Paramount Pictures

"I have huge love and respect for George Takei, his heart, courage and humor are an inspiration," Pegg, 46, told The Guardian in response to Takei's comments. "However, with regards to his thoughts on our Sulu, I must respectfully disagree with him."

"I don't believe Gene Roddenberry's decision to make the prime timeline's Enterprise crew straight was an artistic one, more a necessity of the time," he added.

Takei also told The Hollywood Reporter that Cho had told him about Sulu's sexuality last year. He said then "urged" the Star Trek Beyond director to "honor" Roddenberry and "create a new character" who is gay instead of Sulu. Lin has not commented.

"We could have introduced a new gay character, but he or she would have been primarily defined by their sexuality, seen as the 'gay character,' rather than simply for who they are," Pegg told The Guardian. "And isn't that tokenism?"

"Our Trek is an alternate timeline with alternate details," he added. "Whatever magic ingredient determines our sexuality was different for Sulu in our timeline. I like this idea because it suggests that in a hypothetical multiverse, across an infinite matrix of alternate realities, we are all LGBT somewhere."