J. J. Abrams to Direct Second Star Trek Movie

It’s official: J.J. Abrams has signed on for a second installment of the re-booted Star Trek franchise.  IMDB still shows that there will be a 2012
release date, but given that they also show that the overall plot has not been settled, that seems unlikely to me, but who knows? Hollywood can move fast when there is money to be made.

I know I said before that sequels make me nervous, but I still have high hopes for this one. The first J.J. Abrams installment was just so cool! I really enjoyed the way they hit all of the important touchpoints of the Star Trek universe, but still made it different. The cast was amazing, too. I could wish for a few more female stars, but I did like that they made Zoe Saldana’s Uhura intelligent and not just decorative.

As far as plot goes, there is not a lot of information out there. io9 has an interesting interview with Zachary Quinto where they discuss the need to rebuild the Vulcan race, but that would not be enough to carry an entire movie. There has been a lot of talk about the original Star Trek 2, and how Ricardo Montalban’s Khan was the best villain of the Star Trek franchise, but that is just fan speculation, with nothing definitive about what is coming next. The writers have talked about the importance of a villain in bringing focus to a sequel, but they haven’t said anything definitive about who that villain will be in this film. On the other hand, /film reported back in May that the writers had written up a detailed 70+ page outline, so they must know something.

What would you like to see? Another Khan movie? Someone else from the original series, movies or TV? Or someone entirely new?