It is no secret that I am a fan of Star Trek (here are some examples). I heaved a mighty, nerdy sigh last week when I saw the new movie and was able to report that, yes, it is damned good. One of the architects of Star Trek and, indeed, perhaps the man to thank for it appealing to the hardcore Trekkie is co-writer/co-producer Roberto Orci. He and I spoke on the phone and I had an opportunity to test him on some Trek trivia (SPOILER: Bob may love Trek, but he doesn’t have the answers at his fingertips!), the future of the franchise, plus a little Transformers and Fringe, too. Below is a transcript.
Jordan Hoffman: Hello, Bob! Wait allow me to very quickly put the phone down and . . .(sounds of clapping.) This is the sound I made as the credits rolled at the conclusion of Star Trek.
Roberto Orci: Aw, serious? That’s so nice.
Jordan Hoffman: I was and am a tremendous Star Trek fan, and, I can not tell a lie, I was nervous. It’s the honest truth that the very night before I saw this movie I had a nightmare – a NIGHTMARE, I tell you- wherein I was watching Star Trek and it was a bad movie. And I remember in the dream being like, "This doesn’t make sense. . .the clips have been so good and the Countdown prequel comic was so awesome. . . "
Roberto Orci: You’re kidding?! Have you had dreams about hating movies before?
Jordan Hoffman: I dream all kinds of weird stuff about franchise films, you don’t want to know. . .Now, Bob, I know you’ve been doing the junket for Star Trek all weekend.
Roberto Orci: Well – are you kidding? This is a blast, I love to talk about this stuff.
Jordan Hoffman: Well, fair enough, I get that. But the readers of UGO – the question is not “should I see Star Trek?” the question is “how many TIMES should I see Star Trek . . .in IMAX?”
Roberto Orci: (laughs) Okay, gotcha.
Jordan Hoffman: So we need not sell the product here.
Roberto Orci: Gotcha.
Jordan Hoffman: So what I want to do, number one, is thank you [SPOILER WARNING] for putting the Seti Eel in there.
Roberto Orci: Ha!
Jordan Hoffman: When that busted out, I mean, I tried to keep quiet during the screening, but when that busted out there was no ability to self-censor. I just shouted, “Oh Sh*t!” at full voice.
Roberto Orci: (Laughs) Good.
Jordan Hoffman: As did my comrade seated to my left. So much so that I missed Eric Bana’s line. We shouted right over him.
Roberto Orci: That’s so funny.
Jordan Hoffman: And, you know, you locked it in. Any nerdish, canon-worrying fan, it can all be explained away by the very first scene: alternate timeline, destruction of Kelvin. Boom
Roberto Orci: Wow. That’s so great to hear. Thank you, seriously. It means a lot to hear that.
Jordan Hoffman: Although – there are two things I want to point out!
Roberto Orci: (laughing) Please, please.
Jordan Hoffman: One – Uhura has an Orion roommate?
Roberto Orci: (nervous laughter)
Jordan Hoffman: Here’s how I interpret this: someone on the Kelvin died. Maybe he was a governmental liaison for the UFP or was going to be. He dies and some other dude winds up talking his place in this new Universe and becomes an ambassador or something, as such, he winds up opening relations between the Federation and Orion....?
Roberto Orci: Or....there’s an underground railroad and some of the [Orion Slave Girls] got out and they were sold to freedom. . . .
Jordan Hoffman: All right. Fair enough. And the other biggie (caught by CHUD) was this: Spock already knows that the Vulcans and Romulans are cousins – they aren’t supposed to know this yet, but, again, who knows which DNA specialist dies on the Kelvin, right?
Roberto Orci: Yes, I think so. And, having recorded some of the telemetry from the shuttlecraft, uh, y’know. . . .
Jordan Hoffman: Exactly!
Roberto Orci: (laughs) Oh – and the telemetry from the shuttlecraft explains any advancements in technology. . .
Jordan Hoffman: Of course, of course. And, the truth of the matter is, if you worry about this too much, you are not having fun.
Roberto Orci: Well – we tried to think about EVERY one of these things.
Jordan Hoffman: So here’s the thing. You are not in front of Memory-Alpha.org, right? I was thinking it might be fun, since it has been noted in the past how of the “Supreme Court,” [the five creatives behind Star Trek including Orci, writing partner Alex Kurtzman, director J.J. Abrams and producers Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk] you are the most die-hard fan, I wanna hit some trivia. You ready to go 12 rounds?
Roberto Orci: Oh, God. Uh, I dunno.
Jordan Hoffman: C’mon, you are gonna’ get all of these.
Roberto Orci: I don’t think so.
Jordan Hoffman: We start off easy. Number one: What was the Vulcan ritual that enables Spock’s Katra to transfer from Dr. McCoy back into his own resurrected body?
Roberto Orci: Kolinahr.
Jordan Hoffman: Nnnnnnnnn. Not correct.
Roberto Orci: Did you say that enables him to go back into his body?
Jordan Hoffman: Yes. When the high priestess does the thing. . . .
Roberto Orci: Ah, yeah. No, I don’t know. You got me.
Jordan Hoffman: It’s called the . . .you know, Bob, you’ve been having a busy weekend, so I understand. But it is called the Fal-Tor-Pan.
Roberto Orci: Ah. Yes, right.
Jordan Hoffman: I mean, one who has achieved Kolinahr would be able to perform this. . . Kolinar factors into it, so.
Roberto Orci: Yeah, that’s what I meant.
Jordan Hoffman: All right, okay, let’s move on.
Roberto Orci: (sighs)
Jordan Hoffman: What was the name of the librarian from the planet Sarpeidon.
Roberto Orci: I don’t know.
Jordan Hoffman: From “All Our Yesterdays.”
Roberto Orci: No.
Jordan Hoffman: The librarian?
Roberto Orci: Nope.
Jordan Hoffman: Mr. Atoz. A to Z. Ben Stiller even did a bit on it.
Roberto Orci: (laughing) Ah, there ya go.
Jordan Hoffman: Okay, one more and I’ll leave you alone.
Roberto Orci: (laughing)
Jordan Hoffman: What’s Harry Mudd’s middle name?
Roberto Orci: I don’t know!
Jordan Hoffman: You don’t know Harry Mudd’s middle name?!?!
Roberto Orci: No!
Jordan Hoffman: Harcourt blah blah Mudd!
Roberto Orci: Oh, right. Right.
Jordan Hoffman: Sounds familiar, right?
Roberto Orci: Yes, of course.
Jordan Hoffman: His middle name is Fenton.
Roberto Orci: Right.
Jordan Hoffman: Awww, Bob.
Roberto Orci: My brain is now filled with the NEW Universe!
Jordan Hoffman: Well that’s the thing. All this. . .wonderful nonsense still exists. It’s put aside, it isn’t damaged, but now we have a whole new Universe created with the awesome new movie.
Roberto Orci: And, you know, you may find some of these things in there. My uncle, the one who got me into Trek, said, “you must have Harry Mudd in there.” And we actually had a scene in there. And we had his name – AND KNEW HIS NAME – and then once we cut him from the script, you know, that knowledge skipped off into the future for me.
Jordan Hoffman: Well, this is exciting, because there will be a sequel.
Roberto Orci: We’re writing a sequel – let’s see if they want to make it.
Jordan Hoffman: Well, it is still is exciting news. Because when one sees the film it ends very up, you know, you’ve got the crew, you’ve got the ship, you are ready for some new adventures and it would appear that everything is in motion to let that happen. But, okay, you got this, you got Transformers, what franchise are you gonna grab onto next?
Roberto Orci: Well, obviously, I’m waiting for Star Wars to become available. As soon as it is, we have an idea for that.
Jordan Hoffman: Right, and Batman, too?
Roberto Orci: Well, only if I can make a happy Batman. I dunno about the sad Batman.
Jordan Hoffman: If Batman were a member of the Enterprise crew, who would he be? Kirk? He does like to lurk in the shadows, maybe Scotty?
Roberto Orci: I dunno. Batman might be a villain.
Jordan Hoffman: Oooh.
Roberto Orci: He might fit in more on Khan’s ship.
Jordan Hoffman: Will there be more Trek comics in this new continuity? I loved the prequel, Countdown, that you had a hand in. I think it is required reading for the new movie. Well, not required, but –
Roberto Orci: It certainly adds –
Jordan Hoffman: Yeah, it adds depth to Eric Bana’s character and just makes it more fun. And it is awesome for fans to know that [SPOILER ALERT] the ship was created by LaForge.
Roberto Orci: Isn’t that great?
Jordan Hoffman: Indeed. So, more of this?
Roberto Orci: Yeah, we want to do a couple more. We have ideas that Alex and I and Mike Johnson and Tim Jones are pitching them now to IDW Comics.
Jordan Hoffman: Who’s voicing Soundwave in Transformers?
Roberto Orci: Welker.
Jordan Hoffman: That’s official?
Roberto Orci: I think so.
Jordan Hoffman: Uh oh.
Roberto Orci: Might be something I just told you for the first time, but I think so.
Jordan Hoffman: Good to know. Rumors Leonard Nimoy may come in?
Roberto Orci: Hope so. There’s talk. Nimoy is pivotal to everything. He did a voice in the original Transformers movie, and we wrote Transformers, he was on Mission: Impossible and we did Mission: Impossible: III and then Trek. . .
Jordan Hoffman: And now he’s on Fringe.
Roberto Orci: Now he’s on Fringe!
Jordan Hoffman: Did he shoot his episode yet?
Roberto Orci: He shot one episode, yes.
Jordan Hoffman: Were you there?
Roberto Orci: No. He was out in New York and I was here.
Jordan Hoffman: He didn’t call me!
Roberto Orci: He went, did the shoot, then was out.
Jordan Hoffman: Unacceptable.
Roberto Orci: But here’s what I want to know from you: what do YOU want to see in a sequel? Do you want to see a harmony with canon like we have in this film – such as [SPOILER ALERT] cheating on the Kobayashi Maru, which is taken straight from canon, or Spock kissing Uhura, which is a riff on canon when Kirk kissed Uhura – do you want to see more of this, or should we just continue now with the new Universe?
Jordan Hoffman: Here is my answer. And write this down.
Roberto Orci: I won’t write it down, but I’ll remember.
Jordan Hoffman: The answer is: go on with your bad selves. Shoot off into Warp Factor 6 with your new Universe and don’t worry about canon anymore. But – and this is a big but – we fans love those Ceti Eels! I mean, there are similarities in Universe and Universe Prime – there are still Ceti Eels all over the place. And bring 'em on!
Roberto Orci: So a little harmonizing, but not a slave.
Jordan Hoffman: No, not a slave. It is a new ship. It looks great, it moves differently. The use of space as a vacuum, by the way, is awesome – I’ve never seen that on Trek before –
Roberto Orci: Isn’t that cool?
Jordan Hoffman: Absolutely. But, you know, you’ve got to remember, we in the fanbase get excited by the little stuff. There’s a reason there are a hundred thousand pages on Memory-Alpha.org, it is a huge world. And this can be incorporated without throwing what you are doing off track.
Roberto Orci: Okay.
Jordan Hoffman: And throw some Ferengis in there.
Roberto Orci: Ferengis? Okay.
Jordan Hoffman: Get Armin Shimerman back in the makeup. He’s played Ferengis other than Quark, so it won’t be an issue. Keep that guy working.
Roberto Orci: Did you see the Tribble?
Jordan Hoffman: What? No! Where was there a Tribble?
Roberto Orci: Behind Scotty when you meet him. It’s in the cage, you can hear him breathing.
Jordan Hoffman: Oh my God! I missed it!
Roberto Orci: Something for the second viewing.
Jordan Hoffman: For the second? For the fourth!
Roberto Orci: God bless you
Jordan Hoffman: Bob, bless you. And congratulations. Fun talking to you. The trivia was a bust, but, hey. . .
Roberto Orci: I’m fried here, can’t even remember my name.
Jordan Hoffman: It’s a valid excuse, we’ll try again next time.
Roberto Orci: All right.
