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The Script for Star Trek IV Originally Included Eddie Murphy As an Astrophysicist, Which You Almost Wish You Didn’t Know

Kris Connor/Getty Images
Photo: Kris Connor/Getty Images

Would Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home have been better with Eddie Murphy? Yes, yes, of course. What an insane question. On the 30th anniversary of the 1986 hit, the film’s screenwriters Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes looked back on the movie’s writing process, one that sadly edited out a Berkley astrophysicist portrayed by superstar Eddie Murphy at the height of his fame. “It was always the same story that approved, but the original draft included a part for Eddie Murphy. Eddie was on the lot at Paramount at the time and arguably was the biggest star in the word. They had told us he was a huge Star Trek fan,” Meerson told The Hollywood Reporter. Eventually Eddie Murphy’s deal fell through, and his character was rewritten into marine biologist and Captain Kirk love interest Dr. Gillian Taylor, played by Catherine Hicks, a change that suggests Eddie Murphy’s character could also easily have been Captain Kirk’s love interest, narratively speaking. Ah, well. That’s all in the past. There’s nothing you can do about that now, unless you’ve somehow acquired the ability to travel through time. Wait a minute …

Eddie Murphy Was Originally in Star Trek IV