(a.k.a. the “JJ-verse”)
After Enterprise was cancelled in 2005, I felt pretty dejected. For the first time since I became a Trekkie almost fifteen years earlier, no new Star Trek was in production. However, by 2006, rumours began floating around of a brand-new feature film; a reboot! Star Trek was back!
Star Trek hit cinemas in 2009, kicking off an alternate reality that fans know as the “Kelvin timeline” – or, more informally, the “JJ-verse,” after writer and director JJ Abrams. There are three Kelvin timeline films; a fourth has failed to get off the ground since Beyond was in cinemas in 2016. For my money, all three films had their moments, and I enjoyed at least parts of each of them. Into Darkess is my personal favourite, but I respect what Star Trek ’09 did for the franchise, and I appreciate what Simon Pegg wanted to do with Beyond, even though I consider those stories to be a bit weaker overall.
This page serves as an archive of all of my posts about the Kelvin timeline. There are only three films, but they’re their own separate piece of Star Trek, so it seemed silly to overlook them. I don’t have full write-ups of any of them just yet, but I’ve talked about them on multiple occasions here on the website.
The Force Awakened… A Decade Ago
“The Force Awakens is probably the only film I can think of where my opinion has shifted so dramatically since that first viewing…”
A New Star Trek Film Has Been Announced (Again!)
“I think we’re catching the first glimpse at what a new era for Star Trek is going to look like…”
The End of the Kelvin Timeline?
“The newly-merged Skydance/Paramount corporation is ready to ‘move on’ from the Kelvin timeline…”
Ten Star Trek Storylines That Should Be Non-Canon
“We’ve talked about questions of canon quite a lot in the past few weeks…”
Star Trek Films: My Tier List
“I’m going to revisit the Star Trek films, this time using the internet-friendly tier list format…”
Ten More Things That Have Always Bugged Me In Star Trek
“Some of these things are more irritating than others…”
Star Trek Needs Sequels, Not Prequels
“If there is to be more Star Trek in the months and years ahead, it should continue to move the timeline forward…”
Another Star Trek Film Announcement?
“I’ll believe it when I see it!”
Do we still need the Kelvin timeline?
“If I were in the room, I’d argue that there are better ways for Paramount to spend money on Star Trek…”
2022: A Great and Terrible Year for Star Trek
“Pull back the curtain and I’m afraid it was a tough year for Star Trek…”
Star Trek 2023: what’s going on?
“If Star Trek 2023 is faltering, could it be for the best?”
Ten Star Trek episodes to watch before Strange New Worlds Season 1
“If it’s been a while since you last saw some of these episodes, watching them will provide some additional background and backstory heading into Strange New Worlds…”
Six Star Trek “hot takes”
“Today I thought we could have a bit of fun!”
To recast or not to recast?
“In that sense, I agree with Kathleen Kennedy…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – Season 4 finale
“As the season wore on I did get some things right with my theories, even if some of my bigger ones were wide of the mark…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 12
“We still have a long list of theories as we head into the season finale…”
Star Trek: Discovery theories – week 11
“This week has seen relatively little theory movement…”
Star Trek 2023: Back to the Kelvin Timeline
“One of the more interesting announcements from yesterday’s investor event was the news that Star Trek 2023 is going to involve a return to the Kelvin timeline…”
Five planets that Star Trek probably won’t revisit any time soon!
“There are some planets that, for one reason or another, are best left behind in the franchise’s past…”
What If…? Star Trek Edition!
“There are more than 800 Star Trek stories at time of writing, meaning that there are literally hundreds of potential scenarios where a different decision or different outcome could have radically changed the Star Trek galaxy…”
Star Trek news roundup!
“In the last few weeks there have been several of these smaller news stories…”
Star Trek 2023: what could it be?
“No information was provided by Paramount Pictures or ViacomCBS about the film other than its June 2023 release date. So it would be foolish to speculate, wouldn’t it?”
A Star Trek film is coming in 2023!
“Unfortunately that’s literally all we know…”
If Star Trek had behaved like Star Wars…
“Let’s step through the looking glass, across the divide between universes, into a strange new world…”
The pros and cons of a fourth Kelvin timeline film
“What would be the pros and cons of a new film in the alternate reality – especially now that we have prime timeline Star Trek back on the small screen?”
First impressions of Star Trek: Bridge Crew… three years late
“Bridge Crew is, as far I can tell, the first game I’ve played that started life in VR. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and the controls certainly take a little bit of getting used to…”
Ten great Star Trek episodes – Part 6: everything else
“My first five articles looked at one Star Trek show apiece. Those shows each had at least three seasons’ worth of episodes to choose from, so it was relatively easy to pick ten great ones…”
I finally saw The Rise of Skywalker… (a review)
“At one point while I was sitting down to watch The Rise of Skywalker, one of my cats sat in front of the television and proceeded to lick her arsehole… it was by far the most entertainment I got in the entire two-and-a-half hours…”
Trekking with Dennis 