“Star Trek” made the multiverse famous in film and television before the Marvel Cinematic Universe existed. But it was J.J. Abrams’ film that unleashed a veritable tangle that persists to this day.
- J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek (2009)” marked the first time within the “Star Trek” universe that new actors were used for variants of familiar characters from the Prime universe.
- This greatly influenced and changed the perception of the multiverse as we know it today from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Some forget, but the multiverse was popular in the “Star Trek” universe before the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) even existed. In doing so, “Star Trek” not only set some certain trends, but also significantly influenced how we as viewers perceive the multiverse.
As early as the 1960s, there was the mirror universe, in which Spock rocks a fancy goatee. There were also doppelgangers from other parallel universes in “Star Trek – The Next Century.” What was always consistent: variants were always embodied by the same actor!
Who remembers “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, knows however, that in the film three variants of the same person were played by different actors. It is actually more than improbable that other variants of the same person differ optically in other universes in such a way.
This is a multiverse trend that can be attributed to J.J. Abrams, among others, through “Star Trek (2009)”. In his film, he recasts the entire “Starship Enterprise” crew, as the main cast was already far too old for the film. So the recasting had a logical background, but it changed the perception of multiverses tremendously.
Suddenly it was possible for the same person to look different in other universes. Abrams, by setting his story in a parallel universe, was able to make modernizing adjustments in his films without breaking existing canon.
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” even swapped out the crew in the same universe as “Starship Enterprise” to tell fresh stories with younger versions of the characters. But the “Star Trek” universe is very careful about recasting familiar characters.
This may be a way of passing the buck to “Star Trek” when it comes to having kicked off the tangled mess that is currently the MCU, but at least “Star Trek” doesn’t merge as many timelines as Marvel currently does.
Currently, “Star Trek: Lower Decks” is shown on Amazon Prime Video, when “Star Trek: Discovery” will continue with season 5 is still unclear. In February 2023, “Star Trek: Picard” season 3 will start. We list all new “Star Trek” releases for you!