Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof‘s post-island career is taking off nicely, as well as his involvement in the currently-filming sci-fi-cum-western Cowboys and Aliens he will soon be resuming his producer duties on the sequel to 2009’s Star Trek reboot. Speaking to E about the project, Lindelof has revealed that inspiration for the follow-up may come from the second entry of another successful franchise reboot, namely superhero behemoth The Dark Knight.
Lindelof stated that the sequel will not just be bells-and-whistles, but will look to tell a meaningful story:
“We’re looking at a movie like The Dark Knight, which went one step beyond Batman Begins,” Lindelof said. “It was really about something, and at the same time it was a superhero movie. We don’t want to abandon all the things that made the first movie work…but we also really want the movie to thematically resonate.”
So should we be worried? Well, the reason Star Trek worked was because, primarily, it was a hoot. It achieved this by concentrating on the personality dynamics of the original Enterprise crew while upping the action, remaining fun although occasionally being bogged down by it’s more complicated time-travel themes. Trying to ensure there is also a story which will “resonate” may distract from this. The Dark Knight almost became overladen by the same thing, but in the deft hands of the Chris Nolan, his brother Jonathan and David S. Goyer it just managed to walk the tightrope. Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are not in the same league, I think we can safely say, which might spell disaster for a film threatening to get ideas above it’s station.
The sequel will need an extra something so that it can avoid the pointless retelling faults that the likes of Iron Man 2 suffered from, but those involved will have to tread carefully.
What do you make of Star Trek 2 seeking inspiration from The Dark Knight?