Sofia Boutella made a big impact as Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond, and the star wants to return for Star Trek 4. We'd love to see it happen.
We could write a book about how long we’ve been waiting for a new Star Trek movie. It has been seven years since the brilliant Star Trek Beyond gave us our last big screen visit to one of the great sci-fi universes, and there’s no sign of anything new. But if Star Trek 4 does ever happen, it can count on Sofia Boutella being ready and waiting to come back.
Star Trek Beyond introduced Boutella as one of its new Star Trek characters, Jaylah. She’s an alien scavenger who forms a bond with Scotty and, by the end of the film, she joined the Starfleet Academy. This seemingly laid the table for future appearances in Star Trek movies, and Boutella is well up for it if the Star Trek 4 release date ever comes around.
“I would love nothing more than to go back to this character,” Boutella told The Digital Fix while promoting the Rebel Moon release date. “I love Jaylah so much and I love the whole cast. I would love to work with everybody and on this project again, of course.”
Boutella also has no concerns about getting back into the make-up chair for her transformation into Jaylah, saying “there’s no Jaylah without that make-up”. We’re not sure we’d be quite so keen to spend that many hours in the chair, though there’s no denying that Boutella gets to look very cool at the end of it.
It’s such a shame that we’ve not had any new movies from the Kelvin Timeline since Beyond came along. With cast member and long-time fan Simon Pegg on scripting duties with Doug Jung, it was a propulsive and witty addition to the Star Trek timeline. We were excited to see where everything would go next, only for it to just stop in its tracks.
Unfortunately, the reality is that Beyond struggled at the box office and ultimately ended up losing about $50m, despite strong reviews. Star Trek 4 has been in limbo since then. Noah Hawley was attached at one stage, and so was WandaVision director Matt Shakman, while we all know about the Quentin Tarantino rumors.
It’s good to know, though, that if the ducks ever line up for this Star Trek series to continue on the big screen, Boutella will be ready and waiting to play Jaylah again.
But for now, at least, Boutella’s focus is squarely on Rebel Moon. She leads the cast of Zack Snyder’s sci-fi adventure, in which she plays a rebel warrior fighting back against the strangehold of the ruling Motherworld. It’s available on Netflix from Friday, December 22.
