It’s always hard on fans when an actor or actress who plays a beloved character dies, nevermind what that person’s family and friends have to deal with.
- Anton Yelchin played Pavel Chekov
- Beloved character can be replaced
But after Anton Yelchin, best known for playing Pavel Chekov in the reboot Star Trek movies, died last month, fans of the young Russian ensign won’t be seeing the memorable character again, according to series’ producer J. J. Abrams.
“I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better,” Abrams told The Toronto Sun.
And as you might imagine, Abrams created a firestorm among fans when he said he would not replace the famous character with another actor.
But many fans are saying that beloved characters have had different actors playing them in the past. After all, how many actors have played Batman?
Replacing Yelchin would be hard because he brought such a personal energy to the character. It’s easy to see why Abrams wouldn’t want to have someone else fill Yelchin’s shoes. But Chekov is a very important and memorable character, who was made by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry introduced Chekov during the Cold War Era in the show’s second season.
Roddenberry wanted to show that people with different backgrounds and philosophies — especially one who hails from the Soviet Union, a feared American enemy when the original series aired in the 1960s — could get along and work together for a greater good.
And in the world of Star Trek, where a pill can regrow a new kidney (see “Star Trek: The Voyage Home”), getting an equally talented actor to play Chekov and mentioning on screen how the character needed facial reconstructive surgery should be fairly simple.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to hear Chekov say “nuclear wessels” one more time?