Star Trek Into Darkness Deleted An Emotional Kirk Scene

Recall that, at the end of “Into Darkness,” Kirk died of radiation poisoning after committing a heroic act inside an irradiated engine chamber. His body was retrieved, however, and the resourceful Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) found that he could revive Kirk using Khan’s genetically enhanced blood. Kirk is miraculously resurrected, and the galaxy now seems to be in possession of a cure for death. Sadly, the follow-up film, “Star Trek Beyond,” doesn’t address the revolutionary implications of such a cure. 

This meant, however, that both Kirk and the young Lucille were magically cured of their fatalities by the same blood; both of them avoided death thanks to Khan. This similarity would be symbolically addressed in a scene that was ultimately cut for the movie. Contractor was going to be in the scene as well, and in a 2013 interview with StarTrek.com, she recalled what it would have been: 

“There was a scene at the end of the movie, after the memorial service, in which Chris Pine (as Kirk) comes up to me and my daughter. He sees us, and my daughter is now healthy, with a full head of hair, and I thank him for his speech. He looks up at me and he knows who I am, and then he looks at my daughter, and they both have this moment where they know they share Khan’s blood. But it got cut.” 

Such a scene was likely cut for pacing reasons, as it was part of the film’s epilogue. It can make a film feel bottom-heavy if there’s too much falling action after its climax, and the filmmakers likely had to select what kind of emotional climax they wanted the film to have.

Imagining the scene properly scored with Michael Giacchino’s music, this moment could have been a bright coda at the end of a movie filled with death, violence, and, well, darkness.