JJ Abrams (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009190/) will be directing Star Wars Episode 7!

Is this good, bad, or… is it wonderful?

To be honest, I couldn’t be more excited, but I’m also kind of terrified. Think about it, JJ Abrams has the reputation for creating masterpieces out of nothing, but what will happen when (already made) masterpieces are handed to him and he has to make the new ones better?

Well, his reboot of Star Trek was flat out amazing, bringing great impressions of the original characters but with new actors, making his casting almost spot on, and for the first time, Spock was really, really cool. I’m not talking about Spock just being Spock and that being cool (kind of the way Sheldon Cooper is crazy weird, but still cool), I’m talking about Spock getting the girl, being a badass, and (as older Spock/Leonard Nimoy) being a teacher for young Kirk to follow-cool.
Abrams has proven that he can start a series over (Star Trek), and make it worth while watching and keeps the series’ fans happy, but can he handle both sides of the SciFi War? Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans have never exactly liked each other… Unfortunately. But sibling rivalries happen, nothing you can do. So what is going to happen when Abrams holds both of the biggest franchises ever in the palm of his hands and says I wanna try this _______?

From Screencrush:

Now this is where I get worried, because if Abrams controls both, he can do what he wants with both, meaning a terrible thing (for nerds that grew up deciding what side of the nerd kingdom they want to live in): a crossover is now a possibility. Most of you probably wouldn’t think that’s such a bad thing, but it would be. Here’s why: A crossover between the series would be much like when your parents see you and your sibling fighting, and they make you spend time with each other. Nobody really likes it, except your parents think it’s the best thing, when it’s really not, it’s horrible, and you just wait it out until the annoyance is over and you can get back to your own separate parts of the house. Could you imagine how odd it would look if Luke Skywalker and Darth (whoever it is in Ep. 7), are fighting with lightsabers and Captain Kirk comes in, with his phaser set to stun?… ridiculous.

Even Chris Pine (Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek reboot), said during an interview with USA Today, that a crossover could be dangerous: “Now you’re really playing with fire. I wouldn’t say that even lightly.”

Being honest here, I wouldn’t mind Abrams doing a little bit of a crossover-cameo (no more than a few seconds), you know, have Han Solo fighting one of Greedo’s grandkids (in the same Cantina as before) because he owes another gangster money, and during the fight, Solo falls down and Captain Kirk stuns Greedo Jr. Jr. and then raises a glass to Han Solo, because for some reason the understanding of the scene would be that they are both “getting too old for this sh*t”, but bring William Shatner back to play Kirk, because that would be just awesome… That would pretty much be the only acceptable cameo-crossover possibility I think, for two reasons: Shatner has a funny side too (just watch Boston Legal, you’d agree), and Shatner missed out on returning to the USS Enterprise in 2009.
Apparently, Abrams didn’t even try to bring the Great William Shatner back for Star Trek in 2009–> (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzOs4WEutQ8), Shatner was cut out of the script before he even knew he had a part… Poor Bill. But Shatner makes it clear in the video that him and Abrams are friends… must be a weird friendship because as soon as Abrams said yes to directing  Star Wars 7, Shatner said some harsh words about his pal:

“He’s being a pig. He’s collecting the two franchises and holding them close to his vest. He’s probably the most talented director of that kind of film that we have, but he’s gone too far this time. I think of him as a buddy of mine, I’ve taken him out for sushi, I think it’s time for JJ and I to have another sushi and let me put him straight about two of the largest franchises and not employing me in either one of them, I think is just foolhardy.”

Shatner starts that with saying that JJ shouldn’t be so greedy and power hungry, but ends it all with saying “and not employing me in either one of them”? I sure hope Shatner’s kidding around, and hopefully there is a part for him soon, but maybe not in both, the two don’t go well together (Star Wars and Star Trek). Things wouldn’t go so well for Han’s chances if Kirk was around…

From GeeksOfDoom:

The main problem would be Star Wars and Star Trek are in different universes, making the crossover very unusual. Star Trek is just our universe but in the future, whereas Star Wars is set a “Long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”, BUT “…the voyages of the starship Enterprise… (are meant) to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before”, so there is a chance that the strange new world is Coruscant or Tatooine… you never know, maybe there’s a love story that never got told…

From AMindDivided:

Or a dream that could come true…?
From RabbitTooth:
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE LITERALLY ENDLESS

Getting back to if Abrams is the best for the Star Wars franchise, my answer would be yes. For two reasons: I’ve really liked literally everything he’s done so far and he’s been hinting that he wants to take on Star Wars for years.

Think about it, Star Trek (2009) is just paying homage to Star Wars…
CollegeHumour explains it pretty well in this video:
(http://www.collegehumor.com/video/4026025/deja-view-my-favorite-movie-star-trek-vs-star-wars)

But if you needed more proof, JJ Abrams snuck a favourite Star Wars character into the 2009 adaptation.
From Gizmodo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob90h-Juvqo

What are your thoughts on this? Are you for or against a Star Wars-Trek crossover? Is JJ Abrams the right guy for the Star Wars legacy? Leave a comment below to give your input

2/14/2013 – 1:58 am

by James