Simon Pegg Tried to Get Buddy Nick Frost into J.J. Abrams' ‘Star Trek’ Movies — Who He Would Have Played Is a Deep Cut Every Trekkie Will Appreciate -

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have worked on plenty of films together, including Edgar Wright‘s “Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy” (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End) and the underrated sci-fi comedy Paul. But Pegg has a dream role for Frost in a franchise he’s been a major part of: J.J. Abrams‘s Star Trek films (better known as the Kelvinverse.) During a panel at Awesome Con, Pegg said that he’s been gunning for Frost to play the smuggler Harry Mudd. “Believe me, I’ve pitched it multiple times,” Pegg told the audience.

Harry Mudd Caused Trouble in ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ and ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Harcourt Fenton “Harry” Mudd first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode “Mudd’s Women,” and in the Season 2 episode “I, Mudd.” Portrayed by Roger C. Carmel, Mudd was a smuggler who ran afoul of the U.S.S. Enterprise; the first time, the Enterprise was immensely damaged, and in the second he became the ruler of an entire planet of androids who planned to conquer the human race. Carmel even returned to voice Mudd one more time in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “Mudd’s Passion,” where the Enterprise arrests him but ends up spreading a love potion throughout the ship, affecting the entire crew.

Mudd would later appear in Star Trek: Discovery, this time played by Rainn Wilson. Mudd was imprisoned in a Klingon prison alongside Gabriel Lorca (Jason Issacs); once he got free in the Season 1 episode “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”, he ended up getting the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery stuck in a time loop when he tried to sell out its crew to Klingon raiders.

Nick Frost Isn’t The Only Person Who Wants To Play Harry Mudd

Greg-Grunberg-HEROES-Matt — Image via NBCUniversal

It turns out that Nick Frost isn’t the only actor lobbying to play a modern-day version of Mudd. Following the release of J.J. Abrams’ first Star Trek film, Greg Grunberg — one of Abrams’ longtime friends, who’s cameoed in all of his projects — told TrekMovie.com that he lobbied to play Harry Mudd in a potential sequel: “I would absolutely love to play Harry Mudd, that would be incredible. I would have to redefine the character and do it the way I see doing it, but that character to me has comedy and brings levity and I would be able to work with robotic chicks. How fun would that be?”

It turns out that Rainn Wilson also wanted to return to playing Harry Mudd. Prior to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ premiere, Wilson appeared at the 55-Year Mission Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, where he said he’d “absolutely” reprise his role as Mudd:

I’ve written the producers and said, “Bring Harry Mudd back.” I’d love to come back. I wrote to [executive producer/co-showrunner] Akiva Goldsman about Strange New Worlds. Ahd he was like, “I don’t know, I would need to think about that.” So it’s out in the ether. Maybe if the fans write in to producers saying they want more Harry Mudd, they will listen to that. But I would love to do more, yeah.

Wilson could potentially have a chance to show up on Strange New Worlds, given that a fourth season is in the works. It would also be interesting to see how Captain Pike (Anson Mount) deals with such a slippery thief, or what mischief Mudd could get into on Strange New Worlds.

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Features a Brief Reference to Mudd

The Kelvinverse Star Trek films have laid the potential groundwork for Harry Mudd to make a potential appearance. During Star Trek Into Darkness, Kirk (Chris Pine) utilizes a ship seized in the “Mudd Incident” to travel to the Klingon moon of Qo’onos. The “Mudd Incident” would be fully revealed in the Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness prequel comic by Mike Johnson and David Messina. Countdown to Darkness found Kirk running afoul of a woman named Mudd, who is implied to be Harry Mudd’s illegitimate daughter. This means that a fourth Star Trek film could bring Mudd into the picture, and Pegg expressed in the same panel that he still wanted to make Star Trek 4. While Pegg and Frost are busy with different projects, seeing them reunite in a Star Trek film would be a delight.