Watch The ‘Captain Sulu’ Star Trek Fan Film That Put George Takei In The Big Chair

When it comes to fan films, “New Voyages” is perhaps one of the best ever made. The series, created by James Cawley and Jack Marshall is not officially canonical, but it’s fun to pretend. The productions were slick, and the budgets higher than most fan films, and “New Voyages” attracted multiple former “Star Trek” actors to appear in their various projects (there have been ten episodes to date). In addition to Takei, “New Voyages” boasted appearances from Walter Koenig, Grace Lee Whitney, and Denise Crosby. 

Legally, the fan series was allowed to persist thanks to a special agreement from Paramount, who said that “New Voyages” could use licensed characters and imagery, provided they make no money from the endeavor. It is truly a labor of love. 

The fourth episode of “New Voyages,” “World Enough and Time,” was co-written and directed by Marc Scott Zicree, who recently posted the hour-long adventure on his YouTube channel. In a brief introduction, Zicree said that he always considered “World Enough” to be an unofficial pilot — maybe more of a proof-of-concept — for a potential Captain Sulu TV series. Although it had been 16 years since “Star Trek VI,” Takei was still game to play Captain Sulu, and clearly there were enough Trekkies who wanted to see him back in the role. 

Whitney also appeared as Janice Rand, and Majel Barrett’s voice was used for the Starfleet computers, just like on the original shows. The episode also featured the character of Demora Sulu, Hikaru’s daughter, previously played by Jacqueline Kim in 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations.” In “New Voyages,” she was played by Mimi Chong.