We recently received the tragic news that Anton Yelchin was killed in a freak car accident at the age of 27, and it’s raised the question of what’s going to become of his Star Trek character Ensign Pavel Chekov, who will once again take his seat on the bridge of The Starship Enterprise when the third film in the relaunched franchise, Star Trek Beyond, hits theatres this weekend.
Chekov will evidently survive this latest journey to the final frontier, but moving forward there are a limited number of options available to Paramount and the filmmakers: recast the character, kill him off or simply write him out. No decision has been made just yet, but whatever happens, producer J.J. Abrams is adamant that they definitely won’t be recasting.
“I would say there’s no replacing him,” the director explained to The Toronto Sun. “There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better. I have thought about [killing the character off], we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it.”
Tell us, how do you think this delicate situation should be handled? Let us know by commenting below and be sure to catch Chekov and co. in action when Star Trek Beyond is released this Friday.