And the human adventure continues...
Film Divider has some interesting new details concerning Justin Lin's upcoming Star Trek sequel for 2016. According to the the article, the film (written by Doug Jung and Star Trek actor Simon Pegg) will feature three new female characters and a new male villain.
Although Alice Eve's character Carol Marcus was introduced in the previous film, Star Trek Into Darkness, a rather pointless scene showing Carol in her underwear resulted in much criticism about how female characters are portrayed in Star Trek. So with that in mind, here are the new female characters described...
1) The President of the United Federation of Planets -- Although there's been a male human UFP President in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and male alien UFP Presidents in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, this will be the Star Trek's first female President.
2) A Captain of a Federation starship -- While there have been various female starship captains, primarily Kate Mulgrew's Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager, this one will be the first in the new continuity timeline. The article mentions that this captain is "being set up as Kirk's match" and the producers are "looking for somebody with the energy and vitality of Chris Pine."
3) Bones' Ex-Wife (Jocelyn Darnell?) -- Getting a brief mention in Star Trek (2009), Dr. Leonard McCoy's ex-wife who supposedly left him with nothing but his bones will finally make her appearance on screen. The character was created as Jocelyn Darnell Treadway in the Star Trek novel Shadows on the Sun, but may be someone completely new in Star Trek 3. If nothing else, pairing Bones with his ex-wife should give Karl Urban far more to do than his previous outing in Star Trek Into Darkness.
As for Star Trek's latest Big Bad, the article states that the villain is "supposed to be Bryan Cranston-like, to the point that Cranston himself has had words with the studio about taking the role." This is no indication that Cranston will actually take the role, however, since he's been rumored in just about everything since his AMC series Breaking Bad ended. But if you're familiar with Cranston's TV character Walter White, you probably have some idea of what the producers have in mind.
Star Trek 3 is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 8, 2016.