What Persuaded Karl Urban to “Commit” to Star Trek Beyond

It's hard to imagine not seeing Karl Urban's Bones in Star Trek Beyond. It's not long ago that the 43-year-old actor from New Zealand went to a recent interview speaking enthusiastically about the crew of the Enterprise and his upcoming new relationship with Zachary Quinto's Spock in the movie.

Apparently though, Urban hadn't originally planned on returning as Bones in the highly anticipated film. And while the actor's contract had already ended with 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness, his decision to leave the franchise wasn't because of the contract, it had been his schedule. Fortunately for fans of the actor and his character, director Justin Lin came to the rescue.

In an interview with IGN, Urban revealed that the reason why he decided to "commit" to the franchise again was because of the Fast & Furious director. He said:

[Having Justin Lin direct] was a breath of fresh air, and I really appreciated Justin's intimate knowledge and understanding of the character dynamics.

I was on the fence about doing the movie until I spoke with Justin [because] I had a conflicting schedule, and I had a decision to make about which film to do, and I was no longer under contract to do a third picture. So I had a decision to make, and it was talking with Justin that enabled me to commit to it. I mean, he gets [Star Trek].

There were no other details dropped by Urban as to what he gave up in order to reprise his role as Bones in Star Trek Beyond, but we're just glad he's back in the franchise.

It also shows the kind of passion that Lin has for Star Trek and its legacy. This gives fans assurance that the filmmaker knows what he's doing, and if he could convince an experienced Star Trek actor like Urban to stay in the franchise, it gives us hope that at least the movie's quality will be unlike Star Trek Into Darkness, which had poor quality.

We're pretty excited for the film, since it isn't the first time that a Trek Beyond cast member has spoken passionately about the film and the franchise in general. Just last week, actor Simon Pegg even explained what makes Star Wars and Star Trek so different and why it seems that Star Trek is better.

Star Trek Beyond will also star Chris Pine, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Sofia Boutella, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, and Anton Yelchin in the Enterprise crew, with Idris Elba joining as the eponymous "predatory" villain Krall.

We'll see Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in Star Trek Beyond, along with the rest of the Enterprise crew on July 22, all thanks to Justin Lin!

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