Of the two Star Trek reboot options, J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin timeline was a better option than Erik Jendresen’s Starfleet war movie. In 2006, following the cancelation of Star Trek: Enterprise, and the poor box office performance of Star Trek: Nemesis, Paramount were keen to revive the franchise’s fortunes in movie theaters. The studio commissioned a script, provisionally titled Star Trek: The Beginning, from Erik Jendresen, who had been a writer on Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks’ acclaimed World War 2 miniseries, Band of Brothers. Jendresen’s proposed reboot focused on a little known period in the Star Trek timeline.

Set between Enterprise and Star Trek: The Original Series, The Beginning would have depicted the events leading up to the Earth-Romulan War. Star Trek: The Beginning‘s lead character was Tiberius Chase, a reckless young graduate with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. Chase was intended to be an ancestor of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), who played a key role in the war against the Romulans. While an interesting premise for dyed-in-the-wool Star Trek fans, it’s hard to see how The Beginning would have appealed to a wider audience.

Star Trek: The Beginning Was A Gritty Reboot Like Batman Begins

Erik Jendresen submitted the first draft of Star Trek: The Beginning in August 2006, so it’s interesting to look at the script in terms of the wider pop culture context. A year previously, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins had been released in theaters to widespread acclaim. Nolan’s grittier Batman movies led to a raft of similarly gritty reboots of old franchises that had previously become too outlandish. The trend would gain further traction later in 2006, when Daniel Craig’s debut as James Bond, Casino Royale, rebooted the franchise with a harder-edged spy movie well removed from the camp excess of Die Another Day.

As a writer working in Hollywood at this time, Erik Jendresen wouldn’t have been able to escape the industry discussions about these gritty reboots and their commercial value. Even the provisional title of Star Trek: The Beginning is an echo of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. The evidence of how gritty The Beginning would have been is there in Jendresen’s first draft, dated August 8, 2006. There’s arguably too much cursing for Star Trek, with five son-of-a-bitches, four bastards, and six shits in the dialog.

The violence in The Beginning is also more gruesome than audiences would probably expect from a Star Trek movie. For example, one of the lead characters, Jaxx sustains serious injuries in the movie’s climax, with the directions explaining that “his left arm and leg gone (the wounds cauterized by fire)“. While coarse language and violence are expected in a war movie, it’s interesting to ponder how audiences would react to it in a Star Trek movie. Perhaps it would be deemed too “try-hard” and seen as a hollow attempt by Star Trek to cash in on the recent successes of the gritty Batman and Bond reboots.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Was A Bold, Colorful Reboot

In stark contrast to Star Trek: The Beginning, J.J. Abrams’ reboot was bold, colorful, and stayed true to the spirit of the franchise. While there was a harder edge to J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie, particularly in the scenes with Nero (Eric Bana), it was still a broadly family-friendly action movie. Crucially, J.J. Abrams’ pitch had recognizable characters, something that was absent from Erik Jendresen’s Star Trek: The Beginning script. The only returning character was Jeffrey Combs’ Shran, from Star Trek: Enterprise, while Spock’s grandfather, Skon, would also have debuted in the movie.

For a theatrical audience, a recurring character from a canceled Star Trek show is hardly a major draw, despite how great Jeffrey Combs is. The bigger draw, and J.J. Abrams’ boldest move, was a complete recast of the iconic Star Trek: The Original Series cast. No matter how little a general audience knows about Star Trek, they know exactly who Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are. With a cast of recognizable characters, coupled with a dynamic approach to sci-fi action and adventure, it’s no wonder that incoming Paramount Pictures President Gail Berman opted for Abrams over Jendresen’s Romulan War epic.

Star Trek 2009 Was The Franchise’s Best Reboot Option

Although a fascinating idea for a movie, Star Trek: The Beginning was the wrong pitch at the wrong time. With Paramount keen to revitalize the box office performance of the Star Trek franchise, there was just no place for a movie so deeply embedded in Romulan War lore. Given how relentlessly grim Star Trek: Nemesis was, the franchise desperately needed to have fun again, something that wouldn’t have happened with The Beginning. While it certainly has its flaws, J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek movie was the best reboot option for the franchise, and the proof is in the box office takings.

Interestingly, however, Star Trek into Darkness excised much of the fun of its predecessor, feeling more heavily influenced by Casino Royale and Batman Begins, and is one of the highest grossing Star Trek movies. While that’s perhaps an indicator that Star Trek: The Beginning could have succeeded with its similar approach in 2009, those audiences were returning for Into Darkness because of how fun its predecessor was. Ultimately, J.J. Abrams’ reboot launched Star Trek into an exciting new era of blockbuster movies, keeping the franchise alive for years to come.

Star Trek (2009) is available to stream on Paramount+.