Chris Hemsworth STar Trek

2009's Star Trek reboot put Chris Hemsworth on the map for most people. He's only in the movie for its opening sequence, but he used his few minutes of time to deliver an incredibly heartfelt, instantly memorable performance as the ill-fated father of a one James Tiberius Kirk. It was a small character, but one whose heroic legacy often serves as driving force for Chris Pine's James Kirk to be a better person.

And now, according to J.J. Abrams, we'll be seeing Hemsworth's George Kirk in a fourth Star Trek movie. Not only that, but the movie will somehow bring together Hemsworth and Chris Pine's characters.

How exactly this is going to happen is totally unknown. Hemsworth's Kirk clearly dies in the '09 Star Trek, so maybe the fourth movie will involve time travel. Or maybe it'll see the crew of the Enterprise visiting a world or race that re-creates events or memories from the past. Maybe they'll break out the holodeck and Hemsworth will be a virtual character.

They could pull it off any number of ways, but for now all we know is that it's in the works. That in and of itself is actually pretty cool news. The people at Paramount must be mighty confident in how Star Trek Beyond turned out if they've already commissioned a script for a fourth movie in the series. Now let's just hope the box office ends up being good enough to guarantee it.