For almost a decade, Star Trek 4 has been stuck in development hell, but Marvel Studios’ most recent theatrical release just gave us a taste of what we could have seen from the space-faring sequel. Star Trek 4 was announced to be in development shortly before the 2016 release of Star Trek Beyond, the third instalment in the rebooted Star Trek film series that comprises 2009’s Star Trek and 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. Dubbed the “Kelvin Timeline,” the reboot series capitalized on cleaner and more realistic visual effects, which could have been repeated in Star Trek 4.
When it was first announced, Star Trek Beyond’s J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay were slated to write the script for Star Trek 4, and S. J. Clarkson (Jessica Jones, Madame Web) joined the project as director in April 2018. Negotiations with Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth breaking down marked the first sour note for Star Trek 4, however, so by January 2019, the movie had been cancelled. Noah Hawley (Legion, Fargo) was later attached, while Quentin Tarantino was working on his own Star Trek movie, but nothing has yet materialized – even though we could have had something truly spectacular.
Matt Shakman Was Set to Direct Star Trek 4 in 2021
After Hawley’s Star Trek 4 – which would have featured Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek – failed to come to fruition, and he officially stated in 2020, it was Matt Shakman who joined the movie in his place. Shakman became a hugely bankable director thanks to his work on Marvel Studios’ successful WandaVision series in 2021, and he turned down a number of other projects to work on Star Trek 4. Star Trek 4 was given a June 2023 release window when Shakman signed on in July 2021, but saw its latest delay in November, being pushed back to December 2023.
Before negotiations had even begun to bring the original trilogy’s cast back for Star Trek 4, producer J. J. Abrams announced to the world that the cast would be returning, much to their surprise. This was even before a script had been finalized, while a rewrite was already in progress by Josh Friedman and Cameron Squires. Later, many of the cast voiced their excitement about returning, crew had been hired, and soundstages had been set, but, in August 2022, work was stopped, the crew were let go, and Star Trek 4’s planned filming date was dropped.
This was speculated to be due to script issues, but this once again put Star Trek 4 in limbo at a time where it seemed as though we might finally get the much-anticipated sequel. While the sequel was still apparently considered a top priority by Paramount Pictures, Shakman decided to jump ship, and instead returned to Marvel Studios to take over from Jon Watts as the director of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. We were so close to getting Shakman’s take on Star Trek, and the recent release of First Steps proves just how incredible this could have been.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Revealed What We Could Have Had From Star Trek 4
Matt Shakman has quickly established himself as one of the most gifted and talented directors of the modern era, especially when it comes to character-driven science fiction stories, such as WandaVision and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. For the latter, Shakman brought Marvel’s First Family into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style with an epic 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic adventure. During the Phase 6 movie, the Fantastic Four journey into outer space to try and negotiate with the planet-eater Galactus (Ralph Ineson), contributing to some of the most impressive space-faring scenes ever seen on-screen.
Escaping from Galactus, the Fantastic Four traveled faster than light through a wormhole until they found a black hole, being chased the whole way by Shalla-Bal’s Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). This visually-stunning sequence reminded us of the warp-speed travel depicted in the Star Trek franchise, which proves that Matt Shakman would have been a fantastic vehicle to deliver similar scenes in his Star Trek sequel. Josh Friedman also worked on the script for The Fantastic Four: First Steps after working on Star Trek 4 with Shakman, so the pair clearly work well together.
It’s a shame this creative team never got the chance to bring their vision for Star Trek 4 to life. The Fantastic Four: First Steps has delivered memorable moments set in deep space and on Earth, always underlined with character development and heartfelt, emotional relationships. Star Trek 4 would have seriously benefitted from getting this treatment, but there’s no clear sign of where the sequel will go next, especially after Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance Media, so it’s unclear what the future holds for the Star Trek franchise.
Would you have wanted to see Matt Shakman direct Star Trek 4? Let us know in the comments!
