Henry Cavill Needs To Play The Most Famous Father In Star Trek
Henry Cavill should play a younger version of Star Trek's Sarek, Spock's father.
Henry Cavill is in something of franchise limbo these days after being discarded by James Gunn’s new DC Universe and leaving Netflix’s Witcher series. The British actor is rumored to be in talks for everything from James Bond to the Kingsman series to the long-in-development Call of Duty film, but we think we know the next role he should take. After playing the Last Son of Krypton, Henry Cavill should play the most famous father in Star Trek, the Vulcan diplomat Sarek.
As a refresher, Sarek is a legendary Vulcan ambassador and diplomat, who also happens to be the father of Starfleet officer Spock. The character was introduced in the second-season episode of The Original Series, “Journey to Babel” (played by Mark Lenard) and immediately became a fan favorite, appearing in The Next Generation and a number of movies over the years. While Sarek was rarely an active character in the franchise (appearing largely via diplomatic missions), his regal manner lent dignity to the series and helped develop both Spock and the Vulcan race as characters.
However, that is not the Sarek we want to see Henry Cavill play for Star Trek. Instead, we want to see Cavill play the Vulcan elder statesman as a younger, more unsure character discovering his place within the universe. While Sarek has always been portrayed as essentially the ideal, archetypal Vulcan, there is ample reason to believe that the character has a more tumultuous history than he generally lets on or was recorded at the official Vulcan Science Academy.
For example, it is canonical not only that, in defiance of Vulcan custom, Sarek married two human women; the first of whom, Amanda (originally played by Jane Wyatt) was the mother of Spock and his companion till her death. If Sarek was so sure of Vulcan ways and the frailty of human emotion, why would he choose to surround himself with humans? A Henry Cavill Star Trek show could give us some insight into that.
For another, before he sired Spock, Sarek had another son, Sybok (originally played by Laurence Luckinbill) by an unknown Vulcan princess who died in childbirth. Sybok would go on to become a foe of the Enterprise and a V’tosh ka’tur (a Vulcan who has rejected the ancestral teachings of emotionless logic), but little is known about his relationship with his father except that it was even more fraught than with Spock. Yet more backstory for Henry Cavill to explore within the universe of Star Trek.
And speaking of that, the strained relationship between Spock and Sarek is one of the longest-running subplots in all of Star Trek history. But we have seen precious little of Spock’s childhood growing up with his father, during which he canonically was mocked by the full-blooded Vulcans, and eventually rebelled against his parents by entering Starfleet Academy rather than staying among his own people. How did Sarek feel about his son being hurt and then rejecting him?
While Sarek’s relationships with his two sons would be fascinating fodder for Henry Cavill as Star Trek’s new Sarek, it is not the only thing we want to see. The fact that Sarek had two sons who rebelled against his parenting (not to mention his unconventional marriages) indicates there was a time that the ambassador himself was not the conventional, entirely logical Vulcan he later becomes. It is often pointed out in the franchise that Vulcans are not emotionless, but keep their depth of feeling under control at all times. Is there a wild side to Sarek we have not yet seen?
While Henry Cavill is a bit more jacked than we generally see Vulcans portrayed as in Star Trek, he also played Sherlock Holmes and nobody commented on how ripped Millie Bobby Brown‘s older brother happened to be. Cavill has also shown himself to have the gravitas and sensitivity to play no less an iconic figure than Superman himself, so we know he could fit into the regal shoes of Sarek. And, of course, if we do get to see Sarek wilding out during pon farr, we know Cavill can get crazy on screen.
We shall have to wait and see what franchise Henry Cavill finally decides to land on, but we really hope it will be Star Trek. After all this time, we deserve to see the young, wild adventures of Sarek.
