Simon Pegg is out promoting his role in Terminal, and spoke to JoBlo and Yahoo about Star Trek, including how the cast feel about the latest news, a bit about Star Trek Beyond, and where he sees things going in the future.

Cast is excited for S.J. Clarkson

Pegg talked to JoBlo confidently about the future of the franchise while confirming producer J.J. Abrams has brought on S.J. Clarkson to direct the Star Trek 4 project, making her the first woman to helm a feature film in the franchise:

There’s so much more to do with those characters. I’m very excited about SJ Clarkson being hired. J.J. emailed us about that just before it was announced…Everybody was so excited. I think Zach [Quinto] has actually worked with her. I’ve seen stuff she’s done, and I think it’s a great choice, and it’s about time.

Pegg’s reference to Zachary Quinto working with Clarkson appears to be regarding two episodes she directed for the NBC series Heroes in 2009 and 2010.

And speaking to Yahoo, Pegg didn’t have any details on the plot but also confirmed reports on who was writing the film and where he sees the status of the project:

[Star Trek 4’s script is] being done by Patrick McKay and John Payne, and I’m not sure what the status is at the moment. S.J. [Clarkson] just came onboard, so it feels like we’ve turned a corner toward production, but I have no solid information.

As for the second Star Trek project in development, the one based on a story pitch from Quentin Tarantino, according to Yahoo, Pegg is still waiting for a status update and could only say “It’s an exciting prospect.”

Says Beyond was an answer to fan feedback about Into Darkness

The actor also talked to JoBlo about what it was like for him to take on the screenwriting (with Doug Jung) for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, contrasting it with 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness:

The thing with Beyond, I think the time is sort of born that out in terms of its popularity and the constant feedback I get from the Star Trek community, which seems very grateful, and that’s who we… ‘Cause I felt they were done a slight disservice, maybe, with Into Darkness, ’cause it was quite… It was divisive, I think…And so Doug and I tried to sort of pull it back to almost a giant episode was our agreement that we came up with.

On the subject of fandom, in his interview with Yahoo, Pegg defended fans who are sometimes derided for sharing their opinions, saying:

People love their stuff and have their specific opinions, and now they can rally those opinions with people who feel the same way. It’s the almost inevitable consequence of social media, really. It’s always been like that — they just haven’t had the ability to find each other and moan collectively. Well, it’s not moaning; one of the things I find to be reductive is when there’s a complaint about something, and it’s dismissed as moaning or butt-hurt fanboys. In fact, people’s opinions are valid. If someone doesn’t like something, it doesn’t mean they’re being spoilers or ruining the fun. That’s their opinion.

Doesn’t expect they’ll be doing Star Trek into old age

While Pegg is optimistic about the future of Trek, he does feel there is a limit to how many films he and his co-stars have in them. When asked what the future holds, Pegg responded:

I don’t foresee us being like the original crew, and doing it when we’re, like, unusually old.

Simon Pegg is currently 48. His The Original Series counterpart James Doohan was 71 at the time of the release of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy aged 60 at the time. The youngest castmember at the time was George Takei, at 54.

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