Project Hail Mary Author Andy Weir Apologizes For Star Trek Comments, But Other Questions Remain

Much like Ryland Grace, the hero of his best-selling novel turned box office smash hit movie "Project Hail Mary," author Andy Weir has come to regret the way he expressed himself in the past. It's not quite the same thing as Grace publishing an academic paper where he trashes the world's most eminent molecular biologists for not buying into a controversial hypothesis he's proposed, but Weir has landed himself in hot water for some recent comments he made about writer/producer Alex Kurtzman's streaming era "Star Trek" shows.

For those just tuning in, Weir was on the "Critical Drinker" podcast when he admitted, "I don't like a lot of the new 'Trek'" and dismissed the Kurtzman-backed "Star Trek" series as "s***," save for "Lower Decks" and "Strange New Worlds." Far from going unnoticed, Weir's statements were covered by numerous media outlets (including /Film), enough so as to prompt him to pen an open letter to Kurtzman.

"Hey, Alex. Andy Weir here. I'm posting to apologize about stuff I said on the Critical Drinker's podcast," Weir wrote on his Facebook page. Clarifying that he feels as though his quotes were "taken out of context as salacious sound bytes," he continued, "I hope you saw the other parts where I said how much I like you as a person and what a nice guy you are. Also, how I like 'SNW' and 'LD.'" Weir then noted that he was "trying to be funny, but in retrospect, it comes off as disrespectful and mean. So I'm sorry for that." He added that he had intended to be "self-deprecating" after Paramount rejected his own "Star Trek" project pitch, "but out of context it can read like I actually meant it."

That's good and all, but the question remains: Why was Weir even on "Critical Drinker"?

"The Critical Drinker," to get everyone on the same page, is a YouTube-based podcast hosted by Will Jordan, a Scottish multi-hyphenate who began producing videos for the website in the 2010s. However, in the years since it launched, the channel has become quite notorious for being a right-wing, conservative platform that regularly rallies against media that's created by and/or centers women, people of color, and essentially anyone who's not white, straight, cisgender, and male. A quick perusal of the platform will reveal that its frequent previous targets have included now-former Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, and the "Captain Marvel" movies.

Speaking to Christian Toto on "The Hollywood in Toto" podcast, Jordan once claimed he believes there's "nothing wrong whatsoever with progressive messages and interesting ideas being put forward by movies. That is fine by me to the point where it crosses over into 'woke,'" which he went on to define as "when political messaging and ideology gets in the way of the actual story that you want to tell."

If that sounds familiar, it might be because Andy Weir once said something similar when explaining his main issue with the "Star Trek" franchise back when he was promoting his 2017 sci-fi novel "Artemis." Stating, "I put no politics or social commentary into my stories at all," Weir went on to mention:

"For instance, as a lifelong 'Star Trek' fan, it's always bothered me that there is a presumed 'responsibility' within 'Star Trek' shows to talk about social issues. I just want to watch Romulans and the Federation shoot at each other."

So, does this mean Weir knew what he was getting himself into when he appeared on "The Critical Drinker" to begin with? Not necessarily.

What's bewildering about all this is that Andy Weir's values as an author firmly align with those of the "Star Trek" franchise in general, including the Paramount+ shows produced by Alex Kurtzman. To quote /Film's Witney Seibold, "Project Hail Mary," just like the "Star Trek" property, is "predicated on scientific curiosity and diplomatic relations." They're also optimistic, forward-looking sci-fi works that champion the value of cooperation across the boundaries of race, culture, and gender, and recognize that worthwhile science entails working with the data you have and not ignoring results that go against what you want to believe is true. The goes double for Weir's other mega-hit sci-fi book-turned-movie, "The Martian."

In this case, then, the "data" suggests that Weir earnestly supports the same ideals as the "Star Trek" franchise. Meanwhile, Will Jordan can talk the talk (read: claim that he's simply against creatives focusing on their messaging at the expense of their storytelling), but he doesn't actually walk the walk with his own work. That doesn't mean that Weir should be granted a "Get Out of Jail Free" card over what he said about the streaming era "Star Trek" series ... or that his claims of being an apolitical storyteller aren't indicative of the assorted privileges he personally enjoys. But it does suggest that when he ends his Facebook post by telling Kurtzman, "Anyway, if you want to talk about it in real time — even if it's just to rip me a new one — I'm happy to hop on the phone or Zoom," he means it.

"Project Hail Mary" is currently playing in theaters.