Star
Trek Gets Two New Crewmembers...
Scotty and Sulu Announced
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He's
got your dilithium crystals right here...
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Jack
Reda, occasional Fanboy Planet contributor and occasional
guest in my current favorite webshow The Defenders of
Stan, wrote to me after picking up some news of J.J.
Abrams' Star Trek casting.
Yes,
this morning a variety of sources confirmed that Abrams
had cast John Cho (from Harold and Kumar Go To White
Castle) as Hikaru Sulu. Then Aint It Cool News swore
that Simon Pegg had joined the cast as Scotty. I hadn't
had a chance to really think about it, as I was off teaching
classes. So Jack got me thinking with this:
...what's
your take on the Simon Pegg and John Cho casting? I see
some Fanboys seem excited, but I don't know. Makes me feel
like Abrams is making a screw-ball comedy Star Trek. I know
those guys are, of course, actors- and shouldn't be pigeon-holed
by their previous roles. Kelsey Grammer as The Beast almost
worked. I never really saw Scotty and Sulu as the comic
relief... I imagine they won't have huge roles, especially
if the story centers on Kirk, Spock and McCoy... so does
it mean every time they speak it will be a snarky one-liner?
First
of all, Grammer would have completely worked under a better
director, but that's another argument for another time.
Check an upcoming podcast.
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Coming
up on ship's sensors now...
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As for
Cho and Pegg, here's the thing. Cho served largely as a
straight man in Harold and Kumar..., and from my
limited surveys of women I know, he has a pretty good following
as a potential heart throb. I could see him as both a pretty
formidable Sulu and a smart studio casting choice.
Pegg
-- well, he's just a damned good actor, and Scotty did certainly
have his fair share of one-liners in the series. ("We
beamed them onto the Klingon ship, where they'll be no trrrrribble
at all...")
But
that's where Jack's scared, and now he's filled me with
fear. Maybe, just maybe, what studio people remember about
Star Trek was its often humorous moments...and
that's all. I trust Abrams, but it's still something to
ponder. It all depends on Kirk and McCoy at this point.
The earlier announced Zachary Quinto as Spock really isn't
a wild card -- Spock would be played the same either way.
Keep
your fingers crossed.
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