These 'Star Trek' Episodes Would Make Great Movies (2024)

Star Trek is one of the biggest multimedia franchises in history, with multiple television shows and 13 theatrically released feature films. Yet, for some reason, Paramount Pictures has struggled to get Star Trek 4 off the ground, as they've faced multiple delays and various incarnations. This feels particularly frustrating when one considers that throughout Star Trek's history, they've had multiple episodic storylines that could be feature films if given the proper budget and expansion.

The filmmakers have looked to the original series in the past to inform the films. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry revisited ideas introduced in the episode "The Changeling" for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is less a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture as it is a follow-up to The Original Series episode "Space Seed," which introduced Khan. Star Trek: First Contact continues multiple Borg episodes in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

When 2009's Star Trek rebooted the timeline, it not only presented the opportunity to tell new stories with The Original Crew but also put new spins on classic Trek tales, reimagining them not only within this new continuity but also giving them the big-budget makeover that only a feature film could.

The one time they've actually done this was Star Trek Into Darkness, which was a loose remake of both "Space Seed" and The Wrath of Khan, and the results were mixed. While Star Trek Beyond delighted fans with an original story, maybe revisiting a classic Trek episode with a big-budget spin is what will get the long-term development of Star Trek 4 off the ground. This is actually what Quentin Tarantino had planned for his now-canceled Star Trek film, as he wanted to adapt The Original Series episode "A Piece of the Action."

As Paramount Pictures struggles to make a new Star Trek film, let's take a look at some classic episodes that could be used to craft Star Trek 4.

10 "Court Martial"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 1, Episode 20

In this Season 1 episode of Star Trek, Captain Kirk finds himself on trial on charges of criminal negligence after jettisoning an occupied research pod during an emergency, seemingly resulting in the death of Commander Benjamin Finney.

A courtroom drama as a Star Trek film already worked for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and specifically with the Kelvin Timeline incarnation of Kirk, it would be a fitting story for his character arc. Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness showed Kirk's willingness to break the rules, and while Star Trek Beyond showed a more mature Kirk, his younger self's actions could come back to bite him.

'Star Trek' Court Room Drama

A Few Good Men meets Star Trek is a strong pitch on its own, but adapting "Court Marshall" might solve the issue of the increasing budgets of Star Trek films. Making a smaller-scale, personal character drama Star Trek film with a few action set pieces could reduce the budget while giving them a better chance of recouping their investment. It also would help the movie stand apart from the rest of the film series. If done right, it could redefine the series from blockbuster to potential award contender.

9 "Trials and Tribble-ations"

'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' - Season 5, Episode 6

"Trials and Tribble-ations" was an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that was created to mark the franchise's 30th anniversary. In the episode, Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) travels back to the events of the Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" to prevent Kirk's assassination. The episode is best known for digitally inserting the character of Sisko in old footage from Star Trek: The Original Series. That idea of time travel and crossing over different points in the franchise's history could be a good starting point for Star Trek 4, using it to tease the Kelvin Timeline version of The Next Generation crew.

Crossover and Potential Franchise Reset

Star Trek 4 could use the "Trials and Tribble-actions" time travel as a starting point, but through the point of view of the Enterprise crew coming face to face with visitors from the future, the recast Kelvin Timeline versions of the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation. That allows the film to be a crossover movie and a potential setup for which characters will take over and lead the live-action Star Trek franchise in future installments.

It would be a bigger version of Star Trek: Generations, which saw Captain Picard and Captain Kirk finally meet, but here it is both crews. It is undoubtedly a big headline-grabbing Star Trek concept, and there are plenty of great picks to play new incarnations of TNG's crew.

8 "Assignment: Earth"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 2, Episode 26

"Assignment: Earth" is a strange entry in Star Trek: The Original Series. The episode involves Gary Seven, a time agent dressed in a 1960s suit, attempting to alter a moment from Earth's history, with Kirk and Spock unclear on his motives or if he can be trusted. Gary Seven is revealed to be from the 24th century and part of an organization that looks to preserve the timeline from threats.

The episode was originally a standalone pilot that was reformatted into a backdoor pilot that was never picked up. Despite some brief references to Gary Seven's agency, called Supervisors, in Picard and Prodigy, Star Trek has never revisited the character or concepts in live-action media.

007 Enterprise

Gary Seven was Star Trek's attempt at doing James Bond/Man from U.N.C.L.E. style spy stories, as the genre had reached a newfound level of popularity in the 1960s. Doing Star Trek meets James Bond as a movie is an excellent idea. The visual of a man in a traditional black tie suit standing aboard the futuristic Enterprise is a striking image.

It could send the Kelvin Star Trek crew into the past, continuing a tradition of the Star Trek films' lead crew doing a time travel story. This was previously done in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, bringing the original Enterprise Crew to San Francisco, and then Star Trek: First Contact dropped the crew of The Next Generation into 2063.

7 "Unification"

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' - Season 5, Episodes 7 & 8

"Unification" is a two-part episode in Star Trek: The Next Generation that sees the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) attempting to negotiate peace between Vulcans and Romulans. What is notable is the episode's ending of Spock continuing his work to someday bring peace between Vulcans and Romulans is picked up in 2009's Star Trek, as Spock's attempt to save Romulus from the destruction of a Supernova is what leads to the eventual creation of the Kelvin Timeline. Star Trek 4 adapting "Unification" could attempt to bring the Kelvin timeline full circle.

Can Spock Forgive Romulans For the Death of His Home?

With the destruction of Vulcan being a significant moment in this converged timeline and the younger Spock's (Zachary Quinto) knowledge that Romulus will be destroyed in the future, he is in an interesting position to unite the two species. But with Vulcans nearly extinct on a smaller New Vulcan colony and the Romulans so far in the Kelvin Timeline possibly not having the "Balance of Terror" encounter, the two species are in drastically different places.

The other question is if Spock now holds a hatred of Romulans and what they will become. This could allow for a nice flip on the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country dynamic between Kirk and Spock. In that film, Kirk was not open to peace talks with Klingons after they killed his son, and Spock was the voice of reason, but here Spock could resent Romulans for destroying his homeworld and his mother, and Kirk would be the one to motivate Spock to unite the two factions in honor of the recently deceased Spock Prime at the beginning of Star Trek Beyond.

Adapting "Unification" could be a more character-centric Star Trek film that returns the franchise to its more philosophical and political stories.

6 "Mirror, Mirror"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 2, Episode 4

The Kelvin Timeline is one of many alternate timelines in the Star Trek universe, but the most famous is still the Mirror Universe, first introduced in "Mirror, Mirror." The episode involves a transporter malfunction that swaps Captain Kirk and his companions with their evil counterparts from a parallel universe.

So far, only one Mirror Universe exists, the one to the Prime Star Trek timeline. Yet the creation of the Kelvin Timeline could create a new Mirror Universe, a reflection of their universe. This means this Mirror Kelvin Universe would reflect two timelines, the Kelvin and the original Mirror Universe, giving them somewhat of an inferiority complex which could make them hostile to both timelines.

Evil Counterparts

The Mirror Universe has been explored multiple times in the Star Trek franchise, but the concept of evil doppelgangers has not yet been explored in the films. Having Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise Crew fight evil versions of themselves would make for great drama (and cost-effectiveness as the same actors play dual roles), and could explore some new possibilities for what-ifs in the franchise's alternate history.

In the new Mirror Universe, did Kirk ever become Captain, or did Spock remain Captain and kill Kirk? It could be fun to see how the events of the 2009 film would have played out in the darkest timeline and what a war between the two timelines would mean for the franchise.

5 "City on the Edge of Forever"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 1, Episode 28

"City on the Edge of Forever" is often regarded as the best episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and one of the best entries in the entire franchise. Written by legendary sci-fi author Harlan Ellison, the episode sees Kirk and Spock travel back to the 1930s through a sentient time portal called The Guardian of Forever to rescue Bones.

During their travel, Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler, a woman who works in a soup kitchen whose life was saved due to the interference of the Enterprise crew. He then discovers that must let the woman he loves die to save the lives of millions of people. This emotionally gripping episode shows the powerful subject matter Star Trek could tackle.

Sacrifice the One You Love to Save the Future

"City on the Edge of Forever" is such a great script that it easily could be adapted directly with more expansion and would make for a gripping tale of tragic romance. In such a remake, The Guardian of Forever could be a good starting point to explore several different stories where the Enterprise Crew are forced to go back in time and confront a great tragedy. There are plenty of historical ones, but Kirk and Spock could grapple with the idea that they could save Vulcan's destruction or even stop Kirk's father from dying, effectively ending the Kelvin Timeline.

4 "The Best of Both Worlds"

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' - Season 3, Episode 26 & Season 4, Episode 1

Easily one of the most iconic Star Trek episodes ever is the two-part The Next Generation episode, "The Best of Both Worlds." The episode sees the Enterprise-D crew confronting the Borg, where they assimilate Captain Jean Luc-Picard in one of the all-time great cliffhanger episodes.

The episode was so influential that it made The Borg one of the most iconic Star Trek villains and served as the launch point for Star Trek: First Contact and all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. However, the Borg was created for The Next Generation and never confronted Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Star Trek Assimilation

With a new timeline, the Federation could come into contact with the Borg sooner than they did in the Prime Timeline. It would allow fans to see how the crew of the Enterprise would handle the threat of the Borg had they been created during The Original Series run. The idea of Spock Vulcan mind-melding with a Borg drone and either falling under the influence of their hive mind or being able to break someone free is so exciting it feels odd that it wasn't the original pitch for a Star Trek sequel.

The Borg, being such a powerful enemy, could also be used to unite the Federation and the Klingon Empire sooner than the original timeline, with Starfleet's diverse backgrounds being a solid counterbalance to the Borg's uniformity. Pitting the Borg against the Kelvin Timeline crew would be a way to take advantage of the rebooted timelines' new status quo.

3 "The Doomsday Machine"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 2, Episode 6

"The Doomsday Machine" is one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, which sees the Enterprise come face to face with a gigantic doomsday machine from another galaxy created by an ancient long lost race.

If that wasn't enough, the crew also must deal with Commander Matt Decker, who suffers from survivor's guilt after he got his entire crew killed by transporting them to a nearby planet to sacrifice himself to the Doomsday Machine, only for it to destroy the planet instead. Decker tries to take command of the Enterprise and seek revenge on the weapon of mass destruction while endangering everyone on board. It is a classic Moby Dick story, which also served as inspiration for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

For I Have Become Death, Destroyer of Worlds

A "Doomsday Machine" movie could combine the best elements of some of Star Trek's most iconic films. It would see the team facing off against an ancient elemental force that is beyond their comprehension, like in Star Trek: The Motion Picture or Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, while also becoming a gripping drama with a human antagonist like Commander Decker.

While never officially confirmed, Commander Decker is rumored to be the father of Willard Decker, the captain who had a hostile relationship with Kirk in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Introducing him as a father could add a new dimension to his shattered psyche. "The Doomsday Machine" would make for an epic Star Trek movie with literally world-ending stakes, but it also has the benefit of a small-scale conflict of two Captains wrestling for leadership in facing down the ultimate killing machine.

2 "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

'Star Trek: The Original Series' - Season 1, Episode 3

The second Star Trek pilot (but the third episode broadcast), "Where No Man Has Gone Before," was the first episode with Captain Kirk. The episode centers on two crew members, helmsman Gary Mitchell and the ship's psychiatrist, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, who are exposed to an energy barrier that grants them incredible psychic powers. Mitchell eventually begins to believe himself a god and starts to go on a rampage. It is an excellent premise for an episode whose budget could not meet its ambitious scope but is seemingly primed for a big budget update.

The Enterprise Takes the Powers of the Gods

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is essentially Star Trek's version of X-Men's "The Dark Phoenix Saga."The sight of a man floating in space powered by cosmic energy against the might of the Starship Enterprise is an eye-catching image that would be unlike anything Star Trek has done before on film.

The desire for Kirk and company to face down a superpowered foe is so strong that before Star Trek Into Darkness came out, many were hoping that Benedict Cumberbatch's character would be Gary Mitchell instead of Khan as a way to shake things up. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the episode that got Star Trek back off the ground after its first pilot and its story is primed for an epic film adaptation that could restore the film franchise.

1 The Temporal Wars

'Star Trek: Enterprise' Season-Long Arc

Less of a single episode and more a story arc, The Temporal Cold Wars was introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise as a conflict fought between several time-traveling factions, each from different points in time, as they attempted to manipulate history for their benefit. Writers used the Temporal War to give Star Trek a sliding timescale for events that had since passed in the real world, like the Eugenics Wars that Khan fought in, which were first mentioned as happening in the 1990s, now being moved further into the timeline.

Until Star Trek: Discovery, the Temporal Wars had primarily gone ignored in the Star Trek canon, but they could be a great starting point for a new Star Trek movie.

A War Across Time...and Timelines

Due to Enterprise being a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the events of its story are still canon to the Kelvin Timeline since they occur before the incursion point that splits the timeline off. With the Kelvin Timeline itself being the result of time travel alteration, the franchise could use the Temporal Wars as a meta-concept to explore the Kelvin Timeline's place within the Star Trek canon. This time travel aspect could also revive the concept of bringing Chris Hemsworth back, like the original plan for Star Trek 4.