'Star Trek 4': Kevin Smith Weighs In on Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth Departures

Star Trek 4 recently hit a pretty significant roadblock when franchise lead Chris Pine and returning star Chris Hemsworth both walked away from the negotiating table over contract disputes.

On his podcast Fatman on Batman, Kevin Smith and co-host Marc Bernardin discussed the issue and Smith doesn't see many options for Paramount.

"I think Star Trek really has no choice," Smith says. "They can't recast. Chris Pine is fantastic. It was chancy bringing another Kirk into the world. They found the one guy who could pull it off where it doesn't sound like an impression, but it totally homages an entire f**king body of work in a character. So, you got to bring him back. Maybe you let go of the dad storyline if you can't get Hemsworth to come down a little bit. But, you can't do those Star Treks without that Kirk. He was great."

Smith goes on to offer his own services to help make a deal happen.

"I hope they work out the money thing," he says. "I can play mediator if they want. I will be like 'Come on man, everyone wants to see this.' You know what the problem here is? Agents are involved. If I could just get rid of their agents and talk sense to those actors, I bet they would want to do it, because it sounds like a f**king fun movie. But somebody out there is 'No, they got to get paid, these are the dollars that are going to last them into the years of their lives,' and blah blah blah. I'm all for people getting paid, but that's too good an idea to leave behind. But, if they don't make enough money to support that financial decision, then maybe they got to meet in the middle. They got to boldly go where no man has gone before. I hope so because I like that guy and I think that idea is a really good idea."

What do you think of Kevin Smith's take on Star Trek 4 losing Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth? Do you think there's still a chance they'll return to the table? Let us know what you think about it in the comments!

The first three Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies - Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond - are all available now on home media. Star Trek 4 still does not have a release date.