How J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Movies Transformed Star Trek TV Series

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies are now officially over, but their legacy lives on in Star Trek on Paramount+’s TV series, from Star Trek: Discovery to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Variety reported that Paramount Skydance is “moving on” and not making Star Trek 4 to reunite the USS Enterprise cast led by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Star Trek TV was dormant after the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005, until Star Trek: Discovery resurrected the TV franchise and brought it to streaming on Paramount+. Star Trek: Discovery‘s success sparked a Star Trek TV renaissance that led to three more live-action shows, two animated series, and a made-for-streaming movie, Star Trek: Section 31.

In between executive producer Rick Berman’s Star Trek era ending in 2005 and the launch of Star Trek on Paramount+ in 2017, overseen by executive producer Alex Kurtzman, however, were three Star Trek reboot movies produced by J.J. Abrams, who also directed the first two, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness in 2013.

With Paramount Skydance canceling Star Trek 4 after over 9 years of development hell to pursue “a fresh Star Trek movie” idea, 2016’s Star Trek Beyond becomes the end of J.J. Abrams’ alternate Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movie saga, an era that had an undeniable impact on the live-action Star Trek TV series that followed on Paramount+.

Star Trek TV Action Ramped Up Thanks To J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) reboot remade Star Trek into a summer blockbuster action movie franchise. Star Trek always had action, but on a TV scale, and never on the level of non-stop, explosive chaos that Abrams’ reinvented Star Trek into.

The frenetic pace of J.J. Abrams’ movies were ported to Star Trek: Discovery, which also saw blistering action sequences, usually centering on Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) engaged in intense hand-to-hand combat and phaser fights.

Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds followed suit and also delivered action unlike any seen in pre-J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies and TV shows.

J.J. Abrams grew up as a Star Wars fan who later directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Abrams’ brought Star Wars‘ sensibilities to Star Trek, and it continued in Star Trek on Paramount+, to the chagrin of longtime Trekkers who grouse that Star Trek is now less cerebral than it used to be.

Star Trek TV Got Lens Flares Thanks To J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies are continuously mocked for bringing lens flares to Star Trek. The USS Enterprise’s viewscreen became a window in Abrams’ Star Trek, and lens flares were a regular sight as the camera frenetically moved across the Enterprise’s brightly-lit bridge.

Star Trek on Paramount+’s live-action series, and also, at times, the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy, incorporated J.J. Abrams’ lens flares too.

Lens flares are a regular sight on starship bridges in Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, all of which also turned viewscreens into windows.

Star Trek TV Uniforms & Costumes Were Upgraded Thanks To J.J. Abrams’ Movies

Thanks to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, gone are the velour uniforms of Star Trek: The Original Series and the space pajama-like jumpsuits of Rick Berman’s Star Trek era.

Abrams’ Starfleet Officers don sleek and stylish uniforms, and when they beamed away from the Starship Enterprise, they wear cool, rugged jackets. Star Trek: Picard’s jackets even became real-life fashion statements.

Star Trek on Paramount+ thankfully continued the upgrade of Starfleet uniforms J.J. Abrams’ movies began. From Star Trek: Discovery‘s blue uniforms to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ color coded attire, modern Starfleet uniforms are stunning.

The new Star Trek TV shows also revamped civilian clothing, disappearing the embarrassing earth tones, wild colored patterns, and endless vests seen in Rick Berman’s Star Trek era.

J.J. Abrams Proved Star Trek Could Recast Iconic TOS Characters

Before Star Trek (2009), the very idea that anyone but William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy could play Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock was unthinkable. J.J. Abrams proved Star Trek’s iconic characters could not only be recast, but the right actors could embody their characters’ core traits and infuse them with youthful dynamism.

Star Trek: Discovery followed suit by recasting Captain Christopher Pike, Spock, and Number One with Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn, a gamble so successful that fans immediately embraced it and clamored for the original Star Trek trio to get their own spinoff. That spinoff became Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, arguably the most popular Star Trek on Paramount+ series.

From Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura, Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Martin Quinn as Scotty, and Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ recasting of icons has not missed. Wesley’s Kirk and Peck’s Spock have even gelled as well as William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Oscar Caliber Movie Stars Are Now Cast In Star Trek

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek turned Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of the Starship Enterprise cast into bona fide movie stars. Zoe Saldana even won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Emilia Perez. Abrams’ Star Trek movies also cast heavy hitters like Eric Bana, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Idris Elba as villains.

Star Trek has always cast fine actors like Christopher Plummer and even a young Tom Hardy, but the caliber of actors who joined Star Trek on Paramount+ was raised when Jason Isaacs and future Best Actress Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh joined Star Trek: Discovery.

Being cast in Star Trek is now a prestigious and sought-after gig for A-list talent. To wit, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is led by Academy Award winner Holly Hunter, with Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Paul Giamatti playing season 1’s villain.

The best of the best in Hollywood want to be in Star Trek, thanks in part to the example set by the quality of actors J.J. Abrams’ blockbuster movies cast throughout the trilogy.

Star Trek TV Wouldn’t Exist Today Without J.J. Abrams’ Movies

Star Trek was a dead franchise after 2005. Star Trek: Nemesis was an epic failure that killed Star Trek: The Next Generation as a viable movie property, while Star Trek: Enterprise underperformed and put an end to 18 years of continuous Star Trek television.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) was a pivotal shot in the arm that made Star Trek appealing to general audiences. It was an easy entry point that allowed the uninitiated to grasp the basic tenets of Star Trek, and Abrams’ trilogy was seen by people who still haven’t sampled a Star Trek TV show.

A crucial component of Star Trek‘s modern TV success is Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness. Since Star Trek: Discovery’s launch in 2017, Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout production company has overseen all of Star Trek on Paramount+.

While Kurtzman’s run has been controversial, his vision for Star Trek diversified the franchise, made it more inclusive, and expanded what Star Trek could be in live-action and animation.

As one of the architects of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies, Alex Kurtzman’s era that started with Star Trek: Discovery created a renaissance that made Star Trek bigger than it’s been since the 1990s.