The Federation has a new foe in the form of Krall, an alien played by Idris Elba. Not much has been revealed about him thus far, and even as director Justin Lin and his cast deconstruct the character in a new Star Trek Beyond featurette, they still remain mum on his motivations. At the very least, we know he’s not secretly Khan, amirite?! But the video offers fans a brief primer and some new footage to hold us over until the release.
While Elba acknowledges Krall will instantly be seen as a villain, he describes the character as “complex.” Lin elaborated, “I wanted a character that is there to deconstruct the Federation’s ideals, but to do it in a way where he has a very valid philosophy.” It’s a sentiment that sounds an awful lot like Joe and Anthony Russo’s description with Tony Stark in Captain America: Civil War — they wanted audiences to be split in choosing whether to side with him or Steve Rogers.
Simon Pegg, who also worked on the screenplay for Star Trek Beyond, further teased, “We wanted him to have a complex reason behind his bad guy-ness.” Watch the featurette below.
Elba previous told EW about Krall, whom he described as “predatory” and not one for monologues:
What’s interesting about him is that he has a real beef with what the Enterprise stands for. Krall’s a character who’s deeply steeped in hatred — in my opinion, a well-earned hatred — for the Federation. It felt quite political. There’s a relatability to what’s happening in our world. Not everybody’s happy with what everybody calls the good guys.
Star Trek Beyond continues the intergalactic adventures of Kirk (Chris Pine) and his Enterprise crew. Zoe Saldana, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, John Cho, Sofia Boutella, and the late Anton Yelchin also feature.
The film will screen at San Diego Comic-Con later this month before hitting theaters on July 22.
