Ever since revitalizing the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the wacky comedic tone of Thor: Ragnarok, Taika Waititi has been buried under offers to reboot franchises that could use a dose of his razor-sharp directorial voice. He’s signed on to helm a Star Wars movie, a Flash Gordon cartoon, and a live-action Akira remake, as well as shooting another Thor movie. But if he’s got the time, there’s another sci-fi movie franchise that’s on its last legs and in need of a makeover that Waititi could do wonders for. Waititi proved with the retro sci-fi visuals, escapist intergalactic action, and subtle social commentary of Thor: Ragnarok that he’d be a perfect fit for a Star Trek movie.
The last time the Trek franchise got an update on the big screen, J.J. Abrams gave the iconic Enterprise crew a surprisingly satisfying origin story – but he also filled every frame with lens flares and controversially gave the film a tone and visual style a lot closer to a Star Wars movie than a Star Trek movie (he freely admitted he preferred the former, which was later confirmed when he jumped ship from the latter to make a movie for the former). Ragnarok’s pulpy tone and lighthearted sensibility proved that Waititi could be the guy to bring Star Trek back to its roots.
The key to nailing a Star Trek movie is creating tangible friendships between the crew members. The way that Kirk, Spock, and Bones bounce off each other has always been crucial to humanizing their spacefaring adventures. Waititi already did wonders for the interpersonal relationships in the Thor franchise, using sweet character moments to make Thor, Loki, and Odin feel more like a real family than ever, and defined the team dynamic of “the Revengers,” uniting Thor with Valkyrie and the Hulk. He could do wonders for the tightknit crew of a Starfleet ship.
The fact that Marvel movies have to play around the world to the biggest crowds possible limits the filmmakers’ ability to convey social commentary through the franchise’s stories. But a handful of filmmakers have delivered powerful social messages through the comic book spectacle of the MCU, like Ryan Coogler’s take on African Diaspora in Black Panther. While Ragnarok is a zany, pulpy sci-fi comedy for the most part, some critics have noted subtle social commentary in the way Waititi depicts the Grandmaster’s rule over Sakaar. A lot of Waititi’s movies relate to his indigenous heritage, and Ragnarok leans heavily on themes of colonialism with Hela revealing the blood-drenched history of Asgard that Odin tried to cover up and the Grandmaster refusing to use “the S-word” and instead calling his slaves “prisoners with jobs.”
When Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek, the basic concept was to use these otherworldly futuristic stories about a space crew hopping from alien planet to alien planet to carry sociopolitical messages about contemporary fears like racial tensions and the looming threat of the Soviet Union. It’s been a while since Trek’s social commentary has been as pointed as it was back in the Roddenberry heyday, but Waititi could be the director to get it right. The satirical undertones in Ragnarok never beat the audience over the head with an overt agenda or detract from the fun of the action and humor that dominate the majority of the movie. It’s so subtle that the audience doesn’t even have to acknowledge it if they don’t want to, but it enriches the story. Genre properties like Thor and Star Trek are the perfect vehicles to comment on what’s going on in the world without being dull or on-the-nose.
The last details on the fourth Trek movie in the Kelvin Timeline (before news of Tarantino’s R-rated effort and Noah Hawley’s film project took over) suggested Paramount was hoping to bring back Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk in the next sequel. If this is still the studio’s plan, then Waititi is an even more perfect choice for the director’s chair, because he developed a fantastic working relationship with Hemsworth on Ragnarok. Having become disillusioned with the role of Thor after being limited and sidelined in lackluster movies like The Dark World and Age of Ultron, Hemsworth’s interest in the character was reinvigorated by the fresh sensibility that Waititi brought to the table and the creative freedom he allowed Hemsworth in making the part his own and ad-libbing dialogue.
While Tarantino and Hawley’s seemingly indefinitely stalled Star Trek movie projects both sounded promising, if neither of them are taking off and Paramount is looking for a filmmaker to come up with a Star Trek reboot that will both satisfy diehard Trekkies by adhering to the spirit of the franchise and win over more casual audiences with a fun night out at the movies, they should consider giving Waititi a call. He’s got a lot on his plate right now, but with the rate that he announces new projects, he seems to be a workaholic who’s happy to take on as much work as there’s time for him to do.