I think he surpassed him. Mainly or possibly due to the writing of the character more than anything else…Pike was originally written too sullenly, with too big a burden on his shoulders–Greenwood still did the big important superior leader but he had more of Shatners winking dont take me quite so seriously type of thing, especially shown in his moments of humor like when Sulu didnt release the parking brake haha….
Karl Urban didnt quite channel DEE so much as pay homage to him….and he does look and act enuf like a younger dee to be able to get away with the southern accent and voice inflections….I agree would like to see him less pissed off some of the time….in tos McCoy was constantly giving advice from his perspective to the captain….
I don’t want Karl to leave his character in the hands of the writers. By what he’s spoken about, concerning his love of Star Trek, he probably knows more about Leonard McCoy than the writers do. So, what would happen if the Bones character is just written wrong in the next film? There needs to be actor input in any kind of production. It’s always a possibility that an actor knows more about the source material than the filmmakers. I don’t want Bones ruined. They already screwed up NuSpock.
There NEEDS to be more Bones in the sequel! I loved any and all scenes with Karl in them, and he is one of the most fascinating characters ever. The fact that he was barely promoted(I’m still pissed that it’s Uhura, Kirk, and Spock on my poster and not Bones, Kirk, and Spock) didn’t help. More Bones, PLEASE!!
Well we’ve had to wait THREE years for the sequel to “Star Trek” so I am betting this cast will do three movies in total, with a maybe a forth if the whole cast really want to do that.
Look at it this way>
2009: Star Trek
(THREE YEAR WAIT)
2012: Star Trek XII
(TWO/THREE YEAR WAIT)
2014/15: Star Trek XIII
(TWO/THREE/FOUR YEAR WAIT)
2016/17 (2018?): STAR TREK XIV
__________________________________
I cannot see how these people will do any more than four movies myself. I still don’t mind four movies if they are built and shown with quality and not just ‘money’ (sadly, I feel this is what happened with INS and NEM).
I am confident that the new team will produce two or three more really good movies that should blow the Star Wars prequels out of the water with J.J. Abrams team in command and others.
I hope I am right!
under-rated? how can you say that? He was definitely one of the highlights of the film. I can’t wait to see him do more bones roles.
4. I loved how Bones was pissed off all the time.
12. Yeah, really. I always thought it was “Kirk, Spock, Bones” too.
13. Holy crap you have a point! Darn I’m going to be OLD by then!!!!!
More Karl as Bones.
I was moved from broad grin to teared up eyes and back again watching how he so carefully and lovingly brought McCoy back to the screen.
He was a delight in the role. I’m sure DeForest would have loved his work in Trek ’09.
and I should add Bob and Alex and all concerned clearly understand Bone’s which enabled Karl to get the job done- and done so well.
He was a bad choice for the role of Bones. He was so good at it that he made the other actors look bad. He is a nice guy though. I loved chit chatting with him at the Hollywood premiere.
I cant wait for XII i just hope that they will be carefull writing the new film. I hope it lasts for more than threee films…
Urban did a fantastic job as Bones. I swear he was channeling the Real Mccoy. (Pun intended) I want to see more of the big 3 together and have Bones and Spock Argue and have Kirk be the Medeator as he so often did. Also get Bruce Greenwood back in as Pike. He did a fantastic job as Capt Pike.
check out the results of the poll “Which new Star Trek actor best captured original character”….. the result is pretty clear I think. lol
I know I didn’t hesitate before voting.
I also want to see Urban at some point in the Movie to get that wide eye look that Deforest Kelley did in Tos. That is sonething I think Urban can realy pull off.
Ya, we saw the basic interactions between Kirk and Spock, Spock and McCoy, and Kirk and McCoy.
Now, we need to see them all together, bickering and all, in order to collaborate and resolve a major conflict or something.
More Bones and Scotty please
I had trouble pulling off the LOTR makeup at first, but he threw so much into McCoy, he made me a believer. Let’s get him into the thick of a story with Kirk and Spock. He needs one of those ‘alone time’ monologues with Spock where he dissects him emotionally. “Bread and Circuses.” “The Tholian Web.”
But they have to KNOW each other for it to work.
I guess I’m in the minority. While I loved the performance, I’d like to see less of the McCoy imitation and see more of what Urban can bring to the role. It just seemed a little over the top in comparison to everyone else’s performance. Though I am interested in seeing how the three (Kirk, Spock, McCoy) will interact together in the next outing.
I loved the story for explaining why they call him “Bones”.
#16
Ditto!
Urban was my favorite actor in the film. He portrayed McCoy much like Kelley without mocking Kelley (which is hard to accomplish). I easily could have seen Kelley portray a younger McCoy is the same way. Bruce Greenwood comes in a close second. The others did relatively well also, with the possible exception of Yelchin as Chekov. At times his portrayal almost seemed mocking of Koenig, and he needs to tone the accent down a notch.
I think Karl Urban did a great job as Dr. McCoy (apparently we all do), but I don’t think that should detract from what the other cast members did with their roles, either. We know they weren’t hired to imitate the original cast members. I think Pine, Quinto, etc. all managed to capture some aspect of the originals, but made the roles their own. This is to their credit, I would say.
And, of course, I’d love to see more of Urban in the sequel… more of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy relationship, and perhaps we might get to see the beginnings of the Spock/McCoy bantering.
Abrams has a great cast to work with, IMO.
I actually had a hard time thinking of him as Bones but once I saw the online clip of his intro in the movie, he’s perfect! Want him to be featured more and go back to the primal trinity of Kirk, Spock and McCoy (not Kirk, Spock and Uhura as the DVD cover will have you believe).
More Urban/McCoy, please. Why not have him be Kirk’s conscience as he was in TOS. If Kirk is struggling with the pressures of command and the weight of expectation, or if Kirk needs some moral guidance, have McCoy help him – whether Kirk seeks him out or not. McCoy is Kirk’s conscious and represents his emotional side, governed by the passions. This is contrasted with Spock, who is the other half of Kirk’s being: he is the logical, decisive, problem solver. Spock has more than one duality: his friendship and the nature of it with Kirk, as well as his ever-present battle between his human and Vulcan sides. In short, let’s see the triumvirate at play in the new films. The banter between Spock and McCoy could be really good, as it was in TOS and the films (especially 2 and 4). This is a huge part of Star Trek that I think needs to be in the sequels.
If there are going to be catchphrases in the sequel (I have a feeling there will be) here’s a few they should use:
‘He’s dead, Jim’: McCoy
‘I’m a doctor, not a [insert term]’ – this could be McCoy’s running catchphrase.
‘It’s life; but not as we know it’: Spock.
‘Beam me up, Scotty’: Kirk – these last two phrases are pretty much synonymous with Star Trek; so why not canonise them?
This may be taken as a joke, given the perennial call for the ‘triumvirate’ or ‘holy trinity’ to return to the force; and the distaste of the posters etc. However, why not kill Uhura off? Don’t take me to be anti-Uhura! But it would be shocking for her to die. She could get a great death-scene. Then the trinity could return. The problem with Star Trek, and this has always been so, is that it’s an ensemble cast. Everyone wants screen time and the result is that the plot can become watered down. And when you favour certain actors, the supporting cast get nasty…
speaking of bones…they should add 7 of 9 to the sequal!
The thing I want most in the Trek sequel? MORE OF KARL URBAN AS BONES!!!
Thank goodness…finally, an actor who doesn’t say he wants his character to “have more sex/romance scenes.”
32. I don’t think I would agree that TOS was ever really an ensemble show. It focused almost exclusively upon the relationships among Kirk/Spock and McCoy, with the secondary characters being featured now and then. Landing parties almost always included the big three, and maybe a secondary character thrown in and a couple disposable red-shirts or such. I really don’t want the movies to try for an ensemble approach because there just isn’t enough time to focus well on all the characters, and have a good, action driven plot.
I certainly do not want any of the main characters killed off. That has become almost a cliche in entertainment recently. “Hey! Let’s be really radical and KILL OFF A MAIN CHARACTER!” Except it isn’t “rad” anymore because it has become almost predictable – and usually it is badly done. Very few of these “shocking “deaths have had even half the pathos that the death of Spock did. Instead, they just seem a cheap ploy to show us how “cutting edge” the writers can be. Meh.
Such writers apparently do not understand fandom well. If they had killed off Kirk or Spock 40 years ago, do you really think they could be bringing the classic Trek back now and making tons of money? The kinds of fans who obsess enough to follow a show for 40 plus years get really PISSED if you kill off a beloved character, and are likely to NEVER watch anything related to the show again. I know. I’ve been there.
I really thought Urban nailed Bones. I don’t think he was intentionally mimicking mannerisms, so much as capturing the essence of Bones’s character and working from there. I think that’s why it came across honestly. I don’t think it’s fair to say that he should have re-interpretted the character and I do think he put himself into the role. I would agree that the script focused on the irrascibility, but I don’t think you can fault the actor for delivering on it since that was important to how those scenes worked.
I don’t think the comparisons to Pike are fair. Pike is such a minor character in TOS, that you can totally rewrite him and get away with it. Greenwood was great as always, but I don’t think the comparison is fair given the scripts and the role the character serves to the plot.
Urban was grossly under-utilized in STAR TREK (2009). And I sure as hell hope the writers realize this, and recall TOS and what made that series great: the friendship trinity that was Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
In a film which had a….variable quality to it in relation to some aspects, Karl Urban was a constant high point in the film. I get that the others werent there to do an impersonation, and Karl didnt, but he did channel the character with a quality that lit up every scene he was in. More of him in the sequel is most definitely a good thing.
He was/is excellent playing Bones….He was also great in the Lord of The Rings
Urban looks like Gary Mitchell. especially in the first picture.
Yes, more Bones in the next one. And can we avoid the villain outta nowhere route? PLEASE? How? Funny you should ask. Not every movie has to be about universal Armageddon. How about a nice ‘small’ story about Kirk tryin’ to get laid and the woman turning out to be a Klingon spy or something. Bones and Spock help pull Kirk outta the fire. The other cast members get some fun scenes, but nothing to take the film off course. All familiar points covered, no cliches rammed into at warp 8. Is that too hard ??
Yes he was the best of the cast in his role. NOW if they only nail Scotty as a plumber and NOT an engineer for a better “engine room” fit. It was more like a water treatment plant. LOL
I mean comon they even had him stuck inside a water pipe for crickey sakes!
Personally, while I think Zachary Quinto & Chris Pine were awesome…Karl Urban was the *most* outstanding performance in this new movie!!!
And it really – REALLY irks me that I have yet to see one single nomination – ANYWHERE for his performance! Zoe Saldana besides the red dress and Uh Spock thing was no where close in her performance.
Karl Urban has something very unique in him to not just “play” a character but “become” that character! And this isn’t the first time. HIs portrayal of Caesar in “Xena: Warrior Princess” was another outstanding performance!
37. Ralph F
Agreed. There’s a peculiar obsession with the Kirk/Spock friendship in the media and academia, often because they seem desperate to find some sort of homoeroticism between the characters, when it’s obvious Kirk, Spock and McCoy are brothers in all but blood. It’s the story of three archetypes: a warrior, a doctor and a priest!
Kirk didn’t sacrifice his career and return to Genesis for Spock; he did it for Spock ***and Bones!***
I really liked neo-Trek, but for the next film the production team needs to look beyond the almost parodic view received wisdom has of the Trek characters and try to tap into the highly trained, extremely competent soldiers we see in the first season (in particular) of TOS.
And Karl Urban with his excellent portrayal ought to be very much to the fore in the film; from the moment his voice was heard in the movie, before we even saw him, people in the cinema I went to reacted with delight at McCoy’s arrival! McCoy represents the shows conscience to me: of all the characters, he’s the most human!
Given the lack of the “the three pillars of trek” kirk spock and bones in JJ’s Trek, i hope boborci is listening and tries to build that three character dynamic in the sequel. Action guy + Logic Guy + Emotion guy = trek’s native spirit
If any one actor sold me on the last film more than any other, it was Karl Urban with his portrayal of Dr. McCoy. He brought that same charm and sense of crabbiness that De Kelley gave the character years before – and besides, I just plain like Karl Urban! He deserves more screen time in the next movie!
I like the actor AND the way he portrayed the character. Bob, if you’re reading, please give McCoy more scenes in the next film. The fans will love you for it.
MORE MCCOY PLEASE, he was the most fun! And please tone down kirk’s cockyness, it was way over the top
#32 – Yeah, that’s a great idea. Kill off Spock’s mother and planet in one movie, then kill off his girlfriend in the next. I’m sure that’ll go over well.
Posted these before, but they fit here, too.
Plus, they are brilliant.
Here are some notes for the writers:
1. KIRK is the ladies’ man, not Spock.
2. Spock is the book-smartest guy in any room.
3. McCoy has “seen it all”, and is the most worldy of the crew. Ascerbic, but not just cranky.
4. Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov are (unfortunately) window dressing, and we only have two hours of film time. Secondary characters. If this were series TV, we would have more time to devote to them. We don’t.
4. Scotty is a notch above those three, and is NOT only simple comic relief. He is smart and tough, but witty.
5. The Enterprise is a character. She strains and struggles sometimes, because she is pushed by Kirk, protected and cared for by Scotty.
6. Kirk is stern. Do not confuse latter day Shatner comedic leanings with the Kirk character. He was not a cut-up in TOS. He made light hearted banter with his senior officer staff, but he is a stern, decisive leader.
As I’ve said before, JJ and crew could do worse than spending some time with some young Navy and Marine Corps officers. Go to the Officer’s Clubs, take a trip to Afghanistan and listen to the way they talk to each other and their men. Coon wrote Kirk as an amalgam of such men he knew from his time in WWII. That’s where the familiar Kirk/McCoy/Spock banter comes from, the sense of responsibility to their men, and ship.
There you go.