Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

12 Spockand

Kirk:facing

thefuture,

backtoback.

culturetouchstonesasLostandAlias

knewhehadtoappealtoa young

blockbustercrowdwhilenotlosing

thediehardconvention-attending

Trekkers.So,ratherthanstartfrom

scratch,Abramsuseda BigIdeato

engineera solution,allowinghimto

makethefilma reboot(starringa

sexynewyoungcast),a prequel(set

beforethefive-yearmissionofthe

originalseries),anda sequel(with

LeonardNimoyonceagainreprising

hisroleasSpock,flungbackthrough

timeina wormholecreatedbya

planetarycataclysm).

Whatwasostensiblya popcorn

spacemoviebecamea contemplation

ofquantumtheory,thefabricofspace-

time,andpredestination.Arethe

keycrew-membersoftheEnterprise

alwaysdestinedtocometogetheron

thatship,likeplanetsheldinswayby

a star’sorbitalpull?Arewemorethan

justthesumofourupbringing?Is the

universemalleable,as plasticas the

humanbrain?

StarTrekneedsa BigIdea?Bingo.

informationtoitsmaker.Voyagerhad
becomeV’gerandwasgrapplingwith
themeaningoflife.Ideasdon’tcome
muchbiggerthat.
Unless,thatis,youtakeinto
accountparalleluniverses,time
travel,andthenatureofreality,which
waswhatJ. J. Abramsselectedfor
2009’sBigIdea(s).Whetherornot
you’rea fanoftheKelvinTimeline,
it wasanincrediblycreativewayto
destroynumerousbirds(ofprey)with
onetorpedo.
Inmanyways,Abramshadbeen
givena thanklesstask:toentirely
reboota belovedfranchisethathad
oneofthemostvociferousand
pedanticfanbasesinhistory.The
creatoranddirectorofsuchpop-

Once the Enterprise

is shipshape, the next

vital component in any

Star Trek recipe is a

Big Idea..

12

YESTERDAY’S ENTERPRISE