Trek Core has posted the first installment of a multi-part interview with Star Trek 3 screenwriters Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne, and it’s an exciting chance to get a look inside the heads of two dudes who will be helping shape the big-screen future of Star Trek, but who have been mostly a big question mark up until now. The pair first caught Hollywood’s attention with a spec script they describe as “the Batman Begins version of King Midas,” which didn’t sell but became a calling card that was passed around town and helped build them a reputation. Other projects followed, eventually leading them including a draft of a Micronauts movie, until their journey culminated in the final frontier with the Trek 3 assignment — the sort of thing any up-and-coming screenwriter would chew off their own arm to get. The great news? McKay and Payne are avowed longtime Star Trek fans, and the interview proves, if nothing else, they can definitely talk the talk.