Star Trek Beyond cast pay tribute to Anton Yelchin at Comic Con

They also wore black Starfleet badges to honour their fallen friend

The cast of ‘Star Trek Beyond’ has paid tribute to Anton Yelchin at the film’s Comic Con premiere.

The San Diego convention kicked off last night with a screening of the latest film in the rebooted Sci-Fi franchise, accompanied by a live score performed by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra.

But shortly before the film began, producer JJ Abrams, who directed the first two Star Trek movies, led tributes to Yelchin – after he was killed in a freak car accident last month.

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Paying tribute, Abrams said: “As wonderful as this is to be here with all of you, and to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, there is something wrong tonight.

“There is something missing tonight, there is someone missing tonight.

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“Anton Yelchin should be here”, he continued.

“Anton’s parents are here, Irina and Victor. We love their son and if I could ask everyone to have a moment of silence for our dear friend, Anton.”

Other tributes came from Star Trek star and co-writer Simon Pegg, who described Yelchin as ‘an incredible guy.’

He said: “He was an incredible guy and this is for him tonight”, referring to a black Starfleet badge that each cast member was wearing.

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He’s someone who was part of our family and we miss terribly. I know people want to know how we feel and stuff, but if you’ve ever lost anybody prematurely in circumstances that defy explanation it’s not really an experience you can put into words. It’s beyond devastating, so I just want people to see him tonight and be happy that he has been immortalized in some way.”

The tribute came after JJ Abrams confirmed that Yelchin’s character, Pavel Chekhov, would not be recast for the film’s fourth instalment – and would be retired as a mark of respect.

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