Newly Announced Star Trek 4 Will Use Chris Pine And The Kelvin Crew, Our Scoop Confirmed

Chris Pine is returning for Star Trek 4 along with the rest of the Kelvinverse cast and maybe William Shatner too.

By Apeksha Bagchi | Updated

Breaking the bubble of palpable tension amongst Star Trek fans, Deadline reporter, Justin Kroll has shared that the upcoming Star Trek film that will be helmed by Shakman is indeed Star Trek 4 and is intent upon bringing back Chris Pine and his crew. 

This news confirms Giant Freakin Robot’s scoop a few months ago wherein we disclosed that after a delay of almost 4 years Star Trek 4 is back on track, with Chris Pine attached to reprise his character of Captain Jim Kirk, while the hunt for a new director to helm the project continued.

The Entire Kelvinverse Crew Is Returning For Star Trek 4

Our scoop, from our trusted inside source, had also revealed that not only will the film see the return of Chris Pine but also the Kelvinverse crew who we last saw in 2009’s Star Trek.

chris pine captain kirk
Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk

The film will see Kirk reuniting with his father, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth) who sacrificed his life to ensure his wife, Winona (Jennifer Morrison), and unborn son’s safety. To ensure this mind-boggling reunion, there will be some kind of time-traveling adventures involved.

William Shatner To Return As Kirk In Star Trek 4

Along with Chris Hemsworth, Paramount is also aiming to get William Shatner, who played Kirk in the original Star Trek series, to appear in the film as well. 

william shatner
William Shatner as James T. Kirk

According to our sources, Star Trek 4 will be the darkest entry in the film series. But Chris Pine starrer will not be a theatrical release and will instead debut on Paramount+ exclusive in order to amp up the number of its subscribers. 

This Sequel Has Dodged Cancellation

The news of Star Trek 4 being back in the works bodes well for the cinematic portion of the franchise which was on the verge of being shelved. In early 2019, it was reported by Deadline, the sequel to Star Trek Beyond has been canceled after SJ Clarkson, who was supposed to direct the film, decided to leave the project for HBO’s new Game of Throne spin-off series.

Before that, Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth had both left the project, despite having existing deals for the film, as Paramount wanted to decrease their cut to lower the budget of the film. Fortunately now, there is finally hope on the horizon. 

Star Trek 4 return
Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk in Star Trek 2009

All hadn’t been well in the universe of Star Trek for quite some time now, especially when it comes to the future of the films starring Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise.

Fans of the films had pretty much given up hopes of ever getting the fourth film in the series until it was recently announced that WandaVision director Matt Shakman has been tapped to direct the next Star Trek film for Paramount and Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams. But back then no confirmations were made regarding Chris Pine’s return or if the film will actually be a sequel to Star Trek: Beyond. Thankfully, the answers are finally here!

It was recently reported by Deadline that the production of this new Star Trek film will begin next spring and a script for the same has already been prepared by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet.

But until our report above, no information was released about the nature of the film itself- is it a prequel, is it a reboot, a film with original characters set in the same timeline, or will it bring back Chris Pine and his trusty crew on-board the USS Enterprise.