In addition to its amazing main cast, Star Trek has had many unforgettable guest stars. We don’t mean (just) stellar cartography. For this week’s Trek Tuesday, we’re shining a spotlight on the one and only Kirk Thatcher.
Kirk Thatcher in Star Trek IV
Thatcher entered the Franchise when Leonard Nimoy hired him to associate produce Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. While this is impressive enough, Thatcher’s most well-known association with the movie is onscreen. That’s because in addition to associate producing The Voyage Home, Thatcher also played the unforgettable role of “Bus Punk.”
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Bus Punk has a brief but eminently memorable role in the movie. He is listening to a loud and angry punk song on a boom box on a bus. When the temporally displaced James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Nimoy) request he turn down the volume, he shoots them the bird. Spock responds by issuing a Vulcan nerve pinch, silencing the music in the process. This action receives applause from the other riders on the bus.
Interestingly, Thatcher not only appeared in the role but also wrote the song “I Hate You.” This was recorded with sound designer Mark Mangini.
The Legacy of Bus Punk
While Bus Punk only briefly appears in the movie, he casts a long shadow, both within and outside the Franchise. In 2017, Thatcher appeared in a brief cameo role in Spider-Man: Homecoming as a man holding a boom box who shouts out to Spider-Man (Tom Holland). This paid homage to Star Trek IV‘s Bus Punk.
Within the Franchise, Bus Punk’s character was so memorable that he even became shorthand for time travel. An entire roster of punks appears in the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3’s “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus.” Just like in Star Trek IV, several of them end up unconscious.
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Speaking of time travel, Thatcher reprised the role of Bus Punk in Star Trek: Picard Season 2. In the episode “Watcher,” Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) are riding a bus in 2024 Los Angeles. There, they encounter Bus Punk, still riding buses with his boom box (albeit at a slightly more southern latitude).
However, Bus Punk recalls the earlier encounter with Spock. When our heroes ask him to lower the volume, he immediately complies, defensively reaching for his neck at the same time.
Thatcher on Short Treks
But before he returned to the role of Bus Punk, Thatcher returned to the Franchise to play a different role. In the 2019 Star Trek: Short Trek “Ephriam and Dot,” he played the role of narrator.
This Short Trek was directed by Michael Giacchino, who also directed the Marvel Cinematic Universe special Werewolf By Night. Thatcher also appears onscreen in Werewolf by Night, playing the bounty hunter “Joven.”
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Thatcher has a very prolific career beyond the Franchise, as well. He’s worked on many projects for The Muppets, including co-writing Muppet Treasure Island and writing and directing Muppets Haunted House. He has worked on many other projects as well, writing for Mystery Science Theater 3000 and directing episodes of Lazy Town and Crank Yankers. Which Thatcher projects are your favorite, both inside the Franchise and without?
Star Trek IV, Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Short Treks are currently streaming on Paramount+. Meanwhile, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Muppets are currently streaming on Disney+.
