I think a sequel has to move into a new direction, but if we are to go back to the well, so to speak, let's most definitely not do Khan again. He’s been done and he’s been done well. I think that Gary Mitchell's story could be the way to go, but tell it a little bit differently. Let's get back to the story of seeking out new life and new civilizations.
Basically there’s an A and B story. The A story is the
Enterprise going to examine a device deep in space that is emanating a tremendous amount of energy. Starfleet wants to know if it’s a threat. Gary Mitchell, who’s serving as first officer while Spock’s away (see the B story), is connected to this device in some way and begins to show signs of some sort of an alien lifeform. He starts to become almost God-like in his abilities and Kirk must decide whether or not to kill his friend or allow him to solve the mystery of the device which Gary is inexplicably drawn to. I’m thinking Carol Marcus will somehow be involved in the A-plot as well and if I don’t bring Dehner into the story will take somewhat of her role. Kirk and Mitchell will go head to head and eventually Gary almost kills Jim, but not before Kirk reignites a spark of humanity in him.
The story flips back and forth between the present and Kirk and Mitchell’s growing friendship at the Academy where we discover that Mitchell saved Kirk’s life on a training mission in a nebula, but also picked up what turned him all God-like too. Also, Carol/Dehner will be on this mission as well. If it is Carol, she will be a love interest between both Kirk and Gary.
The B-plot involves Spock and McCoy go to New Vulcan (or whatever it may be called) as Spock (who has ended his relationship with Uhura) has been downright emotional from time to time. Sarek reveals that Spock is going through Pon Farr, but with T’Pring one of the casualties from Vulcan, he needs to find relief elsewhere. He manages to deal with it temporarily but knows that it may come back. This plot serves the purpose of showing what happened to the Vulcan society while at the same time getting Spock out of the way so the Mitchell plot can go forward.
Somehow the two stories are intertwined (if I bring Dehner into the story, she’ll be trying to psychoanalyze Spock before she goes all silver-eyed). To keep a real villain in the story, the Klingons will also be interested in this device and while Kirk, Spock, Mitchell and Carol/Dehner are aboard the device at the end unraveling the puzzles, Sulu will be commanding the
Enterprise fighting off Kor and the Klingons. In the end, Kor escapes, Mitchell is overwhelmed by the power of the device and dies, but manages to release Carol/Dehner and leaves Kirk with coordinates to visit, where he’ll find something wonderful. Spock finds what he’s looking for (a la
TMP) and is free of Ponn Farr for the time being. They return to Earth and there is a funeral for Gary. Kirk talks to Pike about going to the coordinates that Gary gave them and Pike gives the go ahead for Kirk to go, which will take them beyond the galaxy’s edge and sets up a third film.
It’s pretty loose right now but that’s because I just thought of the story last night. It may be smaller in scope but it has the potential to have aspects of
Star Trek that would bring old fans back into the fold after the first one, particularly with the focus on the “brave new worlds” aspect of
Trek. Plus, honestly, I’m really tired of the “threat against Earth and the Federation.”
I imagine the second film will probably be nothing like this, so I think I might write a fanfic instead.
