News had just recently come out that Chrises Pine and Hemsworth had left Star Star Trek 4, but Kevin Smith is not ready to say goodbye just yet. Thor may be out of the game, but Smith thinks the project will only survive if Pine comes back to play Captain Kirk.
Talking during his podcast Fatman on Batman (via ScreenRant), Smith explains:
"They can't recast. Chris Pine is fantastic. It was chancy bringing another Kirk into the world. They found the one guy who could pull it off where it doesn't sound like an impression, but it totally homages an entire f**king body of work in a character. So, you got to bring him back. Maybe you let go of the dad storyline if you can't get Hemsworth to come down a little bit. But, you can't do those Star Treks without that Kirk. He was great."
For the role of Kirk, Pine had decided to forgo an impression of William Shatner's character and decided to do something else entirely. Rather than do Shatner's Kirk, Pine was said to have drawn more from Harrison Ford's Han Solo.
Hopefully Paramount does something with Star Trek soon. A lot of people were excited to see the return of Hemsworth, but plans apparently changed after Quentin Tarantino came knocking on the Trek door. Fingers crossed they at least get Pine back on their side.
Star Trek 4 has no release date.
See Also: Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth Exit Star Trek 4 Following Failed Negotiations