J.J. Abrams and Company Talk ‘Star Trek 2’

Oh, how time flies. It feels like J.J. Abrams’  Star Trek was still hovering out in the distance, a big question mark of a concept. Now the DVD is in the hot little hands of fans, and no one can stop talking about the sequel. Oh heck, they were talking about the sequel two minutes after it premiered. Over at Sci Fi Wire, they pinned down Abrams, Damon Lindelof, and Roberto Orci to talk about Star Trek 2. While it’s being touted as being very spoiler filled, it’s really just the creators thinking out loud and seeing what’ll stick.

Abrams confirms that he will direct the sequel, despite all rumors to the contrary, and that we shouldn’t look for it to hit theaters before 2012. While they’re predictably tight-lipped, Lindelof dropped one intriguing hint as to the new film’s place in the timeline. Citing the timeline of the Bourne films as an inspiration, Lindelof suggested that a squishy LOST continuum might come into play.

“One of the things we like to do as storytellers is drop you in the middle of something. And the question that you’re asking yourself is: Where am I in relation to the last time I left these guys? Could this be something that predated even, perhaps, some of the adventures that they had in the first movie? Does it happen five years later? Is it happening two seconds later? Who knows? So we’re not going to tell you.”

They refuse to confirm or deny the appearance of Khan simply because they don’t know if he’ll find his way into this new continuity, and continue to remind fans that every expectation they’re building will be shattered. But if you’re building hopes on the passion of Spock and Uhura, well, that’s a hope you can hold onto.

“Now that we’ve done that, you can’t play that same joke again,” Abrams said. “It’s got to be about ‘What is their relationship?’ and ‘Who are these people?’ That’s why the next one, hopefully while still maintaining the sense of fun and adventure, can go a little bit deeper in terms of the script.”