Spock actor Zachary Quinto is talking again about upcoming Star Trek feature films, this time on MTV’s Happy Sad Confused podcast. As we have been reporting, there are two Trek films currently in development at Paramount. Coming up first is the untitled Star Trek 4 project, which will be a follow-up to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. The other film is based on an idea from Quentin Tarantino, being penned by The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith.

While some details about the Star Trek 4 project have emerged, the Tarantino Trek film, which is expected to follow Star Trek 4, has been shrouded in more mystery. It has been reported that it is something “separate” from the Kelvin movies, and could be the start of a new series of films. Actors from both the prime timeline and the Kelvin timeline have expressed interest in being involved, but now Quinto says he has some answers.

When asked by MTV if the Kelvin-era crew will be part of the Tarantino, Quinto responded:

My assumption is that it is with us. That is how it has been presented.

When pressed, Quinto offered some wiggle room on how one never knows due to the business of movies, however he stuck what he has apparently been told, that the Kelvin crew will be back after Star Trek 4 to make a Tarantino Star Trek movie:

You know, until deals are done and contracts are signed and schedules are cleared, nothing is set in stone, so anything can happen. My understanding is Quentin had this idea and they were shaping it and forming it and he is off to do his Manson movie. And it would be after that, that we would go maybe do one with him. Which is pretty exciting, pretty cool

Has met with ‘Star Trek 4’ director, doesn’t know how Hemsworth fits in

While Quinto left some wiggle room on the Tarantino project, the more imminent Star Trek 4 film is much further along. A director has already been tapped, and financing partner Skydance are already on board. A release date has not yet been set, but Quinto did give an update on progress, revealing he has already met with the director:

There is stuff going on. I had dinner the other night with S.J. Clarkson. S.J. is amazing, we worked on Heroes together and we really hit it off.

The actor confirmed that the film involved the return of Chris Hemsworth – as was first announced by Paramount two years ago. However, how Hemsworth will return has been the subject of much speculation. The leading theory is that time travel would be the mechanism used to unite George Kirk with his son James T. Kirk, but Quinto was not able to confirm this, saying:

Well I don’t know, because I haven’t read the script, and I think it is still under construction, but yes, [Chris Hemsworth] is playing, yep, yep, all of it.

It has previously been reported that a draft for Star Trek 4, penned by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, has been completed. However, it is common for scripts to evolve during development and even into pre-production. Sometimes, as was the case with Star Trek Beyond, changes are even made during production.

When asked what he would like to do with the character of Spock, Quinto first joked about pon farr, but then got more serious, saying:

I do think that it is a character that is tricky. There is only a finite range of emotional landscape that can be traversed. So, I don’t know yet where we are going to do and I am excited to see. The bottom line is, I love the character, I love my fellow actors. I am really looking forward to the opportunity of going back and making another one.

Listen to full podcast interview with Quinto

You can listen to the full Happy Sad Confused podcast with Zachary Quinto, which covers much of his career as well as more about his time with Trek, including his audition process and close relationship with Leonard Nimoy.

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Keep up with all news on both Star Trek 4 and the Tarantino Trek project at TrekMovie’s upcoming films category.