Paramount surprised Star Trek fans when they announced Noah Hawley would write and direct a new movie set in the iconic science fiction universe. This came after plans for a fourth Star Trek with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto to be directed by S.J. Clarkson fell through. Quentin Tarantino also expressed interest in making a Star Trek movie, but Hawley has the gig for now.

Hawley was on a Television Critics Association panel for the fourth season of Fargo, coming to FX April 19. After the panel, he spoke with reporters further and addressed his Star Trek movie.

Noah Hawley doesn’t want to make Star Trek an action movie

When J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek in 2009, it opened with a massive space battle and kept the pace up throughout. His sequel and Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond continued Star Trek as summer tentpole movies full of action and special effects. Hawley says he intends to get back to the original essence of Gene Roddenberry’s show.

“Star Trek is such a special story about exploration and empathy and diversity and humanity at its best and creative problem solving,” Hawley said. “It was never designed in its origins as an action series. It was always about humanity having to fit into the universe and solve problems through diplomacy and outsmarting their opponents. So I’m excited to get back to that.”

Noah Hawley won’t mess around too much with Star Trek

Some of Hawley’s recent projects like FX’s Marvel show Legion and his feature film Lucy in the Sky got abstract with reality. Lucy jumped around in time and changed the aspect ratio fluidly among other techniques to capture the experience of an astronaut. Legion viewers would have been hard pressed to pinpoint what level of reality in which a given episode might be taking place.

That’s not how Hawley plans to approach Star Trek.

“I’m excited to make a big movie that appeals to everyone in that way,” Hawley said. “I feel like I went through an experimental phase with Legion and then with Lucy. I’m excited, with Fargo and with Star Trek, to just tell a great story well. I’m sure once I get into the filmmaking of it, I’m always trying to innovate and find ways to create emotions in an audience that they don’t expect and os we’ll just have to see.”

Nothing is certain until Noah Hawley finishes the script

This is all still talk until Noah Hawkey puts pen to paper. He confirmed he was yet to write the script.

“I just went in and chatted with my friends at Paramount about what they were looking for and then some ideas that I had and then just sort of developed a more specific idea that they seemed to like,” Hawley said. “I still have to write a script and everything.”

Also in flux is whether or not the cast of the last three Treks would be in Hawley’s film, although Hawley has not ruled them out.

“I’m writing it and I have my own take on it so we’ll see where I end up,” Hawley said.