Anna Daniels
In the late 2000s, Star Trek was in need of a re-invigoration. The last feature film in the franchise, Nemesis, came out in 2002, and the prequel TV series, Star Trek: Enterprise, went off the air in 2005, leaving the legendary sci-fi property without a major live-action media presence for the first time in years. Ultimately, Paramount Pictures decided the way to bring Trek back was a prequel film … but not just a typical prequel. The film that would become 2009’s Star Trek fell into the hands of screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who decided to use time travel to create an alternate reality that would both raise the stakes for their “prequel” concept of a younger Kirk and Spock and also allow them to take some creative liberties with the well-worn characters.
Speaking with Sci Fi Wire in 2009, Kurtzman explained, “Yeah, the biggest thing I think we all hiccuped on, just conceptually, when Trek was presented to us was, ‘Well, we know how they all died. We know what happened to them.’ And when you know that, it’s very difficult to put them in jeopardy in a way that feels fresh or original. How do you ever have real stakes to your characters?” Well, the answer was the introduction of an alternate reality that would link the new Star Trek film series to past canon, while also allowing filmmakers to go their own way.
Written by: Looper
