I'm still holding out for the surprise announcement that William Shatner will indeed appear in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. In the meantime, though, I expect to hear another complaint from the original Captain Kirk after reading this juicy bit of goodness: George Takei has a cameo in the upcoming movie*, which will be a prequel-ish reboot of the TV and movie franchise. According to a Starburst magazine interview with the actor, Takei will feature in a flash-forward scene that will also showcase original Spock, Leonard Nimoy. From the sound of it, he will be returning to his iconic role as an older version of Sulu. Best guess is that Takei and Nimoy will be sitting in futuristic rocking chairs reminiscing about their beginnings at the Starfleet Academy, and this scene will be the prologue to the rest of the movie. Playing the younger versions of Sulu and Spock throughout the rest of the film are John Cho and Zachary Quinto, respectively.

Well, if Shatner doesn't put up more of a fuss, the fans should. After all, as long as we're getting two of the surviving original cast members, why can't we get the rest? Sure, it would be a sad scene, considering DeForest Kelley (Bones) and James Doohan (Scotty) aren't around to be a part of such a reunion, but the Trekkies would certainly appreciate seeing Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru), Walter Koenig and of course Shatner together again. Am I right? They could all have a few laughs while yelling at the kids to get off their damn lawns. And we could all feel better about having to accept all new actors as these beloved characters. So, who is going to start the online petition? Oh wait, that's already been done.

*UPDATE: Apparently this is just another rumor, one that has been debunked. According to TrekMovie.com, Takei will not have a cameo in the new Star Trek.

Last week we learned that Zachary Quinto would be playing the youthful version of Spock in J.J. Abrams' impending rendition of Star Trek -- and now we have a new cast member to contemplate. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russian-born actor Anton Yelchin has been cast as the young Pavel Chekov. One need not be a hardcore Trekkie to recall that Chekov was played by the ultra-cool Walter Koenig in the original Trek series and the first series of theatrical flicks.

For his part, the 18-year-old Anton Yelchin is the offspring of two figure skaters -- and a rather solid young actor. You may remember him from such movies as Hearts in Atlantis, House of D and Alpha Dog, plus he also plays the title character in Jon Poll's Charlie Bartlett, which recently moved from a summer release to November 7. Mr. Abrams is presently hard at work trying to cast the rest of the young-sized Enterprise crew -- plus he aims to cast some big names as the villain and the "grown-up" captain. The as-yet-untitled 11th Trek flick is scheduled for release on Christmas of 2008. (Previous reports on this project can be found here, here and here.)