Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 American science fiction film directed by Leonard Nimoy and based on the created by Gene Roddenberry. It is the third film in the "Star Trek" film series, and is the second part of a three-film story arc that begins with "" (1982) and concludes with "" (1986). After the death of Spock (Nimoy), the crew of the USS "Enterprise" returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's spirit, or katra, is held in the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones"
Leonard McCoy Southern Kelley was a real-life demonstration of the message Roddenberry hoped to convey through "Star Trek". For the 2009 "Star Trek" film, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman saw McCoy as an "arbiter" in Kirk and Spock's relationship. While Spock represented "extreme logic, extreme science" and Kirk symbolized "extreme emotion and intuition", McCoy's role as "a very colorful doctor, essentially a very humanistic scientist" represented the "two extremes that often served as the glue that held the trio together." They chose to reveal that McCoy befriended Kirk first, explaining the "bias" in their friendship and why he would often be