krall from star trek

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Krall , formerly Balthazar M. Edison , was a Human male who served in the United Earth Military Assault Command Operations and later the Federation Starfleet , until he was stranded on the planet Altamid . Edison became the brutal warlord Krall after the use of energy transference technology severely mutated his body. As Krall, he despised the ideals of the Federation and sought its destruction.

• 1.1 United Earth Military career
• 1.2 Starfleet career
• 2.1 Becoming Krall
• 2.2 Searching for the Abronath
• 3.1 Raid and destruction of the Enterprise
• 3.2 Attack on Yorktown
• 4 Memorable quotes
• 5.1 Appearances
• 5.2 Background information
• 5.3 External link

Early life [ ]

Edison was born in Murrysville , Pennsylvania on Earth . ( Star Trek Beyond )

United Earth Military career [ ]

Edison's file in the USS Franklin database

Edison served in MACO , a branch of the United Earth Military , in the 22nd century . He began his military service history as a boot camp officer where, as a soldier , he was trained in survival strategies and tactical analysis. After he was promoted to major , he served in force command under Captain T. Ginwald . As an acting colonel , he served as a lieutenant under the command of Captain T. Pine . He fought in both the Xindi and the Romulan wars, during which he witnessed millions of Humans perish by alien hands. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Starfleet career [ ]

Following the founding of the Federation , MACO was dissolved. Edison became a Starfleet officer and was given command of the USS Franklin . However, Edison deeply resented what he saw as being put out to pasture, his perceived calling as a soldier rendered obsolete by the Federation's embrace of diplomacy and tolerance.

In 2164 , the Franklin was displaced by a wormhole while inside the Gagarin Radiation Belt . The ship crashed on the distant planet Altamid , with Edison, Anderson Le , and Jessica Wolff as the only survivors. Edison sent out a distress call but, receiving no response, he came to believe that he had been abandoned by the Federation. As his resentment festered into violent hatred, Edison resolved to destroy the Federation and prove that peaceful coexistence led only to weakness. ( Star Trek Beyond ) It was not until 2255 that Starfleet had him formally declared missing in action . ( Star Trek Beyond – database graphic)

Stranded on Altamid [ ]

Becoming krall [ ].

Edison recording his last "captain's log"

On Altamid, Edison found technology left behind by a previous civilization , including Swarm ships , a drone workforce , and an energy transference process that allowed him to "drain" other individuals to prolong his own life. Using their newly-acquired Swarm, Edison, Le, and Wolff captured scores of alien ships and drained their crews to survive, which also mutated their biology to resemble that of their victims. In time, Edison became "Krall", suppressing much of his Human identity and ceasing to speak in English .

Searching for the Abronath [ ]

Krall learned that the natives of Altamid once created a super-weapon called the Abronath , which they had split in two and launched into space. He located one piece after decades of work, but not the other. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Alternate reality [ ]

Raid and destruction of the enterprise [ ].

In 2263 in the alternate reality , Krall discovered from Starfleet logs, accessed through a captured Magellan probe , that the second piece of the Abronath had been placed into storage on the USS Enterprise . He dispatched Wolff, now "Kalara", to lure the Enterprise to him.

Krall – Human physiology reasserting itself – and Manas

Upon the arrival of the Enterprise at Altamid, Krall attacked with his Swarm. He destroyed the Enterprise , captured most of the crew, and eventually coerced Ensign Syl into relinquishing the second Abronath piece. His weapon complete, Krall departed Altamid with his Swarm to wipe out all life from the nearby Starbase Yorktown , whose multicultural population he saw as the epitome of the Federation's degeneracy. ( Star Trek Beyond )

Attack on Yorktown [ ]

Krall's Swarm overwhelmed Yorktown's defenses and was on the verge of breaking inside when he was engaged by the Franklin , commanded by the Enterprise 's former captain, Captain James T. Kirk . The Franklin , and later the starbase, used a VHF radio broadcast to disrupt the Swarm's internal communications network and destroyed most of the craft. Krall managed to enter Yorktown, but the Franklin physically stopped his ship short of his destination.

Krall confronted by Kirk at Yorktown

Having drained many Enterprise crew members before and after the battle, Krall had regained much of his Human physiology and was thus able to disguise himself as a Starfleet officer. This allowed him to make his way, unimpeded, to the central atmospheric processor on Yorktown, where the Abronath's effects would be disseminated throughout the station. He was intercepted by Kirk, and the two fought while Montgomery Scott redirected the processor to vent into space; Kirk then ejected both Krall and the Abronath out of Yorktown. Shortly after, Krall was consumed by the Abronath, leaving only the Starfleet insignia from his stolen uniform . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Shortly after Krall's death and the rediscovery of the USS Franklin, Commodore Paris closed the missing-in-action report of the ship and her crew. She mentioned that for a long time Edison was viewed as a war hero in the Federation, but noted that time could change people. Kirk lamented that Edison simply got lost - both as a soldier who lost his purpose, and as a captain who lost his way. Kirk's confrontation with Krall allowed him to gain new insight regarding himself and his goals, leading him to remain captain of the Enterprise rather than taking a vice admiralty on Yorktown.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" I am Lieutenant Nyota Uhura of the USS Enterprise . And you have committed an act of war against the Federation . " " Federation?! Federation IS an act of war. "

" Your captain … Why did you sacrifice yourself for him? " " He would have done the same. And if he made it off that ship, he will come for us. " " I am counting on it, Lieutenant Uhura. "

" This is where the frontier pushes back. "

" My old friend . "

" Captain's log, I don't remember the stardate. All distress calls unanswered. Of the crew , only three remain . I WON'T ALLOW IT! The indigenous race abandoned this planet long ago. They left behind sophisticated mining equipment and a drone workforce . They have some sort of technology that prolongs life . I will do whatever it takes for me and my crew. The Fed-Federation do not care about us. You'll probably never see me again. But if you do… be ready. "

" What happened to you out there, Edison? " " Edison? I have to say, Kirk, I've missed being me. We lost ourselves but gained a purpose! A means to bring the galaxy back to the struggle that made Humanity strong. " " I think you underestimate Humanity. " " I fought for Humanity! Lost millions to the Xindi and Romulan wars , and for what? For the Federation to sit me in a captain's chair and break bread with the enemy! " " We change. We have to. Or we spend the rest of our lives fighting the same battles. "

" You lost. There's no way for you to make it back there! Give up! " " What, like you did?! I read your ship's log , Captain James T. Kirk. At least I know what I am! I'm a soldier!" " You won the war, Edison. You gave us peace! " " Peace… is not what I was born into. "

" You… can't stop it. You will die. " " Better to die saving lives, than to live with taking them. That's what I was born into. "

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• Star Trek Beyond

Background information [ ]

Krall actor Idris Elba with Director Justin Lin

Krall was portrayed by Idris Elba .

Precisely what the writers of Star Trek Beyond aimed to achieve by creating this character was one of the first discussions they had. Recalled co-writer Doug Jung , " We were trying to find something that felt it was worthy of the fifty-year anniversary [of Star Trek ] – so a character who could challenge the Roddenberry universe [was called for]. " [2] The writing team additionally "wanted to have a villain who felt bad and intimidating," stated Jung. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 27) Another goal the writers had was differentiating Krall from the two main antagonists in the previous two films, Nero and Khan Noonien Singh , both of whom were driven by revenge. Regarding Krall, Simon Pegg explained, " The thing that we didn't want him to be was just out for revenge […] We wanted his motivation to be more complex, and more mysterious. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 184 , p. 14) Similarly, Star Trek Beyond Director Justin Lin wanted the character to have a legitimate reason for hating the Federation, which the filmmakers had decided they wanted to examine in the movie. " If we really want to deconstruct what the Federation means, we need to have an antagonist with a valid point of view, " Lin reasoned. " It can't just be someone twirling their moustache. For the audience, when they hear [Krall's reasons] they might not agree with them, but they have to accept it's a valid point of view. " ( Empire , issue 326, p. 71) Lin also stated, " Once I'd posed Simon and Doug that challenge, and we were trying to come up with ideas to deconstruct it, I thought they did a great job of writing and creating Krall. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 10) Having Krall be thematically tied to Kirk "made him more interesting," as Jung phrased it. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 27) He elaborated that the character originated by paralleling Kirk's personal search for purpose in his own life with an alternate viewpoint of the Federation's purpose. [3]

Making Krall a former MACO seemed to work well for the character. " We knew what we wanted him to go through. We knew we wanted him to have this sort of idealistic, philosophical difference with Starfleet, " said Doug Jung, " but we didn't quite have why – so we were like, 'Maybe he came from this world that was taken over by the Federation,' but then we were sort of like, 'Well, why don't we wrap it back around in the mythology?' and we got to, 'Why don’t we make him a former member of MACO?' […] For him to be in that sort of precipice of [historical, political] change and to be a guy who is being asked to make a big change, and is unable to do it, that sort of just fit in thematically with everything we were sort of saying. So it was a gift of fifty years of Trek lore rising to the surface when we need it. " [4]

A challenge in writing the character was deciding how and when to reveal that Krall was sustaining himself with DNA harvested from his victims. The writers found that idea very easy to discuss, though quite difficult to establish in the film, so they had many different iterations of how the revelation was depicted. " There were ways we could have done it to demonstrate that he has this technology, " observed Doug Jung, " but again, if you get too into it you start to cast light on some of the things that might not be quite as believable – or, you just tip your hat too much that he's not who he is […] Ultimately we just sort of decided that we needed it to be part of the whole reveal package. It's a complex idea, if you really think about what he had to do and how he had to get there. " [5]

Another tough consideration regarding the writing of Krall was, in Doug Jung's words, " How do we portray this guy without giving away too much, to kind of make him interesting and try to make him seem like he's not just another dude with a beef. " As such, there was some question as to how Krall's true history would be revealed. " Because we were preserving that surprise, there was no other way to do it than to basically have him talk about it, " Jung continued. " And to have him talk about it in the past was much better than to have him talk about it in the future. There was one version where he was talking about [it] in the future, and he explained it all, and it leaves [the audience] wondering, 'Why are you explaining this to us? No one cares. We just want you dead.' " [6]

In backstory that was conceived for the movie but omitted from it, Krall's takeover of the alien society and technology on Altamid would have been portrayed as having been possible because the aliens were essentially mindless, weapon-less drones. " He took this energy source and perverted it in a particular way, and took over what was essentially a mining colony out there, " explained Doug Jung. " It was one of those things where we felt that he didn’t have an invading force, but he was taking his skills as an ex-soldier and applying them in a way that he probably never thought he would have to do. " [7]

Krall's make-up originally included a phase which looked particularly Human-looking. Because it was deemed too transparently Human, however, that phase of the make-up was deliberately discarded. [8]

The costume designed for Krall was intended to seem unique and merge with the alien's body. " Justin wanted you to look at Krall and not be sure whether its him or an armor, where the man within starts and stops, " reflected Costume Designer Sanja Hays , " and he wanted you to not be sure how he changed, and what really happened with him. Justin wanted us to create something you hadn't seen in previous Star Trek movies , or previous sci-fi movies. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 41)

A concept sketch of Krall can be found at TrekCore .

As Justin Lin saw it, there was only one real contender for the role of Krall. " Idris was my top choice by far, " the director said. " Because a lot of times antagonists don't really have a lot of screen time. So you need someone who can command a presence and be able to fully commit and carry that through very surgically. We had a great first conversation. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 50) During that initial discussion, Elba and Lin conversed for about an hour. ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 10) " But at the very end he paused, " continued Lin. " I was like, 'Aw, shit.' He goes, 'It's gonna be four hours of make-up every morning, right?' I said, 'Yup…' It was four hours every morning, and he [did it]. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 50) Elba collaborated with the writing staff on the minor facets of the character, the actor pitching small character details, which the writers managed to incorporate into the portrayal of the character. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 184 , p. 14) Kirk actor Chris Pine remarked that, in his performance as Krall, Elba " was very alive and present, and changing stuff from one take to the next. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 21)

Justin Lin was delighted with Idris Elba's performance as Krall, enthusing, " He was awesome. He's delivering a 100% every time. " ( SFX , issue 276, p. 50) Noted Simon Pegg, " Our villain is a very interesting force. " Pegg commented, too, that working with Elba on the minor details of the character was "a really productive process" that Elba "was really good at." ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 184 , p. 14) Doug Jung said about Krall, " He's got the classic Star Trek villain qualities to him. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 27) Jung was pleased that the character's actual backstory was effective. " One thing that surprised me, " he admitted, " is that no one was saying 'Oh, there's Idris Elba in a lot of makeup; there's an NX ship that seems like it shouldn’t be there. He’s going to end up being the [captain.] " [9] In Chris Pine's opinion, Elba "came up with this really rather extraordinary character." ( SFX , issue 276, p. 55) Uhura actress Zoë Saldana offered, " I really liked this character, Krall. I like what he's about. He also represents a lot of individuals in the past 10 to 15 years […] [He's] a very lethal Big Bad – and, the make-up is astounding! " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 46) Sulu actor John Cho remarked, " The composite [character design] I saw was incredibly frightening. " Cho also called Krall "an interesting bad guy." ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 67) McCoy actor Karl Urban agreed, " He's a worthy adversary because, like all good villains, he forces the protagonists to question themselves and to question their direction. " ( Star Trek Magazine Movie Special 2016 , p. 62)

External link [ ]

• Krall at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Krall (Star Trek)

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Captain Balthazar M. Edison , better known as Krall , is the main antagonist of the 2016 sci-fi action film Star Trek Beyond , the third installment of the rebooted Star Trek film series.

He was a human senior officer at the MACO Organization who had been mutated into a reptilian form by alien life-extending technology after crashing upon a planet with his crew. Thereafter Krall dedicated himself on destroying the Federation for abandoning him and his crew.

He was portrayed by Idris Elba , who also played Russell "Stringer" Bell in The Wire , William Roque in The Losers , Colin Evans in No Good Deed , The Commandant in Beasts of No Nation , Shere Khan in the 2016 The Jungle Book live-action remake, Brixton Lore in Hobbs & Shaw , Macavity in Cats and Bloodsport in The Suicide Squad .

• 1 Biography
• 2 Personality
• 3 Creation and Conception
• 6 Navigation

Biography [ ]

In the twenty-second century, Edison joined United Earth's Military Assault Command Organization (MACO), rising to the rank of Major, and fought against the Xindi and then the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan War. After the founding of the Federation, MACO was absorbed into Starfleet and Edison was given the Starfleet rank of Captain. In 2163, he was appointed a commanding officer of the USS Franklin , the first Earth ship to have reached warp four.

A year later, the Franklin disappeared. Popular speculation ranged from the ship being captured by the Romulans to the ship being caught by a giant green hand. Having crashed on the M-class planet Altamid, Edison and the other Franklin survivors felt abandoned by the Federation. Sinking into madness, the survivors came to despise the Federation for its ideals of peaceful cooperation. Transformed, Edison began calling himself "Krall" during this time. Finding a cache of weapons, ships, and technology on Altamid, Krall and his forces began plotting their revenge against the Federation for their embrace of diplomacy and tolerance that he never agreed in the first place.

Their equipment included humanoid drones and swarm ships, as well as technology that prolonged life by absorbing the life from other beings, transferring energy from the victim to the user, resulting in the said user being physically morphed and mutated into having at least some of their victim's physical characteristics. It was this technology that mutated Edison into Krall, at the cost of his already damaged mental health, causing him to lose some of his human personality, have somewhat slurred speech and usually speaking in an alien language.

Learning of an ancient bioweapon, the Abronath, Krall began reassembling the components. About one hundred years after the Franklin crashed on Altamid, Krall learned the USS Enterprise had the final component. During the Enterprise to Altamid, Krall and his forces destroyed the starship and took many of the surviving crew prisoners. Once Krall obtained the final component, he left to destroy the nearby Yorktown with the bioweapon, with Captain James T. Kirk and the remainder of the surviving Enterprise crew following in pursuit.

Krall's forces were destroyed, and Krall himself was defeated by Kirk when Kirk opened an airlock on the station. Sucked out into space, Krall was enveloped and disintegrated by the very bioweapon he planned to use on the inhabitants of Yorktown . Afterward, Kirk and Commodore Paris closed the file on Krall and the crew members of the USS Franklin .

Personality [ ]

Back when he served as a MACO officer in the 22nd century, Edison became an unemotional and hardened man who witnessed millions of Humans perish by alien hands during Xindi and Romulan conflicts. Battles that Edison endured had deteriorated his better qualities as a person in some ways, given that he deeply resented what he saw as being put out to pasture: His calling as a soldier rendered obsolete by the Federation's embrace of diplomacy and tolerance by the time of its foundation.

However, Edison's resentment twisted into hatred after he and his ship crash-landed on Altamid, with Edison himself, Anderson Le , and Jessica Wolff as the only survivors and never getting any response from the Federation when he sent out a distress call. Believing that he had been abandoned by the Federation, his resentment festered into violent hatred, and he resolved to destroy the Federation and prove that peaceful coexistence led only to weakness as in his final captain log, he declared war on the United Federation Of Planets.

When he was still human, Edison is a dark-skinned, middle-aged British man with a beard until the usage of energy transference technology to expand his lifespan deformed him into a reptilian humanoid like his fellow surviving crews. Aside from his appearance, the alteration of his physiology also resulting his voice become deeper than usual and Edison's physical strength exceeded that of his original strength, as he easily overpowered Kirk in their first confrontation. However, after he drained the energy from several of Kirk's human crew, Edison's appearance becomes closer to his original self and his voice also restored to normal. However, his physical strength also reverted to the original, as when confronted Kirk once again, Kirk now able to fight toe on toe against him.

Creation and Conception [ ]

When the role of Krall was being devised as the main antagonist, the writers of the movie wanted to differentiate him from the main antagonists in the previous two reboot films, the Romulan Nero and Khan Noonien Singh , both of whom were driven by revenge. Regarding Krall, Simon Pegg explained that his motives would be more complex and mysterious than previous main antagonists that appeared so far. Similarly, Star Trek Beyond Director Justin Lin wanted the character to have a legitimate reason for hating the Federation, which the filmmakers had decided they wanted to examine in the movie.

The costume designed for Krall was intended to seem unique and merge with the alien's body. "Justin wanted you to look at Krall and not be sure whether it's him or an armor, where the man within starts and stops," reflected Costume Designer Sanja Hays, "and he wanted you to not be sure how he changed, and what really happened with him. Justin wanted us to create something you hadn't seen in previous Star Trek movies or previous sci-fi movies."

Idris Elba on set for his role as Krall, discussing how his role would work out to Justin Lin.

As Justin Lin saw it, there was only one real contender for the role of Krall. "Idris was my top choice by far," the director said. "Because a lot of times antagonists don't really have a lot of screen time. So you need someone who can command a presence and be able to fully commit and carry that through very surgically. We had a great first conversation." During that initial discussion, Elba and Lin conversed for about an hour. "But at the very end, he paused," continued Lin. "I was like, 'Aw, shit.' He goes, 'It's gonna be four hours of make-up every morning, right?' I said, 'Yup…' It was four hours every morning, and he was awesome. He's delivering a 100% every time." Commented Simon Pegg, "Our villain is a very interesting force [....] We worked with Idris [Elba] on the fine details, which was a really productive process [....] He was really good at pitching little character details, which we were able to adapt and put in." Doug Jung said about the character, "He's got the classic Star Trek villain qualities to him." Kirk actor Chris Pine noted about Elba's performance as Krall, "He was very alive and present, and changing stuff from one take to the next." In Pine's opinion, Elba thereby "came up with this really rather an extraordinary character." Uhura actress Zoë Saldana offered, "I really liked this character, Krall. I like what he's about. He also represents a lot of individuals in the past 10 to 15 years [....] [He's] a very lethal Big Bad – and, the make-up is astounding!" Sulu actor John Cho remarked, "The composite [character design] I saw was incredibly frightening." Cho also called Krall "an interesting bad guy." McCoy actor Karl Urban agreed, "He's a worthy adversary because, like all good villains, he forces the protagonists to question themselves and to question their direction.".

In backstory that was conceived for the movie but omitted from it, Krall's takeover of the alien society and technology on Altamid would have been portrayed as having been possible because the aliens were essentially mindless, weapon-less drones.

See also [ ]

• Krall on the Memory Alpha Wiki .

Navigation [ ]

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• 2 Miss Circle
• 3 Skar King

Idris Elba's 'Star Trek Beyond' Character Krall Revealed, Justin Lin Gives Us The Details

The Star Trek Beyond teaser trailer leaked online on Monday right before I was set to have lunch with director Justin Lin . The new Trek filmmaker confirmed that Idris Elba 's character is indeed in the teaser trailer, even though most of you probably didn't notice him. In the film Elba plays the new villain, a character that Lin says is named Krall. Find out more details about the Idris Elba Star Trek character after the jump.

Who Is Krall?

Idris Elba's Star Trek character is name Krall , which almost sounds Klingon in origin– but the character is not a Klingon.

When [Idris] came in, he had a lot of [prospective] projects and when I talked to him about this character, it wasn't about this or that it was about building or having a philosophy or point of view. And I like his character because his character is really challenging the way of the Federation's philosophy and there are a lot of things that when I was growing up I wanted to see.

In the trailer, Elba's character Krall is seen and heard saying the line:

This is where it begins, Captain. This is where the frontier pushes back!

His slight reptilian look and dialogue calls back to the premise of the original series Arena episode, which has led some longtime Trek fans to believe he is playing a Gorn. Even the name Krall is registered in the Star Trek databank as "a Gorn assassin who later befriended Nox the Romulan commander of the USS Admonitor, and later became one of the founders of the Klingon Alliance."

But Lin dismisses any previous canon, insisting that Krall is of a "new species that we discover in this chapter."

The Federation and Krall's Motivations

Back to the character's motivations, Lin says that "he's a character that has a very distinct philosophy that's very different." He gives us a bit more insight into what might be at play:

I think it's great to be a fan and I watch utopian San Francisco and go, oh wow, when you're building this movie you think, they don't have money, how do they live? How do they compete? And those are things that his character, in a way, has a very distinct and valid point of view.

Later in our discussion, he revealed more of the inspiration of the film's plot, which gives us some clues about Krall:

It was just really embracing the idea that the Federation, what would happen if you were going on a five-year journey and you're trying to also not only explore, but also maybe introduce other people to this way of thinking. What would that mean? What are the consequences to that? I mean, spreading a philosophy that you believe in that you think is great, are there gonna be any other points of views that's gonna counter you? And I think that those are the things that I thought of as a kid. And also then as an adult when I watch Star Trek. And I think we got to kind of explore that a little bit.

Hit the jump to learn more about Idris Elba's Star Trek character, including how the attack on the Enterprise mirrors our modern world, how much time it took to apply the Krall makeup, and more.

The Attack on the USS Enterprise

As for the attack that brings down the USS Enterprise, Lin reveals that it isn't a typical huge ship vs. big ship encounter and instead about what we're dealing with today, small cells in great numbers:

I grew up and Star Trek has a very 1960s sensibility of who has the bigger ship usually wins, right? And if you look at it, the attack, these ships are 40 feet long. And but there's like 4,000 of them. And so I think even in the way they're being encountered and how people are coming is it's you can't help but, I mean, we live in a world that is ever evolving. And I think that that's always made Star Trek sci-fi great is when you're able to at least acknowledge what's happening today.

When asked if he was referring to attacks like the recent Paris attacks, Lin takes a step back and painted a more broad picture:

Well I'm just saying anything that comes, even in the way we are as a country and how people engage in conflict. That's something that I felt like in this Star Trek, you see that it's different. I feel like when I do think about Star Trek, a lot of times it is about the size, it has a very different sensibility. But at the same time, I think it's also, that's also part of moving it and taking risks and saying there's a lot of different ways people engage in the universe.

Four Hours in Makeup

As for Idris himself, the filmmaker praised the actor:

I've worked with some really great people and Idris immerses himself and I really enjoyed working with him because he's all about the character and what's best about the character's journey in the film. The only thing that sucked is it took four hours every time we needed to get him on set.

And judging from the brief appearance of Krall in the teaser trailer, that four hours in the makeup chair every morning was well worth it.

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Star Trek Beyond is a stirring return to the big ideas that made the series great

After two disappointing entries in this rebooted film franchise, the new movie gets it right.

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Share All sharing options for: Star Trek Beyond is a stirring return to the big ideas that made the series great

There’s a lot to like about Star Trek Beyond — the stellar cast, all of whom have grown into their roles since the franchise rebooted in 2009; the exuberantly staged action scenes from first-time Trek director Justin Lin , who previously rebooted the Fast and the Furious franchise so effectively; the effortless way the script, by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung , balances character, comedy, and conflict.

But as a longtime fan of the Star Trek series, what I appreciated most about the new film was that it represented a return of sorts to the big ideas that drove the series in its earliest incarnations.

It’s the first Star Trek movie since that 2009 reboot that actually feels like Star Trek.

The original TV series was a stirring defense of 1960s political values

The original Star Trek TV series , which aired for three seasons on NBC starting in 1966, was a vehicle for social and political commentary, with many of its episodes working as overt metaphors for contemporary issues.

As Timothy Sandefur wrote last year in The Claremont Review of Books , series creator Gene Roddenberry was a World War II veteran deeply concerned about the rise of totalitarian governments. Thus, the series often functioned as a sci-fi-flavored defense of liberal internationalism and humanist individualism.

Those values were built into the show’s essential concept: Hundreds of years in the future, the galaxy is largely united under the banner of the United Federation of Planets, a kind of interstellar United Nations designed to unify human and alien species in a peaceful and prosperous order.

The Federation works through Starfleet, a spacefaring navy used for a combination of diplomacy, research, and — when necessary — defense against those that might threaten Federation values and interests. The series followed one of Starfleet’s starships, the Enterprise, and a diverse (especially for its time) crew that reflected the show’s commitment to inclusion, peace, and individualism.

Many of the series’ episodes pitted the crew of the Enterprise against groups and societies that didn’t share the Federation’s liberal values.

Often, those stories forced its characters to contend with twisted versions of themselves: In "Mirror, Mirror," one of the series’ best episodes, Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty find themselves in a parallel timeline where the Federation is a cruel empire and the Enterprise is its enforcer. In "Balance of Terror," the crew encounters the Romulans — an alien race that began as a violent offshoot of the logical, peaceful Vulcans with whom the Federation is aligned. The show’s chief antagonist came in the form of the Klingons, a rival power that prioritizes strength and domination and is often presented as a negative image of the Federation.

Perhaps more than anything else, Star Trek was a show about the clash of cultures, an extended argument for individual diversity bound together by shared values. It was a spacefaring adventure, yes, with phaser weapons and aliens and starship shootouts. But it existed first and foremost as a forum for exploring big ideas about society and morality through science fiction metaphor.

Star Trek’ s values existed across its many different versions

It’s true, of course, that the series’ metaphors could sometimes be a little too obvious.

In the season three episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," the crew of the Enterprise encountered the last two survivors of a civilization ravaged by a war fought between two peoples whose faces are split between black and white. The battle lines are drawn between those whose faces are black on the right side and white on the left, and those whose facial colors are reversed. In the end, after attempting to drag the crew of the Enterprise into their deadly squabble, the pair of warring aliens are doomed by their mutual, all-consuming hate.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the whole thing was an extended, not-very-subtle riff on race relations. But even with stories this hokey, the series retained an essential charm, because of the durability of its cast and characters, and because both its head and its heart were always in the right place.

"Let That Be Your Battlefield," for example, includes a mini monologue by Kirk to the ship’s visitors warning that violence and the use of force are relics of the past and will not be tolerated aboard his ship.

"You’re new to this part of the galaxy," Kirk says , "which is governed by the United Federation of Planets. We live in peace, with full exercise of individual rights." The original was full of moments like this; it was a show that knew what it stood for, and it wore its values on its gold-ringed uniform sleeves.

Clashes of ideas and values remained part of the Star Trek franchise throughout its various incarnations.

Star Trek: The Next Generation forced its crew to face down out-of-control collectivism and capitalism, respectively, in the form of alien societies the Borg and the Ferengi. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine grappled with terrorism and religious fundamentalism. Star Trek: Voyager stranded its crew far from Federation space, challenging them to see how their ideals held up without a support network.

The movie versions of Star Trek were driven more by action spectacle than the TV shows but never lost sight of Roddenberry’s original vision. In 1991, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country gave the original crew a fitting sendoff with a story about the end of the Klingon empire that worked as a parallel to the end of the USSR and the Cold War.

Star Trek Beyond once again pits the Enterprise against those who oppose its values

But when the franchise rebooted in 2009 under director J.J. Abrams , that all went away. Abrams transformed Trek into a modern blockbuster franchise, rapid-fire and action-heavy, with little time for social and political engagement. His focus was on the characters themselves and their personal and emotional journeys, rather than on the context and ideology of the world in which they lived.

Abrams borrowed all the visual trappings of the franchise, and connected his films to the original series via a variety of fan-friendly Easter eggs — but stripped the story of its reason for being. Yes, his update was fast and frenetic and full of sci-fi spectacle in a way the series had never managed before, but it felt deeply hollow: The Abrams vision of Star Trek had no ideology except nostalgia.

It’s fitting, then, that as Star Trek Beyond opens, Captain Kirk (now played by Chris Pine ) and the crew of the Enterprise feel like they’re drifting, struggling to find a purpose. Life, Kirk says in a winking nod to the 50-year-old franchise’s history, has begun to feel "episodic."

Turns out that’s not such a bad thing: The movie feels more like an episode of the original Star Trek than either of Abrams’s outings, because it once again pits the crew of the Enterprise against a foe driven by a warped ideology that runs counter to their own.

( Warning: major plot spoilers ahead .)

The villain in Beyond is an outlaw alien named Krall ( Idris Elba ), who sets the action in motion when he uses a fantastically destructive swarm attack to chew apart the Enterprise and strand the crew on an alien planet.

Krall, a ridge-faced alien of a type the crew have never seen before, turns out to have a vendetta against the Federation and all it stands for. "Federation is an act of war," he barks at one point, "Federation has taught you that conflict should never exist." He boasts of having grown up in a place where he "knew pain" and where "struggle made us strong — not peace, not unity."

As it turns out, Krall is actually a former soldier and Federation ship captain whose body has been warped by alien technology. He grew up fighting the wars that led to the Federation’s creation and, after struggling to fit in to a peaceful era, eventually went insane.

"You won the war!" Kirk shouts during the movie’s climactic battle. "You gave us peace!" Krall, a soldier who never bought into the Federation’s ideals, was a victim of that peace — a person left without a purpose.

Krall’s motivation and background are not as fleshed out as they could be — it’s still a big summer action movie, after all — but they’re very much in keeping with the spirit of the original series , where the villains were often mirror images of the heroes who simply took a different path, and the Federation’s particular ideas were central to the conflict.

It’s a callback to classic Trek that’s far more effective than any of Abrams’s empty nostalgia ploys, because it delivers what both Kirk and Krall are searching for: a reason for being.

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Entertainment

'Star Trek Beyond' Introduces A Brand New Villain

Star Trek Beyond finds the crew of the Starship Enterprise facing off against a brand new enemy: Krall. It might sound bold to say that Krall is a villain unlike those Captain Kirk and Spock have encountered before, but it's true, at least in the reboot films. With his imposing stature and creepy, scaled body, Krall is certainly more frightening a figure than Star Trek Into Darkness ' Khan, who had the benefit of looking like Benedict Cumberbatch. He also has much more terrifying abilities than that super-strong alien, like how he can seemingly suck the life out of people — a power Uhura later describes as "energy transference." But just how does Krall's energy transference work in Star Trek Beyond and what does it mean for the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise?

Krall's energy transference in Star Trek Beyond is never fully explained, making it arguably the most mysterious (and confusing) plot point of the movie. Throughout the film, it is revealed that Krall can kill people by simply grabbing ahold of their bodies and taking their energy, a process that causes victims to appear emaciated, drained and utterly destroyed form the inside out. When Krall does take a person's energy, it causes his face to change and flicker, almost as if it is contributing to the grey grooves on his face and head. It's a power that makes Krall both intriguing and terrifying, but it also creates a decent amount of plot holes.

The fact that Krall can somehow suck the life out of people isn't what drives his evilness, though it sure does help. The villain is actually driven by a deep hatred of the Federation, which makes him desperate to destroy it at all costs. In fact, Krall's distaste for the Federation is just about the only thing we know about him. Actor Idris Elba and filmmakers have been careful not to reveal too much about the newest Star Trek villain, but in an interview with Entertainment Weekly , Elba described Krall as "a man with a definite purpose. I say a man, but he's not a man. Or is he?"

This vague tease actually revealed a lot about Krall and helps explain Krall's energy transference. In the last act of the film ( spoiler alert! ), it's revealed that Krall isn't an alien at all. He's actually a man, or at least, he used to be. In fact, before Krall became Krall, he was a Federation Captain, who ended up stranded on one of the Federation's very first missions. After losing most of his crew, he and a few survivors stumbled upon some kind of alien technology that helped extend their lives. Supposedly, this alien technology gave them the ability to survive off the energy of living beings — hence the energy transference. It is this energy transference and prolonged life that altered Krall's appearance, and the man who once looked like Elba now looks like a scaly alligator man.

So, the energy transference has kept Krall alive all these years, and it's also a power he uses to kill people at will. What isn't clear is how Krall's energy transference works. Though he appears to be using some kind of contraption to tie up potential victims before he sucks the life out of them, he does not need technology to perform his energy transference, as evidenced by his using it at will on various ships. But, if Krall can simply take the life of any of his enemies by touch, or strong grip, then why doesn't he kill Kirk during their hand-to-hand combat? The specifics of Krall's energy transference appear to have been left on the cutting room floor or cast aside for the sake of simplicity.

This is one Star Trek Beyond mystery that will probably never be solved.

Images: Paramount Pictures; entertainmentweekly /tumblr; anthonystark /tumblr

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Star Trek Beyond

Where to watch.

Watch Star Trek Beyond with a subscription on Paramount+, Apple TV+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Star Trek Beyond continues the franchise's post-reboot hot streak with an epic sci-fi adventure that honors the series' sci-fi roots without skimping on the blockbuster action.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Captain James T. Kirk

Zachary Quinto

Commander Spock

Doctor "Bones" McCoy

Zoe Saldana

Lieutenant Uhura

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

Movie Clips

More like this, movie news & guides, this movie is featured in the following articles., critics reviews.

Screen Rant

Star trek beyond ending & why no sequel 7 years later explained.

Star Trek Beyond set up a sequel for Chris Pine's Captain Kirk and the Kelvin Timeline crew, but it's 7 years later and we're yet to see Star Trek 4.

• Despite Star Trek: Beyond leaving room for further adventures, Star Trek 4 has yet to be released after 7 years.
• Star Trek Beyond introduced the USS Enterprise-A as the new starship for Kirk and his crew.
• The delays in creating a sequel to Star Trek Beyond may be due to pay disputes and the desire to compete with Marvel blockbusters.

Despite Star Trek: Beyond 's ending leaving the doors open for the further adventures of Chris Pine's Kelvin Timeline crew, it's now seven years after the movie's release, and Star Trek 4 is yet to surface. Star Trek Beyond , the third entry in the J.J. Abrams' produced Star Trek movies, stranded the USS Enterprise crew on the planet Altamid. Discovering an abandoned Starfleet vessel from a century earlier, it's revealed that Krall and his army are the mutated crew of the USS Franklin, and Krall has been plotting his revenge against the Federation ever since crashing on Altamid decades ago.

While Kirk and Spock are considering their futures in Star Trek Beyond , there was never any indication that this was intended to be the final Kelvin Timeline movie. Captain Kirk has lost faith in his five-year mission and has applied to become Vice Admiral of the revolutionary new starbase, the Yorktown. Meanwhile, the death of Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has forced his younger self to consider leaving Starfleet and continuing Spock's diplomatic work on New Vulcan. By the end of Star Trek Beyond , Kirk and Spock realized they belonged aboard the USS Enterprise together and prepared to continue their five-year mission. Seven years later, audiences are yet to see that mission play out on the big screen.

Star Trek Beyond's Ending & How Kirk Beat Krall Explained

Krall had been tracking the USS Enterprise since it took possession of an ancient artifact that was the final component needed to complete the construction of the Abronath, a devastating ancient bioweapon. With the Abronath in his possession, Krall and his swarm set off for the Yorktown to wipe out its inhabitants. Giving chase in the USS Franklin, Kirk, and the crew first had to weaken Krall's swarm. Spock and Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban) beamed aboard one of the swarm ships to throw off their formation, allowing the Franklin to destroy the ships by using "Sabotage" Kirk's favorite Beastie Boys song as a discordant and disruptive noise.

With the Swarm destroyed, Kirk discovered the truth about Krall, that he was actually the embittered war veteran Captain Balthazar Edison. Krall had survived the destruction of the Swarm and still intended to use the Abronath by unleashing it into Yorktown's atmospheric regulator to wipe out all life aboard the space station. Kirk and Krall fought in the central atmospheric regulator, with the Enterprise Captain attempting to prevent Krall from unleashing the weapon. With help from Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg), Kirk was able to override the regulator and eject Krall, and the Abronath into the vacuum of space.

Star Trek Beyond Launched The USS Enterprise-A

With the original USS Enterprise destroyed in the spectacular first act of Star Trek Beyond , Kirk needed a new ship after saving Yorktown. The USS Enterprise-A is teased by Commodore Paris (Shohreh Aghdashloo) when she says that the only other ship capable of navigating the nebula near Altamid isn't near completion. With the Enterprise destroyed on Altamid, this new starship was presumably hastily renamed so that the Federation could retain its flagship.

As the Enterprise crew gathered to celebrate Captain Kirk's birthday at the end of Star Trek Beyond , they looked out admiringly at their new starship - the USS Enterprise-A. The construction of the new starship appeared to signal the ongoing adventures of Kirk and the crew. However, to date, the new Enterprise hasn't been put through its paces on the big screen, as Star Trek 4 is perennially delayed by multiple behind-the-scenes issues.

Why Kirk Is Not Vice Admiral & Enterprise Crew Changes

Kirk's heroic efforts guaranteed him the position of Vice Admiral aboard the Yorktown, however, he ultimately declined it. In a callback to the advice his Prime Universe counterpart once gave Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), he decided that there's no fun in becoming a deskbound Admiral. Instead, he was revitalized by his experiences on Altamid and realized that it was an adventure and the chance to " fly" that he really wanted, not promotion. Spock, meanwhile, discovered an old photo of the Prime Universe Enterprise crew, considerably older than their Kelvin Timeline counterparts. Realizing that he had made friends for life, he decided not to leave Starfleet for New Vulcan. Touchingly, Kirk and Spock never voice their doubts to each other, an unspoken acknowledgment of their importance to each other.

Some Enterprise crew members were tragically killed during the fight with Krall, including Ensign Syl (Melissa Roxburgh) who hid the artifact for Kirk. However, Star Trek Beyond teases a potential addition to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek cast in the form of Jaylah. Kirk got her fast-tracked into Starfleet Academy, suggesting that she may have returned as Ensign Jaylah in Star Trek 4 . It's hard to tell if the production problems with Star Trek 4 will make Jaylah's return more, or less, likely.

Star Trek Beyond Lost Leonard Nimoy & Anton Yelchin

Leonard Nimoy's death in 2015 is acknowledged by the passing of Ambassador Spock in Star Trek Beyond . Even in death, Nimoy's Spock influenced the Kelvin Timeline version, as his personal effects revealed the lifelong friendships that his younger self had formed. It was a touching tribute to the legacy of Leonard Nimoy, that also acknowledged Star Trek 's 50th anniversary when Star Trek Beyond was released in 2016.

Tragically, Anton Yelchin was killed in a freak motoring accident at his home a month before Star Trek Beyond 's theatrical release. It's for this reason that the movie ends with a dedication to Anton Yelchin, and Star Trek Beyond is a wonderful tribute to his portrayal of Ensign Pavel Chekov. Yelchin gets some great action sequences and comedy moments which he always excelled at as Chekov. Another tribute to Anton Yelchin was recently made with Star Trek: Picard 's President Anton Chekov (Walter Koenig).

Why Star Trek Beyond Hasn't Had A Sequel In 7+ Years

There have been multiple attempts to realize Star Trek 4 since 2016, with one possible version set to bring back Chris Hemsworth as Lt. George Kirk in a time travel movie. Another Star Trek 4 script, co-written by Quentin Tarantino was due to be a cinematic adaptation of the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "A Piece of the Action", involving a planet whose society was inspired by 1920s Chicago gangsters. For whatever reason, neither of these projects got off the ground, though it's been suggested that pay disputes put paid to the "Two Kirks" movie idea.

Chris Pine's Star Trek 4 plan hints as to why it's taken so long for a Star Trek Beyond sequel to surface. His reference to Paramount wanting Star Trek to compete with the big blockbusters of Marvel Studios is particularly telling. Although far from being a flop, Star Trek Beyond didn't perform as strongly at the box office as expected. Clearly, the various scripts drafted for Star Trek 4 haven't inspired much hope for big box office returns in the eyes of Paramount's studio heads. Ironically, the delays in getting a workable script that can compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe led to director Matt Shakman departing the project for Marvel 's Fantastic Four .

Prior to the ongoing industrial action in Hollywood, a script was being written by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet, with J.J. Abrams calling it the closest to 2009's Star Trek in terms of quality of story. The ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes will have delayed work on Star Trek 4 even further. While Paramount Studios long ago abandoned their plan to have Star Trek 4 released in 2023, it's no longer clear exactly when audiences can expect the movie to hit theaters.

Star Trek Beyond Influenced Star Trek On Paramount Plus

While Star Trek as a movie franchise appears to be in a state of flux, the streaming era has allowed it to make a hugely successful return to TV. However, the DNA of J.J. Abrams' Kelvin Timeline movies is shared by these new Star Trek TV shows. It's telling that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is focusing on younger versions of Spock, Uhura, and Kirk, who were arguably the main trio in the first of Abrams' Trek movies. Also, Captain Pike's Enterprise is as sleek and cinematic as the one seen in the Star Trek movies.

Similarly, the uniforms worn by the crew in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reflect the movie costumes worn by Chris Pine and the cast. While Strange New Worlds is episodic, shows like Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery have told huge movie-style stories across whole seasons. If Star Trek Beyond is truly the end for Star Trek 's Kelvin Timeline, its legacy will live on in the franchise's TV renaissance, truly made possible by the success of the movies that proved there was still an appetite for Gene Roddenberry's vision.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Star Trek Beyond

The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the te... Read all The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test. The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Zachary Quinto
• 900 User reviews
• 496 Critic reviews
• 68 Metascore
• 3 wins & 29 nominations total

• Captain James T. Kirk

• Commander Spock

• Doctor 'Bones' McCoy

• Lieutenant Uhura

• Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia After production on the film was completed, and a month before the release, Anton Yelchin died in a freak vehicle accident at age 27. During the ending credits, there is a dedication that reads, "For Anton." J.J. Abrams announced that Chekov would not be recast, "I would say you can't replace him. There will be no new casting. I can't imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better."
• Goofs The amount of ships and soldiers that the enemy has in its swarm changes dramatically during the final battle, from a few thousand to tens/hundreds of thousands when they attack the station. However, previously in the film, it is stated that the planet has deep and large underground caverns so it is entirely possible that there were more ships underground. Also, the amount of soldiers that would be needed to pilot all the ships would be huge as it was shown that they contain at least one soldier in each ship. But when they were watching the video logs near the film's ending, Captain Edison clearly states that they found drones. It is quite possible that the bulk of the enemy fleet is made up of drones and controlled by the hive mind that the music disrupts.

Doctor 'Bones' McCoy : [after removing shrapnel from Spock] Yeah. They say it hurts less if it's a surprise.

Commander Spock : If I may adopt a parlance with which you are familiar, I can confirm your theory to be horseshit.

• Crazy credits There is a giant green energy-hand, in the closing credits, mentioned in the movie as one of the possibilities for a ship lost in space.
• Connections Featured in Nostalgia Critic: How Right Are Trailers? (2016)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 900

• Nov 16, 2016
• How long is Star Trek Beyond? Powered by Alexa
• What happened to Carol Marcus from Star Trek Into Darkness?
• Why would Edison become captain of a warp-4 vessel if he had fought in the Xindi War (when ships were capable of warp 5)?
• July 22, 2016 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Official Site
• Star Trek: Beyond
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Paramount Pictures
• Skydance Media
• Alibaba Pictures Group
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $185,000,000 (estimated)
• $158,848,340
• $59,253,211
• Jul 24, 2016
• $343,471,816

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 2 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Surround 7.1
• Dolby Digital
• IMAX 6-Track
• 2.35 : 1 (original ratio)
• 2.39 : 1 (original ratio)

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How 'Star Trek Beyond' Turned Idris Elba Into a Terrifying Alien

Makeup artist Joel Harlow tells 'Inverse' about the 59 unique alien designs he created for the blockbuster threequel.

If you’ve been freaked out by makeup in a blockbuster movie over the last 15 or so years, there’s a pretty good chance it was made by Joel Harlow. The Academy Award-winning makeup designer has created facial transformations for such films as the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Alice in Wonderland , Mad Men , and the upcoming Marvel movie Black Panther . Harlow snagged Oscar gold for the 2009 Star Trek reboot but skipped out on the sequel to create the makeup designs for The Lone Ranger and Dark Shadows . He returned with a bang for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond , earning another Oscar nomination.

Harlow created over 50 creature designs for the film, including lead villain Krall (Idris Elba) and the warrior Jaylah (Sofia Boutella). Inverse spoke to Harlow about his workload, and what it took to turn Idris Elba into a threatening alien monster.

Were you eager to get back to Trek after skipping Into Darkness ?

I’ve been a Trek fan since I was a kid, so to be involved in this way is overwhelming. I have a long working relationship with Johnny Depp, and I was working with him on Dark Shadows and The Lone Ranger at the time, so I couldn’t do Into Darkness . He told me if there’s ever any film I really wanted to do just let him know and go do it. Star Trek Beyond was one of them.

You created over 50 unique prosthetic characters for Beyond . Is that a lot for a huge blockbuster like this?

The workload on this was staggering. It’s more than the first two new Star Trek films combined and doubled.

Jaylah was one of 59 individual designs created by Joel Harlow for 'Star Trek Beyond'.

Was the mandate to create that many unique practical makeup effects?

[Director] Justin Lin came into our studio early to approve designs when we started our builds, and we had 30 characters at that point. Then script pages kept getting reworked, but there were very obvious points where we knew they would need aliens in the background on top of the hero alien characters. We built to 46 alien designs, but realized we had to make it 50 because it was the best way to honor the fact that 2016 was the 50th anniversary of Star Trek .

All 60 members of my crew and I wanted to give back to this legacy in the way we knew how. We hit the mark and just kept going. We ended up with 59 unique designs in total.

Was it more difficult creating Krall because he was the lead villain?

We spent most of our efforts on the Krall design . We started with the most extreme version of his corrupt humanoid alien state. He had to read strong and villainous but also had to compliment Idris Elba’s performance without inhibiting him. We went for the silhouette first. If something doesn’t read that way then it’s not memorable. If you see an alien walking by out of focus in the background or in close-up, that silhouette needs to pop.

In the context of the story, he starts as a human being but he’s trying to extend his life by draining genetic material from his prisoners, and the primary prisoners he has access to are different aliens. He had to be an amalgam of a human and any numbers of species. By extension, a lot of the alien characters we designed for Beyond were aquatic in nature. Deep sea life is fascinating from a design perspective; lots of fins. There were also lizard elements in Krall too — gila monsters, specifically.

We also didn’t want to directly replicate other Star Trek aliens, but there are preexisting Trek alien designs incorporated into Krall too. We made sure to give him a little bit of Klingon.

Joel Harlow (center) applying one of his makeup designs for 'Star Trek Beyond'.

How did you capture that balance of facial articulation without burying the actor too much?

You don’t have a character until their performance is coming through the makeup. If you don’t have a performance than the best you have is some interesting photos to get out of it. Actors need to work with you just like you need to work with them, and the key is multiple testing sessions.

When you do tests you get a sense of how dense your silicon prosthetics should be, if you can make things softer to allow their brow movements to read more, and how to get them to emote better.

There are aspects of the makeup you just can’t diminish, so he had to amplify his performance based on what stages of Krall he was. As he gets more human, he doesn’t have to push too far. Idris worked out how far he needed to push the performance in order for it to translate.

How long did that take to apply to Idris Elba each day?

That one was relatively quick at two hours. In contrast, the Jaylah makeup was three and a half hours every day.

Why did the Jaylah makeup take longer?

It’s deceptively elaborate with lots of intricate dissections. The challenge was to strike a balance and blend it to where you don’t know where the prosthetics are. [Actress] Sofia Boutella wore a forehead that came down her cheeks and black design markings that went all the way down to her chin. The mouth, nose, and chin are Sofia; otherwise, everything else is all a prosthetic.

That’s opposed to Krall who has a lot of makeup going on on purpose. He has a lot of overt design lines. With Jaylah, it had to be an illusion of smooth, glass-like surfaces where there’s no margin for error. It’s a fine line to push that envelope because you don’t want the designs to start looking like they’re leftovers from another sci-fi franchise.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Star Trek: Every* Starbase Ranked Worst To Best

3. yorktown.

Yorktown Station is named after the ship that Gene Roddenberry planned to begin his trek through stars. The S.S. Yorktown was so-named in the earliest pitches for the series, before this was switched over to the U.S.S. Enterprise. The legacy of Yorktown has never quite left the franchise, with perhaps the brightest example here in Star Trek Beyond.

The station, a giant snowglobe in space, is a beautiful, if complicated design. Thanks to the use of artificial gravity on a mind-boggling scale, the station can host people in all sorts of directions, ups and downs, sides to sides. It it large enough, like many others on this list, to accept starships inside, leading to the frankly glorious shots of the Enterprise floating along beneath pedestrians' feet.

It was relatively well-armed for a deep space station, managing to fend off some of Krall's swarm, though in truth it was moments away from being obliterated before the Franklin arrived. Destroying such a beauty would be an utter crime, as is the thought that we as an audience may only see this station once. Existing as it does in the Kelvin timeline, it is currently unlikely to make an appearance in the Prime Universe, although with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy  en route, one can still dream.

Writer. Reader. Host. I'm Seán, I live in Ireland and I'm the poster child for dangerous obsessions with Star Trek. Check me out on Twitter @seanferrick