The New Trek Movie Is As Much A Prequel As It Is A Reboot

 

I've been a big fan of Star Trek since I was about six years old.  I was raised on the classic series and I watched The Next Generation episodes as they originally aired.  I've loved pretty much every Star Trek show except Voyager.  Hell, I even liked Enterprise. 

 

So to me, having the new Star Trek movie being billed as a "franchise reboot" has had me a little worried.  Exactly how much of my beloved Trek would be changing?  Would everything suddenly become all super fast and shiny for the kids of the 21st century and thus lose everything that made classic Trek great?  Would the characters appearing on the screen be vastly different than their original counterparts? 

 

The trailers that have been released thus far have done a lot to ease some of these fears.  They seem to show a film that, on the surface at least, still feels like Star Trek...just jazzed up a bit for modern audiences.  And attending JJ Abrams' Star Trek panel at Wonder Con back in February helped a bit too.  It was reassuring to hear him as well as the films writers and actors discuss how much the original show meant to them and how much they are trying to stay loyal to the original series while at the same time trying to broaden Trek's appeal to new audiences.

 

Then came this interview with the film's writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, in which they discussed some of the classic things this film absolutely needed in order to be a Star Trek film.  It's a good interview and it now has me super jazzed to be looking for nods to the original series and movies that are going to be included in the film.  There are some major storyline points that are going to be included too.  Here's what we're going to get to see, according to the writers.

 

• At some point, Bones will say something along the lines of "Damnit Jim, I'm a doctor not a _____!"

 

• Scotty will have to work a miracle and get the ship to break the laws of physics and will probably say something along the lines of, "I'm giving it all I've got Captain!"

 

• Spock and McCoy will get into at least one verbal spat during the film in which they basically get into an insult fight.

 

And here's the real kicker for me.  I absolutely didn't expect to get to see this in the new Trek movie, but they swear it's in there.

 

• We'll get to see James T. Kirk cheat as he takes the Kobayashi Maru test.

 

How fucking phenomenal is that?  We get to see Kirk cheat at the Kobayashi Maru!!!  The test that was featured so prominently at the beginning of Star Trek II.  The test that has become such a defining character moment of James Kirk's.  It's the perfect example of Kirk's philosophy of not believing in an unbeatable situation. 

 

Also mentioned during the interview was something that the writers very much wanted to include, but couldn't due to time and story concerns.  That is the early foundations of the relationship betweek James Kirk and Doctor Carol Marcus.  Dr. Marcus, if you'll remember, was also a huge part of Star Trek II as she's the developer of the Genesis project and is also the mother of Kirk's son David.

 

The very fact that the writers were trying to include her into the story gives me a lot of confidence that as much as this new film is a reboot to the franchise, it is also very much going to be a prequel to the original films.  The writers have very obviously not given up on paying attention to at least some of the original Trek canon.  They're going out of their way to include elements that will set up future Trek storylines. 

 

I can't tell you how happy this makes me.  I am really stoked now.  I can't wait to finally get to see Kirk take the Kobayashi Maru test.  For a lifelong fan like I am, a moment like this has been a long time coming.