Our Flag Means Death star Rhys Darby made a guest appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 as Trelane, a juvenile alien with godlike powers. The character was originally played by William Campbell in the 1967 Star Trek episode “The Squire of Gothos,” where he treated the crew of the Enterprise like toys until his parents showed up. The episode “Wedding Bell Blues” followed the same structure. Trelane decided to give Spock (Ethan Peck) a fairytale wedding to Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) until Trelane's dad showed up — an orb of light voiced by John de Lancie, who played the near-omnipotent trickster Q in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Trelane returns in Strange New Worlds season 4 to meddle with the Enterprise again, though this time in a more official capacity. In the episode "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass," he does a school project with the thesis that “space adventures leave little time for humans to deal with their inner struggles.” He remedies that by trapping the crew in a soap opera — even changing the lighting and music — to force them to confront exaggerated versions of their problems. Polygon spoke with Darby about his role on the show and where else he’d like to cause some chaos.
How has Trelane changed since we last saw him?
Photo: Christos Kalohoridis/Paramount Plus
“He's not quite as mischievous as he was,” Darby tells Polygon. “He's not being a cheeky trickster this time. He's actually doing something for his education. He's a little bit more mature. He gets to face Captain Pike and chat with him about how he sees humanity. He's taking it in a bit more. He still feels that they're just like ants, but they're ants that have got funny little brains and emotions that might help and might get in the way sometimes.”
Trelane’s exam proctor wears a version of the robes Q sports in “Encounter at Farpoint,” the first TNG episode, and thanks Trelane for bringing “these ants” to the Q Continuum’s attention. It’s a scene that recontextualizes Q’s interaction with Captain Picard, appearing to humanity less as a judge putting them on trial and more like a teacher grading their readiness to advance as a species. But Darby isn’t really concerned about the series canon.
“That’s for the fans to tell me about,” he says.
Are there other big franchises he’d like to join?
“No one says no to the Marvel Universe that seems to be continuing forever,” Darby says. “James Bond’s coming back so I think I’d make a good Q. I’m already a Q. It’s meant to be.”
What’s the status of the What We Do in the Shadows werewolves spinoff?
Image: The Orchard/Everett Collection
Darby played the werewolf pack leader Anton in the 2014 vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows from Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi. The film went on to inspire an FX series that ran for six seasons, but a proposed werewolf-focused sequel called We’re Wolves has yet to materialize.
“Jemaine’s told me they’re back in the writing chair,” Darby says. “We’re all looking forward to something happening with it. I have no idea how long they’re going to take, but I’ll get an update before Christmas. I have no idea where they’re going to go with this idea, but it will focus on my character and his group of like-minded nerdy guys who just ended up having this thing happen to them. It’s about them dealing with it and avoiding the cops, probably in a small town in New Zealand.”
Is there another TV show he’d like to take over?
“What about if Trelane turns up on The Pitt?” Darby asks. “Maybe he could pause time and speed it up. Can we get through more than just one hour of this universe right now? I want to see what’s going to happen tonight.”
Just like Trelane forces the Enterprise crew to confront their problems, Darby would like to find a way to make the staff of Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center less stressed.
“They’re not getting enough free time,” he says. “They need more hobbies. They need more staff so they don’t have to work so much.”
Is he worried about Jumanji: Open World’s box office competition?
Image: Sony Pictures
Darby plays Nigel Billingsley, the NPC who provides exposition in the cursed video game in the Jumanji series. Jumanji: Open World was originally scheduled to be released on Dec. 11 but was pushed back to Dec. 25 to avoid competition with Avengers: Doomsdayand Dune: Part Three, which both premiere on Dec. 18.
“That's serious competition,” Darby says. “I think there's room for it all because there's a real celebration getting back into the theaters lately with The Odyssey and then Spider-Man. I also saw The End of Oak Street with the dinosaurs, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, cinema's back!’ I think people are looking forward to it. All it takes is to make quality stuff that people want to see while shoving popcorn in their face.”
The first seven episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 are available to stream on Paramount Plus. New episodes release weekly on Thursday through Sept. 24.
5 hours ago
4
Photo: Marni Grossman/Paramount Plus
Photo: Christos Kalohoridis/Paramount Plus
Image: The Orchard/Everett Collection
Image: Sony Pictures
English (US) ·