The Limitations of a Star Trek Justice League in Rescuing The TNG Films
Exploring the flaws in Star Trek's team-up movie concept and its inability to salvage The Next Generation movies.
Not even a team of Starfleet's best and brightest could have rescued the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies from their unfortunate fate. The TNG film series concluded with Star Trek: Nemesis, which received poor reviews and did not do well at the box office. However, if Nemesis had been more successful, there could have been more movies featuring the TNG crew. Brent Spiner and John Logan, along with Rick Berman, had started developing a fifth TNG movie that was likened to Star Trek's version of the Justice League.
John Logan and Brent Spiner's proposed sequel to Star Trek Nemesis would have followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as he traveled through the Star Trek timeline, gathering a team to face off against some of the franchise's most formidable villains. When speaking to TrekWeb in 2006, Spiner shared that the movie's plot would include Captains James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). Strangely, Spiner's pitch only mentioned Picard and Lt. Commander Data from The Next Generation, leaving out the other beloved characters from the series.
Star Trek’s TNG Movies Wouldn’t Have Been Saved By Starfleet’s Justice League
Shinzon, Picard and Khan from Star Trek - Star Trek’s TNG Movies Wouldn’t Have Been Saved By Starfleet’s Justice League
The idea of a dream team of Star Trek captains battling Starfleet's greatest enemies is exciting for fans. However, previous pairings of Picard with Spock in "Unification" and Kirk in Star Trek Generations did not meet fan expectations. It would have been risky to repeat this in a big-budget movie. Moreover, it's doubtful that this fan-friendly concept would attract the wider audience needed for box office success.
Bringing back Kirk and Spock would generate interest, which is why the next Star Trek movie reimagined their iconic partnership. However, it's uncertain if Scott Bakula, Kate Mulgrew, or Avery Brooks could capture the attention of moviegoers in the 2000s, especially as interest in Star Trek on TV was declining. The underperformance of Star Trek: Insurrection signaled trouble for the TNG movies, and even if Nemesis had done better at the box office, it would have been too late for a team-up movie to revive the franchise.
Star Trek’s Justice League Movie Idea Was Ahead Of Its Time
Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek captains past - Star Trek’s Justice League Movie Idea Was Ahead Of Its Time
John Logan and Brent Spiner deserve credit for their innovative superhero team-up approach to a Star Trek movie. Back in 2008, Iron Man hit theaters just a year before J.J. Abrams' first Kelvin Timeline movie. This marked the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's massive success at the box office. While audience interest in the MCU and similar franchises has waned recently, the idea of a Star Trek team-up movie seems more plausible in 2024 than it did two decades ago.
During an interview included in the special features of the Blu-ray boxed set for Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1, Brannon Braga shared that he and Rick Berman had toyed with the idea of a Star Trek movie titled "Star Trek: The Avengers." This hypothetical film would have brought together iconic characters like Picard, Data, DS9's Odo, and Voyager's holographic Doctor. Interestingly, Berman had no memory of ever discussing this concept.
Paramount is interested in making Star Trek movies exclusively for streaming, including Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 currently in production. The successful crossover episode between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks indicates the potential for more collaborations, as long as there is a compelling story to tell. Although John Logan and Brent Spiner's Justice League pitch may have come too late for the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, it could pave the way for the future of the franchise.
All four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies are now available for streaming on Max.
Editor's P/S:
The article provides an intriguing glimpse into a potential Star Trek: The Next Generation movie that never came to fruition. The idea of a "Justice League" of Star Trek captains facing off against formidable villains is undoubtedly appealing to fans, but the article raises valid concerns about its feasibility. While such a concept might have generated interest, it is uncertain if it could have attracted a wider audience or revitalized the franchise.
Despite the article's skepticism, it also acknowledges that the concept of a Star Trek team-up movie has become more plausible in recent years, thanks to the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The article concludes by suggesting that Paramount may be open to exploring such collaborations in future streaming projects. While the proposed Justice League movie may not have been the right fit for the TNG era, it could potentially pave the way for innovative and captivating Star Trek films in the future.
