Star Trek Officially Abandons J.J. Abrams Movie Timeline After 17 Years

The Star Trek franchise received a vital revitalization in 2009 when J.J. Abrams directed a cinematic reboot. The Kelvin-verse took its name from a starship that encountered time-traveling Romulans seeking vengeance. This alternate reality proved massively successful, eventually helping spark a television renaissance led by co-writer and producer Alex Kurtzman. The films also propelled actors like Chris Pine and Zoe Saldaña to superstardom. Now, a decade after Star Trek Beyond debuted in theaters, the Kelvin-verse is officially coming to a close.

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, were recently tapped to develop a new Star Trek movie. Specific details remained scarce until Goldstein and Daley expanded on their vision for Trek during an interview with Empire. They revealed that their film draws inspiration from Crimson Tide and Training Day while telling an entirely original story.

“No legacy characters, nobody that you’ve met before. A different time, not a different timeline per se, but it’s a little further in the future . . . It’s not the J.J. [Abrams] timeline.”

The Kelvin-verse helped revitalize Star Trek

While Goldstein and Daley pursuing a fresh approach makes sense, losing the Kelvin-verse stings for longtime fans. The rebooted trilogy successfully reignited interest in Star Trek and triggered a multimedia expansion that brought the broader franchise back to prominence. IDW Publishing drove much of this momentum by launching a series of Star Trek comics dedicated to the Kelvin-verse. The success of those books ultimately paved the way for additional titles exploring every corner of the final frontier.

A fourth Kelvin-verse film spent years in development. One proposed plot even featured Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk reuniting with his late father, George, played by Chris Hemsworth via time travel. That project never materialized, leading Paramount to cycle through multiple directors before settling on Goldstein and Daley. Although the Kelvin-verse concludes, its aesthetic legacy persists in modern television series like Star Trek: Discovery and Strange New Worlds, both of which retain the sleek visual style J.J. Abrams established for the Enterprise.

A Star Trek comic gave the Kelvin-verse a proper sendoff

Although the Kelvin-verse will not receive another film, it recently secured a fitting farewell in the IDW Publishing series written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly. Lanzing and Kelly collaborated with a talented team to chronicle Ben Sisko from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Starfleet’s finest aboard the U.S.S. Theseus. Their mission to track down the killers of godlike beings eventually leads them to the villainous android Lore, who activates a reality-shattering device. The crew of the Theseus races away from the destruction and accidentally emerges inside the Kelvin-verse.

The crossover surprised fans, offering a welcome homage to the films. From both crews admiring each other’s starships to the Kelvin-verse crew collaborating with the visitors from the Theseus, Lanzing, Kelly, and artist Angel Hernandez crafted a tribute that highlights the enduring impact of the Kelvin movies. Goldstein and Daley now face the challenge of making an equally strong impression with their upcoming contribution to the franchise.

Source: Polygon