Before he was launched into the Hollywood big leagues with his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chris Hemsworth made a brief appearance as George Kirk, father of James Tiberius, in the opening scenes of 2009’s Star Trek. Then, following 2016’s Beyond, Paramount had the bright idea of using this to their advantage and bringing back Hemsworth for Star Trek 4 and pairing him with his grown-up son, as played by Chris Pine.
As you’re probably well aware though, things didn’t go to plan and negotiations with Hemsworth broke down. But all hope’s not lost, as Star Trek 4, in a different form, is now on the move again. The Australian star won’t be appearing in that, but We Got This Covered has learned that the studio still has plans to bring him back for another film.
Furthermore, our sources – the same ones who said that Ewan McGregor was returning as Obi-Wan in a Disney Plus show, and that the leads of Ghostbusters 3 would be young teens, both of which turned out to be true – have explained that ST4, which will be written and directed by Noah Hawley (Fargo), will be followed by fifth and sixth entries in the rebooted series, so Hemsworth’s return could happen in one of those instead. Alternatively, we’re even hearing that there’s a slight possibility he could turn up in Quentin Tarantino’s R-rated Trek film, too. After all, the director has confirmed that his effort will be part of the Kelvin timeline – albeit loosely.
All that being said, Hemsworth has previously revealed that he ultimately turned down ST4 as he didn’t feel passionate enough about the project, so clearly Paramount will have to come up with something special if they do want him back, and maybe cough up a bit more cash, according to recent reports. For now, though, at least Pine and the rest of the Enterprise crew are due to return in Star Trek 4, which will hopefully be with us sooner rather than later.
