The bombshell news that Cage is more of a fan of “Star Trek” than “Star Wars” really isn’t all that surprising. Cage seems like an actor that prefers the more original, thought-provoking science fiction of Gene Roddenberry rather than the high-flying adventure serials of George Lucas. For now, it looks like Pedro Pascal’s advances to get Cage to show up in an episode or two of “The Mandalorian” is falling on deaf ears. “I’m not really down,” he told Yahoo!. “I’m a Trekkie, man, I’m on the ‘Star Trek’ … I’m on the Enterprise, that’s where I roll.” Cage is of the age where he most likely discovered and fell in love with the original “Star Trek” series before “Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope” hit theaters and changed the world in 1977.
Of course, the two franchises don’t have to be mutually exclusive. But Trekkies tend to be a little more vocal about their love for more heady, intellectual sci-fi fare. Cage is certainly no different, and the actor has praise for the original series and the films. “I grew up watching Shatner, I thought Pine was terrific in the movies, I think the movies are outstanding.”
William Shatner, of course, played Captain Kirk in the original timeline of “Star Trek,” while Chris Pine took over the mantle in the J.J. Abrams reboot where the alternate Kelvin timeline was introduced. Cage may not be aware that there is, in fact, a third Captain Kirk played by Paul Wesley in another alternate timeline in the Paramount+ show “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” Maybe Cage can appear in an alternate “Star Trek” timeline at some point, too, a possibility that would hopefully entice him to embark on a voyage exploring the final frontier.