Good… Freaking… Goodness. Seems like the amazing Star Trek cast announcement from yesterday (Eric Bana being cast as the main bad guy “Nero”) is continuing on the momentum by a HUGE announcement coming out of the Hollywood Reporter today.
First of all, Harold and Kumar’s John Cho has been cast as Mr. Sulu. Not bad… not bad. I’ve never been thrilled with anything Cho has done, but at the same time I’ve never been put off by any of his performances either… so I’m neither here nor there on that one. But the BIG news is this:
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz star Simon Pegg has been cast as Mr. Scott. You’ve got to be kidding me!!! That’s extremely cool news. I love Simon Pegg and seeing him move to the full blown main stream is neat to see. However… and I’m going to take a lot of flack for this… but I have to ask:
IS THIS A GOOD THING? I’m not 100% sure it is.
I know that every other fanboy site out there is panting like a dog at this news and think it’s the best news ever, but think about it for a second. I love Pegg, but is he really the right guy for this role? Remember, I’m not asking if Pegg is great. I’m not asking if Pegg is talented. I’m not asking if you love Pegg. I’m asking if he’s the right fit… is Simon Pegg really the right guy to play the role of Scotty? I’m not really convinced he is.
Is Scoty going to be a comic relief character in the movie? Remember, in the original show, he did have some funny bits, but aside from Spock, he was also the most no-nonsense and serious character (until the later movies that is when he got really fat and jolly). The only time I’ve seen Pegg try to look hard and serious is in Hot Fuzz… and that didn’t work… even came off as comical (even in the parts that weren’t supposed to be comical).
Please understand, I’m not saying this is a bad move… not at all. I’m just wondering if this is the right fit… and what casting Pegg in the role says about the nature of the movie itself. Maybe something… maybe nothing.
Either way, good fit or not, it’ll be fun to see Pegg up there.
