Deadline delivered a double whammy of casting scoops late last night when the outlet revealed that Danai Gurira, star of The Walking Dead and Marvel’s Black Panther, had opened talks to join Godzilla vs Kong and Star Trek 4.
The latter is coming by way of director S.J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, The Defenders), the first female filmmaker appointed at the helm of a Star Trek movie, though there’s currently no mention of who Gurira may be playing. We imagine it’s a fairly major role, given the actor’s blistering rise to stardom, but it should be noted that this project is totally unrelated to the one in development from J.J. Abrams and Quentin Tarantino.
Word is the Powers That Be are plotting an R rating for Tarantino’s Star Trek film, and there’s even rumors of the original Abrams cast – think Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto – making an appearance.
That may well present some logistical issues of its own, as S.J. Clarkson is about to welcome the Abrams cast back to Starfleet for a story that purportedly revolves around Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Infinity War) making his return as George Kirk, father to Chris Pine’s straight-laced hero.
We can only speculate as to how Clarkson plans to incorporate Chris – Hemsworth, not Pine – into Star Trek 4, but time travel seems like a pretty safe bet at this stage. Because you didn’t think Paramount would sit back and let Marvel Studios (read: Avengers 4) have all the fun now, did you?
Slowly but surely, Paramount’s fourth Star Trek is coming together, and we’ll be bringing you all the latest as S.J. Clarkson pinpoints her ensemble cast, beginning with the possible addition of Danai Gurira.
