By Travis Johnson
Star Trek producer JJ Abrams has said that Pavel Chekov, the character played by Anton Yelchin in the rebooted film series, will not be recast following the young actor’s untimely death.
Speaking to the Toronto Sun, Abrams stated, “I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better.”
As to whether the character would be killed off or quietly retired in a future film, Abrams would not be drawn. “…it’s too early to talk about it,” he said.
Yelchin, who died on June 19 in a freak motor vehicle accident, first played Chekov in 2009’s Star Trek, reprising the rile in 2013’s
Star Trek Beyond is in cinemas this Thursday, July 22.
