Though Paramount tried to push some horrible things on the Star Trek movie series, the obvious influence of the colorful Guardians of the Galaxy on the vibrant design of Star Trek Beyond isn’t one of them. Beyond may or may not be a successful rescue mission for the rebooted franchise (though it’s hard to imagine it being worse than Star Trek Into Darkness), but the updated aesthetic fits the Star Trek universe perfectly. Everything looks vibrant and full of optimistic life, with new alien species around every corner.
Though we know very little about Star Trek Beyond so far (especially for a movie out in a month), we do know that the movie begins and ends at Starbase Yorktown, a Federation outpost on the edge of the frontier.
Here’s how Beyond co-writer Simon Pegg described this neo-DS9 to IGN:
“It’s a kind of diplomatic hub. It’s where all the most recent Federation inductees can come and mingle with each other and learn about each other.”
He also contrasted it with Mos Eisley from the original Star Wars , saying “that’s a wretched hive of scum and villainy. This is the opposite of that.”
Chances are that Krall’s (Idris Elba’s baddie character) plot somehow revolves around taking over the Starbase Yorktown, since it seems likely the climax of the movie will occur there.
Beyond serving as a focal point for plot interactions, Starbase Yorktown provides an opportunity for Star Trek to embrace the crazy diversity of species and giant, goofy headpieces we’ve come to expect, thanks to other modern sci-fi adventure films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Guardians of the Galaxy.
A new photo released to promote a Star Trek Beyond charity campaign perfectly captures the spirit of life aboard Starbase Yorktown and what it means to the future of the Trek film franchise:
I love this picture. It’s practical, a little goofy, and far more ambitious than your typical Star Trek creature design. She probably sat in the makeup chair longer than every Bajoran actor combined.
Star Trek Beyond may be getting a little more colorful and action-oriented, but it’s also embracing the diversity and essential liberalism (not in the ideological spectrum sense, but in the “we are all mutually comprehensible people who can work together” sense) that’s always been a key part of Star Trek ’s DNA. If those are the values that Krall stands against, it’s nice to see that Star Trek Beyond will first go to the visual lengths necessary to show the egalitarian ethos he wishes to destroy.
