Exclusive: The JJ Abrams Star Trek Universe Is Alive And Creating Spinoffs
The J.J. Abrams version of Star Trek is sticking around.
This article is more than 2 years old
J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek kicked off a brand new era for the storied sci-fi franchise in 2009 by creating an alternate timeline out of the familiar universe we had come to know. This branching universe – often referred to by fans as the Kelvinverse since it was spawned out of an event involving the USS Kelvin – spawned two sequels and was planning a fourth film but that was eventually shelved. Fans have been wondering if the franchise was going to ignore the Kelvinverse from this point out and focus on the prime timeline again. With all the current shows taking place in the prime timeline, everyone assumed that the Kelvinverse had been put on the back burner for the foreseeable future. In fact, some thought it might have been benched for good.
We decided to reach out to one of our insider sources who has proven to be a reliable informant in the past, and they told us that the Star Trek franchise is not done with the Kelvinverse just yet. The information we obtained says that Paramount has not forgotten about the J.J. Abrams arm of the franchise and that they want to develop spinoffs, presumably for their streaming service Paramount+. We were unable to discern if this means Star Trek 4 has been permanently shelved, but the info we were able to get our hands on says that the plan is to develop some spinoffs that will take place in the Kelvinverse. Whether or not that will include cast members from the films is unclear at this time.
Just what exact spinoffs could we expect from this particular corner of the Star Trek universe? If they abandon the crew of the Enterprise, perhaps we will get to see some other elements of the Kelvinverse explored? Will the spinoffs take place during the same time period as the films or could we see a big leap into the future the same way that Star Trek: The Next Generation did when it decided to be a sequel to the original television series? Would we see any established characters from the Kelvinverse popping up in these spinoffs? What about Jaylah? Could this be a way to explore her character outside the confines of a typical Enterprise story? There are so many questions and possibilities that exist at this point.
Paramount definitely seems committed to spinning off as much of the Star Trek franchise as possible. In addition to this report, we have also heard that there are plans to revive a number of characters from the series Enterprise. It seems like Paramount is determined to keep using previous incarnations of the franchise as springboards for new projects. The last new series we got was Discovery and the shine seems to have faded a bit off that particular endeavor. Now, all we keep hearing is that the studio wants to take established facets of the property and find new ways to create projects around them. Whether or not this is strongly resonating with the majority of fans remains to be seen.
Regardless, it looks like the Kelvinverse branch of the Star Trek brand has still got some life left in it. Just what forms that life will take is something that will be of extreme interest to Star Trek fans.
