J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek 2009 movie didn’t just end with the crew of the USS Enterprise saving the Earth, but it also breathed new life and energy into the dormant Star Trek franchise, setting up not just more feature films but also the new TV series on Paramount+. Set in the alternate Kelvin Timeline created by a Romulan time traveler named Nero (Eric Bana), Star Trek is an origin story of how James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) became Captain of the USS Enterprise and forged his eternal friendship with Spock (Zachary Quinto).
The young crew of the Starship Enterprise was in a race against time to stop Nero in Star Trek 2009’s final act. Nero stole Earth’s defense codes from the captured Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). The Romulans’ starship, the Narada, reached Earth and lowered a drill to dig into the planetary core in San Francisco Bay near Starfleet Headquarters. From there, Nero would drop red matter to create a singularity that would swallow the planet into a black hole, just as the Romulans previously destroyed Spock’s homeworld of Vulcan. The USS Enterprise’s counterattacked by using the gravitational field of Saturn’s moon, Titan, to hide the starship from the Narada’s sensors. This allowed Kirk and Spock to beam aboard Nero’s ship to rescue Pike and stop the Romulans’ drill from destroying Earth.
Nero’s plan was, simply, vengeance in the form of intergalactic genocide. In 2387, which is 129 years before the present day of Star Trek 2009’s main story, Nero was helpless to watch a supernova destroy his homeworld of Romulus. Nero was furious at Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who promised the Romulans he would stop the supernova, but the legendary Vulcan was too late to exact his plan to use red matter to create a black hole that would swallow the supernova before it eradicated Romulus.
Both Nero and Spock were pulled into the black hole’s singularity, but they emerged at different points in Star Trek‘s past. The Narada arrived in 2233 and its destruction of the USS Kelvin ended up creating an alternate reality from that point forward. Spock arrived in the Kelvin timeline 25 years later, in 2258. Nero immediately captured Spock and stranded him on Delta Vega, forcing him to watch as Nero destroyed Vulcan.
Nero ultimately blamed the United Federation of Planets for doing “nothing” to save Romulus. Nero decided that he would use red matter to wipe out every Federation world, starting with Vulcan and Earth, in the 23rd century to ensure there would be no Federation in his 24th-century era. Nero even attacked a Klingon prison planet (possibly Rura Penthe) and wiped out a Klingon fleet with his advanced technology, because the Romulan also knew the Klingons and the Federation become allies in the 24th century,
James T. Kirk and Spock beamed onto the Narada to stop Nero’s drill. Scotty (Simon Pegg) mistakenly transported them into a populated era of the Romulans’ ship, so a shootout quickly ensured. But, through a mind-meld with one of the Romulans, Spock learned the location of the Jellyfish, Ambassador Spock’s ship containing the red matter, while Kirk learned where Captain Pike was being held. The Starfleet heroes then split up. Spock piloted his elder self’s ship into Earth’s atmosphere and destroyed Nero’s drill, saving the planet. Since the red matter was with Spock, Nero couldn’t use it on the Terran homeworld. Meanwhile, Kirk got into a fistfight with Nero, but after he killed Nero’s First Officer, Ayel (Clifton Collins, Jr.), he was also able to rescue the injured Captain Pike.
Incensed at Spock for destroying his drill, Nero’s ship followed the Jellyfish as the Vulcan warped away, leading the Romulans from Earth. Spock’s gamble was to exit warp near Saturn, which would allow the Enterprise to come to the rescue. That’s exactly what happened as the Enterprise arrived like the cavalry and saved Spock from Nero’s torpedoes. Kirk, Pike, and Spock beamed back aboard the Enterprise before Spock’s ship crashed into the Narada, which released the red matter and created a black hole that would swallow the ship.
Kirk offered to beam Nero and his crew to safety (against Spock’s wishes) but the Romulan preferred to “die in agony” rather than accept the Federation’s help. Kirk’s response? “You got it.” And they let the singularity swallow the Romulans. However, another problem arose, and the Enterprise was trapped in the black hole’s gravity well, preventing it from warping away. Kirk ordered Scotty to eject the warp core, hoping that the force of the detonation would push the Enterprise to safety. The gamble worked, and the Federation flagship was able to gain enough distance from the singularity and make it home to Earth.
Star Trek 2009’s endgame was for Kirk to become Captain of the Enterprise – and earn the chair – but how it got there is bewildering. Pike is Captain of the Enterprise when the starship warped to Vulcan to answer its emergency distress call when Nero attacked the planet. After Nero “invited” Pike aboard the Narada, Pike promoted Spock to Acting Captain and Kirk (who wasn’t supposed to be on the Enterprise, to begin with) to First Officer. Spock then had Kirk thrown off the ship for mutiny and marooned him on Delta Vega. Kirk returned to the Enterprise with Scotty thanks to Ambassador Spock showing the engineer the equation for transwarp beaming. Kirk was then able to show that Spock was “emotionally compromised” because of his trauma from Vulcan’s destruction, and Jim assumed command as Acting Captain.
Because Kirk led the Enterprise to successfully save Earth from Nero, Starfleet Command rewarded him with a promotion to Captain. Yes, Kirk jumped rank from Cadet to Captain in the course of the film. Kirk then relieved the injured and wheelchair-bound Captain Pike of command of the USS Enterprise. It may seem like an insane turn of events, but there is Star Trek movie precedent for Kirk’s reward. When Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) saved Earth from the Whale Probe in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Starfleet dropped all charges against him and demoted him to Captain, giving him command of the USS Enterprise-A. In Star Trek, saving Earth is the key to getting what you want, especially if your name is James T. Kirk.
Star Trek 2009 was ingenious in how every main Enterprise crew member got positioned into their classic roles despite being Starfleet Cadets. Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) became helmsman by replacing the previous pilot, who was ill. 17-year-old Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin) was also on the bridge at Operations as the ship’s navigator. Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) was assigned as one of the Enterprise’s senior medical officers, but he became Chief Medical Officer after the previous doctor died during Nero’s attack. McCoy also used his clout to sneak Kirk aboard the Enterprise despite his academic suspension.
Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) used her romantic relationship with Spock to get reassigned to the Enterprise from the USS Farragut. Captain Pike then made Uhura Communications Officer because of her superior ability to understand Romulan and Klingon. Finally, Scotty worked as the transporter chief during the Enterprise’s final assault on Nero, and Kirk promoted him to Chief Engineer after he became Captain.
Leonard Nimoy’s presence in Star Trek 2009 gave J.J. Abrams’ reboot legitimacy in the eyes of longtime Trekkers, but Ambassador Spock (billed as Spock Prime in the film) was also crucial to the story. Spock is the key link between Star Trek‘s Prime Timeline and Abrams’ Kelvin alternate reality, but because the legendary Vulcan jumped to the Kelvin Universe and was ultimately stranded there, it was an assurance that Star Trek2009 “really happened.” Ambassador Spock’s role was ostensibly to give Kirk (and the audience) the backstory of where Nero came from and how he time traveled to the 23rd century, but the Vulcan’s far more vital role was to help the young Kirk along on his journey to becoming Captain of the Enterprise.
Thanks to Ambassador Spock, Kirk realized that he needed to work with the younger Spock in order to stop Nero. Kirk believed the old Vulcan that he and Spock are destined to be friends and that they can achieve great things together. Meeting Ambassador Spock was the impetus Kirk needed to become the Captain he is destined to be. As for the two Spocks, the Prime Vulcan initially didn’t want to meet his younger self, but he decided they “couldn’t ignore each other” when less than 10,000 Vulcans remained in the universe. Ambassador Spock also urged Commander Spock to remain in Starfleet since they can now be “in two places at once.” The two Spocks meeting gets a payoff in Star Trek Into Darkness when the younger Vulcan turns to his senior counterpart for information on how to defeat Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch).
Star Trek 2009 ended with Captain Kirk and his crew in place aboard the Starship Enterprise, ready to explore the final frontier in sequels. Beyond setting up 2012’s Star Trek Into Darkness, and a third movie directed by Justin Lin, 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, J.J. Abrams’ 2009 film was ultimately the rebirth of the Star Trek franchise. Four years had passed since Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled and there would not be a new Star Trek series on television until Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. During those 12 years, Abrams’ Star Trek trilogy kept the franchise alive, created new fans, and became the basis for the next wave of Star Trek TV shows.
J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek films were a necessary and long-needed upgrade of Star Trek‘s visual effects, production values, and a shift in tone and storytelling styles. Star Trek 2009 was the template that Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds followed, with all three live-action series on Paramount+ boasting blockbuster movie-quality production values and visuals. Star Trek 2009’s breakneck style and giddy sense of fun and adventure are also evident in the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy.
Star Trek 4 has been mired in development hell since 2016. Filmmakers like S.J. Clarkson, Matt Shakman, and Quentin Tarantino developed the next Star Trek movie for producer J.J. Abrams’ but all left due to creative differences. However, Paramount Pictures is reportedly prioritizing Star Trek, and a new screenwriter, Steve Yockey, is writing Star Trek 4, which is billed as “the final chapter” of the USS Enterprise crew led by Chris Pine’s Captain James T. Kirk. Although no director has been named, an ideal scenario would be Star Trek 4 arriving in theaters to celebrate Star Trek‘s 60th anniversary in 2026.
However, there are two new Star Trek movies releasing soon. Star Trek: Section 31, starring Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh, has completed filming and will be the first Star Trek movie made for streaming on Paramount+. On the theatrical side, Paramount Pictures has confirmed an Untitled Star Trek Origin Movie set “decades before” Star Trek 2009 to premiere in 2025, with Toby Haynes (Star Wars: Andor) directing. Whether or not a Star Trek 4 ever reunites Chris Pine and the USS Enterprise cast, Star Trek2009 is the benchmark that the current golden age of Star Trek on Paramount+ is built upon, and J..J. Abrams’ first Star Trek movie remains a thrilling, spectacular space adventure that holds up to repeat viewings.
Star Trek 2009 is streaming on Paramount+