Star Trek 4 - What We Know So Far

Initially, the plot of Star Trek 4 would have seen Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) experiencing a time-travel reunion with his long-dead father, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), who was shown perishing aboard the Federation starship USS Kelvin during a battle with the Romulans at the start of 2009's Star Trek. 

Unfortunately, that plan had to be nixed when both Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth walked away from the negotiating table at the end of 2018, reportedly for monetary reasons. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Pine and Hemsworth felt that Paramount was "reneging" on the salary deals they apparently had in place, "forcing them to take pay cuts as they try to budget a movie that is following a mediocre performer." In May 2019, Hemsworth stepped forward to offer another reason for his Star Trek 4 exit: "I didn't feel like we landed on a reason to revisit that yet. I didn't want to be underwhelmed by what I was going to bring to the table." 

Per Screen Rant, Pine "failed to reach an agreement with Paramount to return at the time of the original negotiations. Fortunately for fans, Variety is reporting that Pine has since reached an agreement with the studio and will be reprising his role as Captain Kirk in Star Trek 4. Pine certainly won't the only familiara face circling back to the Star Trek movie franchise: Zachary Quinto (Spock), Karl Urban (Bones), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), and Simon Pegg (Scotty) are all reportedly set to reprise their respective roles in Star Trek 4. 

As with most blockbusters these days, plot details for Star Trek 4 are being kept tightly under wraps as Paramount works to get a full cast and crew credited to the film. What does seem to be a sure thing is that the forthcoming movie will be a follow-up to the story Abrams started to tell in 2009, and not at all related to Quentin Tarantino's Star Trek film, which he's been connected to since 2017.

What we can likely say with certainty, though, is that James T. Kirk probably won't be reuniting with the father he never got a chance to meet. Hemsworth appeared only in the opening scene of the Star Trek reboot in 2009 — dying as the Romulans attacked his ship, resulting in an explosion just minutes after his son was born. With Hemsworth turning down the offer to return to the franchise, and with no word on whether he's changed his mind in that regard, it seems a fair bet that storyline won't be explored.