Star Trek 4 Has Been Given The Green Light, And Guess Who Will Be Returning?

Well, I guess you won't have that hard of a time guessing who will be returning to Star Trek 4 after seeing the above picture.  Yes, even though Star Trek Beyond has yet to hit theaters, the reviews that have been coming in are very positive, convincing Paramount that the series is back on track (considering the disappointment from fans after the release of Star Trek Into Darkness) and that it deserves another chapter to add to the franchise. 

Scott Mantz from Access Hollywood announced the news on his Twitter page, along with the man that is responsible for much of the reboot's success, JJ Abrams.  Abrams directed the first of the Star Trek movies that takes place in the "Kelvin Timeline," where the movie's universe changes from the television universe (as well as the movies that followed the television shows) to the current one that is being produced.  This happens when Kirk's father, George Kirk, sacrifices himself to save the crew of the U.S.S. Kelvin after a Romulan ship from the future appears and attacks them.  George died on the same day that Kirk was born, and Kirk has felt like he's been living in his father's shadow ever since.

Mantz also reveals in his tweet that the movie is going to bring together both Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth.  This is pretty big news, considering that George died in the first film, and he and Kirk never got to know one another.  Now, it's way too early to tell how these two are going to meet, but a pretty good guess is that it will involve time travel (duh, you think?).  What I mean is that the circumstances that bring them together isn't known yet, but it does seem like they are laying the ground work for this meet already from some of the dialogue that we've seen in the trailers for Star Trek Beyond.  It should make for an emotionally charged film, father and son who have never met, working together (presumably) to save the universe.  How will they do it?  They're more the same age than actual father and son, and would be working together more in the way of equals, right?  However they handle it, Star Trek seems to do it's best story telling when it focuses on the "human" side of things, and the adventure part seems more secondary.  That's just my opinion, though.

So what do you think about this bit of Star Trek news?  Are you surprised that they're wanting to use Chris Hemsworth again, considering how fast his star has risen since he first played George Kirk?  Do you think it's a good idea?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section down below.