It Will Be In The Prime (Not Kelvin) Universe
J.J. Abrams – bless his heart, he is a great filmmaker, but he messed up Star Trek bad. By blowing up Vulcan, he set off a chain reaction of changes to the Star Trek universe that we know and love, prompting a lot of hard-core fans to just wish that he hadn’t.
Well, fortunately, our handsomest Trek-ologists have come up with a solution: there are now two Trek universes. Abrams’s messed-up, not-as-good universe is now called the Kelvin Universe, and that’s being used just for the recent movies. The better, pre-Abrams universe, that longtime Trek fans love dearly, is now the Prime universe. That’s where Discovery is set.
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“…fans can expect that the show will still retain a lot of the things that have been a part of previous shows.”
This is good news, more for what it means than anything. It means that fans can expect that the show will still retain a lot of the things that have been a part of previous shows. All the alien races and strange new worlds that we have come to expect will exist, and not suddenly explode to fulfill the requirements of some new plot point. It also signals that the show’s producers plan to keep some continuity – it’s as much about respect for the Star Trek franchise as anything. By setting Discovery in the Prime universe, they are saying that they hold reverence for Star Trek culture, and won’t tear it apart in ways that do long-term damage.
It Will Continue to Push Cultural Boundaries
Star Trek has always been ahead of its time in dealing with racism, sexuality, and even gender roles. Star Trek: Discovery boldly goes forward in that tradition, with some character and narrative decisions that have had a lot of fans talking already. First, the show’s two lead characters are women of colour, played by women of colour – Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou and Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham. Now, while Star Trek has often been lauded for its open-minded aesthetic, it has had a surprisingly white and male list of main characters in past series. Even by Trek standards, Discovery is making a strong statement.
There’s also the fact that Martin-Green’s character has the first name “Michael,” leading some fans to extrapolate that Discovery might feature Trek’s first transgender protagonist. Of course, all of this has attracted the ire of the Internet (the worst kind of ire you can get), and Discovery has been pummelled by accusations of pandering to political correctness.
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“Even by Trek standards, Discovery is making a strong statement.”
It remains to be seen just what kinds of cultural statements Discovery plans to make. The exploration of cultural norms, taboos, and prejudices has always been at the center of the Star Trek universe – while, ironically, its characters have always been overwhelmingly white and male. I suspect that once Discovery finally premieres in September, we will like it and forget about all of these worries.
In the end, the most important thing is whether Star Trek: Discovery is good or not. I remember when TNG first came out in the late 80s. Fans were outraged at the choice of the older, balding Patrick Stewart as Captain of the Enterprise. Once the show began, and people saw how good the writing and acting were, nothing more was said about Stewart – and eventually, people preferred him to Shatner (yeah, I said it). That could be the case for Discovery as well – we’ll all find out in 3 months.