Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Should Cross Over With the Kelvin Timeline

In Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery, fans met the original crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise in the form of Captain Christopher Pike, Spock and Number One. The characters made such a splash and were so beloved that, with the conclusion of the season, CBS All Access confirmed the three will star in their very own spinoff, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The series will explore Pike, Spock and Number One's adventures aboard the Enterprise in the years before James T. Kirk assumed command of the ship.

On the streaming service, CBS is truly giving the Star Trek franchise a second life, with an ever-growing slate of series that now includes Star Trek: Picard, Discovery and Strange New Worlds. This comes as a welcome relief for fans, especially after the franchise's latest cinematic entry, 2016's Star Trek: Beyond failed to light up the box-office -- or to secure a proper sequel. But now that Strange New Worlds is coming to a television near you, this would be the perfect time for the franchise to crossover with its big screen counterpart.

The "Kelvin Timeline" is the name given to the alternate reality where the last three Star Trek films took place, starting with J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot. With this change, a new reality was created separately from the one where Star Trek: The Original Series, The Next Generation and all other television series took place. This allowed the films to operate freely, while still being tied to the original continuity in some way. The "Kelvin Timeline" is a separate reality, but it sill exists parallel to the prime timeline of Star Trek.

Therefore, while there may not currently be any movies planned in this reality, it still exists concurrently with the other television series. And since Star Trek is a sci-fi world where Federation crews can have adventures through time or in other universes, it stands to reason that a crossover between the main and Kelvin timelines is possible.

A crossover between Strange New Worlds and the films would finally be able to offer closure. Star Trek: Beyond hit theaters in 2016, and while the prospect of a fourth movie has been mentioned a few times before, it doesn't seem like it will happen anytime soon. However, if certain actors from the films were to appear on Strange New Worlds, the television series could offer a final adventure of sorts for the movie crew, either by offering resolution or closing of the loop.

Of course, fans wouldn't expect every big movie actor to star on the series, but the appearance from only a few members of the cinematic crew would be able to provide a satisfactory crossover. Actors like Simon Pegg, Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto could all potentially appear on the series as members of the U.S.S. Enterprise from an alternate timeline.

Better yet, this would allow the series to replicate a ceremonial scene from J.J. Abrams' first Star Trek film. In the 2009 movie, Leonard Nimoy appeared as the prime version of Spock, and he essentially passed the Spock baton to Zachary Quinto. Were Quinto to appear on Strange New Worlds, he could essentially do the same with Ethan Peck, who is now playing Spock in Discovery and Strange New Worlds.

There was a time when the future of Star Trek was on the big screen. But here we are four years later, and another Star Trek film doesn't appear to be in the cards. With the franchise finding a new life on television, its future is prosperous once again, and its potential limitless. Instead of ignoring the movies, CBS has the chance to continue their story on the small screen and to connect all branches of the franchise like never before.

Streaming on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Commander Saru, Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly, Shazad Latif as Ash Tyler, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Mary Chieffo as L'Rell, Tig Notaro as Chief Engineer Reno, Ethan Peck as Spock, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou. Season 2 is available in its entirety now, with Season 3 expected to premiere sometime in 2020. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds doesn't have a release date yet.

Source: www.cbr.com