The departure of Roberto Orci as director of the as-yet-untitled third film in JJ Abram’s rebooted Star Trek continuity has cast a little doubt on the future of a franchise that has already spent a lot of time on unsure footing. Although Star Trek‘s new cast is undeniably packed with talent and the look of the films has been both technically and aesthetically stunning, the stories have arguably failed to capture the same newly-invigorated feeling. Both movies have been watchable blockbusters by current standards, but for all their budget and star power, neither has arguably been close to reaching the iconic heights of Star Trek at its best.

Admittedly, that may be a biased assessment. If you grew up with the original series, or Star Trek: The Next Generation, or even latter spin-offs like Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, then of course Abrams’ take on the franchise – one that explicitly sweeps aside old continuity – faces an uphill struggle. One might argue that it’s not just acceptable to alienate the existing audience when attempting to court a larger one, it’s actively necessary.

Despite its attempts to link the old continuity with the new one, Abrams’ Trek was never primarily aimed at the franchise’s hardcore fans, but at general audiences who needed only the baseline levels of cultural familiarity with Star Trek to enjoy it. Rather than being aimed at existing viewers, it was aimed at those who wanted to see a big name director doing a big name sci-fi blockbuster. The same audience who’d see Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, or James Cameron’s Avatar.

And there’s the big problem. What happens when a director-led franchise loses its director? JJ Abrams is gone, lured away by his the opportunity to direct his childhood favourite, Star Wars. His replacement, Roberto Orci, has handed back the keys to the franchise, moving (for reasons we’ve not yet been told) from director back to producer. It looks very much as though no-one quite knows what to do now that the driving creative force has bigger fish to fry.