It was recently revealed that "Star Trek Beyond" character Sulu (John Cho) is gay. The news became even more controversial when George Takei, who originally played the character, was not overjoyed by it.
Takei told The Hollywood Reporter that he is delighted that there is a gay "Star Trek" character. The openly gay Japanese-American actor has been married to Brad Altman Takei since 2008.
"Unfortunately, it's a twisting of Gene's creation, to which he put in so much thought," George told the publication referring to the late "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry. "I think it's really unfortunate."
When it comes to conceiving "Star Trek" characters, Roddenberry was exhaustive and he had always envisioned Sulu as heterosexual, according to George. The character had a daughter named Demora (Jacqueline Kim), who appeared in the 1994 installment "Star Trek Generations," but he never had an onscreen love interest during the initial three-season run of "Star Trek."
An upcoming "Star Trek" series is set to premiere in January 2017 on CBS. The show will be co-run by Alex Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller, who is openly gay, and George is hoping to take Sulu in new directions.
For George, the late Leonard Nimoy made two cameo appearances in "Star Trek" films so there is no reason why an ancient, wise Admiral Sulu cannot appear. He added that it should be fun if an alien creature who sounds like him appears.
Cho first played Sulu in the 2009 film "Star Trek," which was directed by J.J. Abrams. He reprised the role in 2013 in "Star Trek Into Darkness," which was also directed by Abrams.
This makes "Star Trek Beyond" the third feature film starring Cho as Sulu. The South Korean-American actor was recently in Sydney, Australia, for the premiere of the film.
"I'm glad that we're having it now," ABC News quoted Cho as saying. "Better late than never and we'll see how far we can take it."
"Star Trek Beyond" also stars Simon Pegg, Idris Elba, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and the late Anton Yelchin, among others. It is directed by Taiwanese-American director Justin Lin, who is known for helming "Fast and Furious" films.
Watch the "Star Trek Beyond" trailer here: