This is so cool.Spider-Man: HomecomingandStar Trek IV: The Voyage Homeare connected. In fact, it’s now believed that Marvel’s MCU takes place in the same universe asStar Trek. Which ties three studios together, Disney, Sony and Paramount. And we all have one wild punk rocker with very colorful hair to thank. And that punk rocker is Kirk Thatcher.
So, what is this crazy connection betweenStar TrekandSpider-Manthat pulls Kirk and Spock into the peripheral of the MCU? Well, it starts with Thatcher, who was Leonard Nimoy’s personal assistant and an associate producer onThe Voyage Home. Kirk, who just so happens to share a name with the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, played that movie’s hissy, orange and yellow haired Punk Rocker, who is seen on the bus holding a boom box. In a scene fromSpider-Man: Homecoming, Thatcher reprises his role.
Kirk Hatcher also has the distinction of writing the punk song ‘I Hate You’, which is heard blaring from the man’s oversized radio inStar Trek 4. InSpider-Man, Thatcher is credited as Punk on Street. In 2017, gone is the colorful mohawk. He is much older, and a lot more disheveled. But he’s still toting around that same old boom box.
The ultimateStar Trekcall back scene comes early inHomecoming, and might be one ofMarvel’s greatest Easter eggsthus far. Especially since it holds the distinction of tying two of the greatest franchises of all time together. Thatcher can be seen when Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, is seen talking to a hot dog vendor that is played by Zach Cherry. Thatcher himself confirmed his appearance on Facebook, viaStarTrek.com. He says this.
“Well, the secret is out…Now you all have to see Spider-Man! I was having a meeting with the guys at Marvel and Kevin Feige had to leave early to catch a plane to New York for the last few days of shooting and wrap on Homecoming. I mentioned that I was going to New York too, only two days later. He got excited and asked if I would be interested in doing a cameo as a punk in Spider-Man? I, of course said, ‘Sure!’ He said the producers would get in contact with me and I changed my flight from a Friday morning flight to a Thursday red-eye. I arrived in Manhattan at around 1:30 in the morning and my call time was 4:30 a.m. the same day… So I grabbed a couple hours sleep, took a taxi to the set and had brought my own wardrobe. They made me look a little grungier, and the whole thing was done by 11:30 that morning! So, it was really only about 48 hours from Wednesday afternoon when he asked if I was interested to Friday lunch time when we had finished shooting the scene!”
And thus, the Marvel andStar Trekuniverses are forever forged together, wielded by one stray cameo. Thatcher goes onto reveal the real reason thecameoeven took place. He explains.
“The reason this all happened is that Kevin is a big Star Trek IV fan and he has told me that he was a big fan of thepunk scene. So, I guess it just tickled him to include that character, 30 years later! I’m hoping this turns into a long series of ‘Punk on the…’ cameos that can fund my early retirement.”
It’s possible that Kirk Thatcher’s punk could be seen in futureSpider-Manmovies, or any other Marvel movie with its roots in New York. So it wouldn’t be out of place to see him rocking out behind Doctor Strange. Or witnessing some of the street destruction inInfinity War. Heck, why not just make him a member of the Illuminati? Is this all setting up some grandGuardians of the Galaxymeets Star Ship Enterprise crossover in the future? We can only hope so. But we doubt it. Perhaps Punk on the Street is another Watchers' Informant, like Stan Lee. Perhaps the two will star in a spin-off movie together. Now that sounds more plausible.
