What's next for Spock in Star Trek 2? We caught up with Zachary Quinto, and he told us that pon farr may be on Spock's mind. How will Spock handle being in love with a human when the Vulcan race needs to be rebuilt?
Quinto gave us some hints about what Spock may do next — and gave us a sneak preview of his Dick Tracy-esque graphic novel, Mr. Murder is Dead.
Even though Quinto hasn't seen the script for Star Trek 2 just yet, he still took some time to speculate the future of Spock, now that he's one of the very last Vulcans in the Universe.
Where do you think your character is in the second film, where do you think his character journey is going?
I wonder about that. I would imagine (this is just speculative), his planet's been destroyed, he feels a real imperative to rebuild his race. But he's in love with a human. There's probably some potential conflict in that dynamic, I would not be surprised, and I would be intrigued and excited by that if that were the case. Again, I have such implicit trust in all of those guys: Damon, Bob and Alex, and J.J. I feel like they're going to take us where we need to go. And we're going to follow them whole-heartedly.
Do you think they'll keep the romance story alive with you, and do you want them to?
I do think [so]. I don't see how they could just drop it. It may be fraught, I don't know!
Well in Aliens 3 they just killed Michael Biehn off. Crazier things have happened.
What, are they going to kill me or Zoey?
No we just mean, things can change between movies...
Things can change but nobody is getting rid of Zoe Saldana, that's for sure. So I guess I had better be afraid.
Where is Spock now? He's one of the last few Vulcans
He's not the only Vulcan, I think I said, "Of my planet's nearly 6 billion inhabitants, approximately 10,000 have survived." He's not the only one. But the odds aren't great. He has a bit of a cultural imperative to [help].
Would Spock really seek out more Vulcans, especially since he turned his back on their culture previously?
He turned his back by choosing not to go to the Vulcan Science Academy, but his culture has always been a very important part of who he is. It's an integral part of his internal fabric. I think if he's wrestling with feelings of guilt for having sort of embraced his humanity, then an event like this is the great equalizer, it levels the playing field. I don't think he's going to spend too much time feeling guilty. I think he's going to spend a lot more time doing the logical thing. Which is to help repopulate, help support, and help rebuild the race of people. His father was full full Vulcan, and he has a responsibility there, and he loves his father very much. I don't think he's that torn about it. I think he's done the best he can to straddle a really complicated circumstance.
What other questions do you have about the next film? What are you excited for?
I'm interested to see what the villain situation is. What are we fighting against, what is our mission? That's going to be really cool for me. I'm really excited to see the direction in which they take my character in general. I'm excited to see when this movie takes place, in juxtaposition to when we ended the first one. Where do we pick back up? What's happened to the characters since then? My sense is what's the dynamic like between Kirk and Spock? Is it all smooth sailing? I imagine that they're both so strongly willed, that there will be some continued friction... I'm just excited to read it and shoot it.
Meanwhile, we're also really excited to show you guys a few pages from the interesting graphic novel that Quinto helped publish. Titled Mr. Murder is Dead, written by Victor Quinaz and illustrated Brent Schoonover.
The 112-page graphic novel follows a burned- out detective after the murder of his biggest nemesis. The book pulls proudly from the panels of Dick Tracy, but with a bit of a dark twist. For instance the now retired detective has turned into a bit of a drunk. Although Quinto is quick to point out that at least Det. Gould Kane isn't a mean drunk.
But perhaps the biggest surprise in this book was the collection of flashbacks illustrated with cool retro-looking panels. Which you can see here.
Here's the official synopsis:
Mr. Murder tells the story of retired detective Gould Kane, long into his retirement as a top cop, who is now the #1 suspect in the death of his greatest foe, Mr. Murder. With a motive so intense even Gould's old partner suspects him, this truth is Gould is the only cop worth a damn to solve the cryptic case. The clues could lead Gould to a new and perhaps even greater profession in his twilight… as a very bad man. Mr. Murder is Dead is a "Who Didn't Do It" set in the fading world of Golden age comic strips; a criminal's lament to all things past, present, and meaningless.
We'll have lots more on Mr. Murder is Dead before the book hits shelves on October 11th.