Star Trek 4 is sounding like it could be a pretty big departure from what we’ve seen from Star Trek films in quite a while.

Director Noah Hawley spoke to Deadline yesterday and gave some pretty big hints about what he sees as the next step for the film franchise. The biggest? That it’s not a done deal for the cast from the last three Kelvin Timeline pictures to be a part of his project. This echoes a similar sentiment from actor and writer Simon Pegg, which I told you about back in December.

When Deadline asked him whether his film would feature Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, et al, Hawley said, “I have my own take on Star Trek.” He explained: “What I loved about the series Next Generation, when a lot of franchises focus on ‘might makes right’, Star Trek is about exploration and humanity at its best, and diversity and creative problem solving. There’s nothing better than that moment when William Shatner puts on his reading glasses and lowers Khan’s shields. It doesn’t cost anything. But it’s that triumphant feeling about smarting your enemy. For me it’s about getting to those elements of the show. I don’t necessarily find action in and of itself interesting unless it’s story.”

So will he connect his film to the current Star Trek universe being fleshed out on TV by Alex Kurtzman? Hawley said, “There isn’t a mandate from Paramount to connect it. And on some levels, there’s a bit of the wall, the TV version and the film version.”

It does sound like Hawley wants to do right by the franchise, though. He said, “I have my own story and want to make sure [...] that I’m respectful to the underlying material. That I’m not unintentionally changing things that people love or feel passionate about. So, it’s important to do that research as I go.”

Hawley said that he’s still in talks with Paramount about Star Trek 4, and a script has yet to be written.