Star Trek Beyond, thirteenth big screen entry in the 50-year-old franchise, reaches cinemas on July 22nd, and actor Idris Elba is discussing his role as Enterprise antagonist Krall, who he describes as a man "with a definite purpose."
Another alien with deep-seeded resentment for the Federation (there seems to be a never-ending supply of those), Krall acts on that resentment by seemingly destroying the Enterprise, as seen in the film's first trailer. "It felt quite political," says Elba. "There's a relatability to what's happening in our world. Not everyboy's happy with what everybody calls the good guys.... There’s some history that we explore, to understand why he feels the frontier needs to push back. There’s definitely an opposing argument to the good that the Federation think they do. There are purists that believe in independence, and believe that we’re all made differently for a reason, and will fight tooth and nail to defend that. There’s massive relatability to modern world politics in that sense."
The relationship between Krall and Chris Pine's Captain Kirk is most definitely an adversarial one, which is ironic considering that Elba viewed William Shatner's Kirk as his favorite character on the original series. "Kirk was just smooth, man," he laughs. "There was nothing fazing him. It was part of the DNA of the show that, in times of ridiculous peril, Mr. Kirk was the coolest actor on the set."
Justin Lin - he of the Fast and Furious franchise - steps in to direct, replacing producer J.J. Abrams, who was too tied up with Star Wars: The Force Awakens to take on what would have been his third adventure in the final frontier, following 2009's Star Trek and 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness.