Chris Pine Is Excited For Captain Kirk Star Trek Return For A Good Reason

By Britta DeVore | Updated

star trek movies

It’s been nearly a decade since Chris Pine stood at the helm of the USS Enterprise as Captain Kirk in Justin Lin’s 2016 film, Star Trek Beyond, and fans are pining (pun intended) to get the actor back to the bridge. But we aren’t alone in this as the Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves actor is also brimming with excitement to return to the story in what would be the fourth installment in the franchise’s Kelvin Timeline. Hopeful to get back in the saddle with his peers, Pine recently said of his fellow castmates, “We all like one another a lot. I’m good friends with everybody I’ve worked with. We have a great time doing it.”

The Next Story

star trek into darkness

Chris Pine also acknowledged that several years have passed since he last put on the suit of Captain James T. Kirk and got to the business of space exploration, adding, “I’m a lot older now, so I would be curious where that next story lands us in terms of what it would be and what we’ve said in the press.”

From our standpoint, with age comes wisdom, and, as Pine was just 29 years old when he first starred in J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek in 2009, the Wish star is now 43 years old. 

Star Trek 4

stark trek into darkness

The first three films of Chris Pine’s reign as Captain Kirk saw not just his character grow in maturity but also followed the growth of his fellow team members. This could definitely be an interesting way to carry on the fourth installment, with the crew shedding their quick-to-react immaturity and instead now taking in the full, bigger picture.

Of course, we’d also want the script to include plenty of drama but with this group’s tangled web of interpersonal relationships, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. 

The Long Road To Star Trek 4

star trek 4 chris pine

Now, when you get down to the nitty-gritty of Star Trek 4, it’s hard to not see it as having the same sort of curse that was believed to have befallen The Crow reboot – but look at how high The Crow is soaring now with the Rupert Sanders’ helmed film set to roost in cinemas this summer.

Anything is possible when a studio really puts its mind (and money) to it and with Chris Pine eager to return to his role of Captain Kirk, let’s get a move on it, folks.

Essentially, the state of Star Trek 4 is this – the movie was already being imagined prior to the release of the 2016 movie, Star Trek Beyond.

S.J. Clarkson was the first director attached to the project in 2018 but Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth passed on reprising their respective roles of Captain Kirk and his father, George Kirk, with the movie slowing to a standstill. However, now that we look back knowing what we know about Clarkson’s Madame Web, maybe this road bump was all for the best.

Pine Is Finally Back On Board

star trek movie

Next, Noah Hawley (the brains behind the series version of Fargo and Legion) would step in to write and direct the new movie but that copy would also eventually slam on the brakes before being fully dumped.

The next director to step in was Matt Shakman (WandaVision) who would work with a script penned by Lindsey Beer (Pet Sematary: Bloodlines) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel). With Chris Pine back in talks to portray Captain Kirk alongside the rest of the cast, this looked like the most promising version to come, that is, until Shakman exited the project due to scheduling issues. 

The Rest Of The Cast

chris pine star trek 4 origins

And, that pretty much catches us up to the present as it was announced earlier this year that Steve Yockey (the co-creator of The Flight Attendant) was the latest scribe behind Star Trek 4. Now all that’s left is for Chris Pine to take flight as Captain James T. Kirk with other stars like Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, and Simon Pegg also waiting in the wings.