The Star Trek universe giveth, and the Star Trek universe taketh away. Hot on the heels of the announcement that the Kelvinverse timeline of feature films was finally dead dead comes the news that Paramount has a brand new Trek movie in the works—and one that sounds like something fans haven’t gotten the chance to see in far too long.Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley have been tapped to write, produce, and direct a brand new Star Trek film for the studio. Per Deadline, who first broke the story, the forthcoming installment will offer a completely new take on the franchise universe, unburdened by any sort of connections to current television series, previous films, or other projects that may or may not have sputtered out at various points in the development pipeline. (Sorry to Noah Hawley and Quentin Tarantino, I guess.) Virtually nothing is known about its plot, but the report suggests the film will likely introduce new characters to the franchise, though we don’t technically know if that will be in primary or supporting roles.cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});Goldstein and Daley have already proven themselves capable writers who can put fresh spins on preexisting IPs. The pair wrote Spider-Man: Homecoming, and though they’ve only directed three films, those include Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and the wildly underrated Game Night (“Oh, no… he died!”). All of this probably gives us a pretty good idea of how the pair might approach tackling the world of Trek, and I think we all have to admit that it’s probably a good idea to get some fresh eyes on this franchise.With the television universe busy slotting various series into gaps of existing canon (waiting on that Star Trek: Year One announcement any day now), it’s well past time to let the film side of things, well… boldly go. Tell different kinds of stories! Take some risks! It’s a big, bold, beautiful universe out there, and surely there’s got to be some pocket of it that doesn’t care at all about any singular event from James T. Kirk’s personal timeline.Plus, there’s really something to be said for simply letting the Star Trek franchise have fun again. Say what you want about the silliness of its plot, but Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a straight banger that manages to have an amazing time with a story that literally revolves around saving the whales, of all things. In recent years, many of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ best and most exciting episodes (the musical, the live-action crossover with an animated series) have come from the show simply deciding to embrace the inherent ridiculousness of its own premise. Heck, one of the most memorable Star Trek episodes of all time is still the Original Series installment where some fuzzy aliens won’t stop having sex! It’s possible to tell simple, enjoyable, relatively low-stakes stories in this universe that are a good time in their own right. And that’s exactly what one has to hope Goldstein and Daley are planning to do here. Strong, character-based stories with witty humor are kind of their whole deal, after all, and it’s a vibe this universe could desperately use more of. A fun space adventure grounded in an optimistic view of humanity’s best potential instead of its inevitable failings feels like exactly what Star Trek—heck, all of us—needs right now. The post Dungeons & Dragons Duo’s New Star Trek Movie Can Bring Fun Back to the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.