Star Trek XI screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci said that the expected the upcoming movie directed by J.J. Abrams to contain some new characters and some with whom viewers are familiar.

In a Creative Screenwriting Magazine podcast (by way of TrekWeb), Orci and Kurtzman suggested that they would not be recreating the series in the way that Battlestar Galactica has been reimagined, but extrapolating on events in the Star Trek franchise as it currently exists.

"We're very mindful of being totally true to the mythology and totally true to what's come there," explained the writers. "There are pockets within the universe, and we know the mythology well." They added that they were fans of the novels extrapolating on what might have happened between the events of the original series movies, which are not considered franchise canon.

"We do know that there is a space to begin to see a lot of the origins of a lot of the things we know and we're going to start there," Kurtzman and Orci said. "To embrace the fact there's such a rich history to it that this is not a case of trying to come in and be so clever that you're going to reinvent everything. It's a case of coming in and using the stuff you know is great...not violating anything that's come before it."

Asked whether there would be familiar characters or their predecessors, the writers added, "It will be a bit of both, I think."

In an audio interview at MSNBC, George Takei again described his excitement when he heard that there was another Star Trek movie in the works. Having heard that it would focus on young Kirk and young Spock, he said, "I'm speculating on what young Sulu might be doing."

Takei also said that he was pleased to have been invited to play Sulu once more in Star Trek: New Voyages and described the support he has received from Star Trek fans since he publicly disclosed his homosexuality last year.

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