Chris Evans May Boldly Join Star Trek
With the future of Star Trek films currently uncertain, a new rumor suggests that Captain America's Chris Pine might be boldly joining this franchise.
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It’s been over four years since Star Trek Beyond, a film that underperformed at the box-office and seemingly ended the reboot franchise. While Star Trek has thrived on television over the last few years with shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, the future of Star Trek films has been constantly in question. As the brand is currently reassessing where the series should boldly go, a new rumor suggests that the former Captain America, Chris Evans, could be in talks to star in a future Star Trek project.
The rumor comes from entertainment gossip writer Daniel Richtman, as reported by We Got This Covered, who simply says that Chris Evans is interested in joining Star Trek. Richtman doesn’t say where he hears this information from, what Evans’ role would be in the project, or even which Star Trek project Evans is interested in, so this seems like news to take with a huge grain of salt. Richtman also recently claimed that Evans was looking to join the Star Wars universe as well, so it seems like he might just be grasping at straws.
In August 2020, Paramount Pictures president Emma Watts put a new Star Trek film on hold in order to try to reassess where the franchise should go. Since Star Trek Beyond, the future of Star Trek films has been consistently in question, with many projects being considered, so if Chris Evans is interested in joining another massive franchise like Star Trek, it’s unclear which theoretical film caught his eye.
Soon after the release of Star Trek: Beyond, J.J. Abrams had confirmed there was a fourth film in his reboot series in the works. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto had signed contracts to return for a fourth installment, while Chris Hemsworth was also planned to return as Captain Kirk’s father. In 2018, however, Pine and Hemsworth were reportedly out of the fourth film, with Hemsworth saying that the script was underwhelming. But maybe with his old Avengers ally Chris Evans in the mix, maybe Hemsworth would consider?
Arguably the most intriguing of these potential Star Trek films is the one written by Quentin Tarantino. Apparently, Tarantino’s script was based on an episode from the original Star Trek series, which mostly takes place on Earth in a 1930s gangster setting. The film was rumored to be rated R, while Tarantino was also considering directing the project. Even William Shatner said he would be willing to come back as Captain Kirk for the film. With Tarantino at the helm, it would make sense that Chris Evans would be interested in this installment. Yet earlier this year, Tarantino stated the film might still get made, but he probably would not direct it.
The most recent Star Trek movie planned was from Legion and Fargo creator Noah Hawley, who recently announced he would be showrunner on FX’s Alien series. Hawley said his vision was to start from scratch with Star Trek, but that the film might intersect with previous iterations in some way. While it seemed like Hawley’s version was close to production, last month, Hawley said the film doesn’t seem to be in his future anymore. But even if Chris Evans was interested in this project, it certainly doesn’t sound like Hawley is continuing to work on this one.
One could also imagine that Chris Evans probably isn’t all that interested in starring in another gigantic franchise like Star Trek, considering since 2005’s Fantastic Four, the actor has been beholden to several major series. Since leaving Marvel’s projects, Pine has appeared in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, starred in the series Defending Jacob, and is currently filming Adam McKay’s latest film Don’t Look Up. Evans will also voice Buzz Lightyear in the recently announced Pixar film Lightyear.
Yet it seems like casting Chris Evans in Star Trek might be too premature, considering Richtman gives literally no evidence as to where he heard this news, and because there currently doesn’t look to be any movement in the Star Trek film world. But the most recent iteration of Star Trek has already featured two of the Chrises, why not add a third?
