Was there anything in particular you remember that didnt make it into the final version of the story?
Krall is really Balthazar Edison, an officer from the early Federation.
How did you guys conceive that backstory, which is so rooted in a lot of ideas about Starfleet?
Credit: Paramount Pictures; Alex Wong/Getty Images
We wanted to play with the history and take a character from the beginnings of the Federation.
And we didnt want him to just be out for revenge.
We wanted his motivations to be a little bit more complex.
With Nero and with Khan, behind all this misjudged bluster, they kind of have a noble cause.
One of them lost his wife and child.
We liked the idea of someone being a little mad, and feeling passed over and forgotten.
Someone with a terrible ego complex.
You know, this sort of utterly fragile ego thats projecting all of his own faults onto other people.
Therearea lot of political ideas that Krall brings up about the meaning of Starfleet.
That was something that was really important to us.
It feels like a very toxic time.
In a sense, there were stirrings of that when we started writing, but its increasedexponentiallysince then.
Its kind of frightening how quickly and how emboldened these people have become, this unapologetic self-ism.
You were comparing Krall to Donald Trump.
I was thinking of him as a Boris Johnson-throw in figure.
What it is with Krall is: I dont know if he necessarilybelievesin what hes saying.
Krall is just kind of angry, you know?
He disappears through a wormhole, gets marooned.
Ultimately, his political posturing is a smokescreen.
He really just wants to burn down the universe, and its because hes pissed, you know?
Thats all it is!
They say, oh no, political correctness, thatsbad.
Beyondends with Krall vanquished.
I wonder, if youd written the movie this year, would there have been such a happy ending?
We wrestled with the end right up until almost before we shot it.
Doug and I were trying to find a way for Krall to come good.
We wanted him to, in his final moments, maybe help Kirk vent the Abronath into space.
We just couldnt get him to switch that quickly.
We decided to have him look as if maybe hes gonna help.
Nero had a fairly vague sort of death.
Khan was put on ice in case we wanted to bring back Benedict Cumberbatch.
Doug and I said, Lets have our villain be completely destroyed.
At any point in the process did you feel like Scotty needed a love interest?
Last summer you wrotean interesting essaytouching on a lot of issues pertaining to modern geek entertainment.
Were the ideas you mentioned in the essay on your mind as you conceived those characters arcs?
My fear is…Im a big fan of entertainment.
I dont see pure entertainment as dangerous, or anything.
But I do think we are in danger of becoming infantilized by our tastes.
Then we become zombies, and we all know where that leads!
Theres no reason why pure entertainment cant also be thoughtful and have depth and something to say.
BeforeBeyondwas released, a fourth film was announced, which will feature Chris Hemsworth as Kirks father, George.
Have you heard anything about the next film?
I dont know anything about it.
Personally, I feel like Im fascinated to find out.
I can only imagine how it will be to suddenly have to face him.
