17 Years Later, Star Trek Is Officially Abandoning The J.J. Abrams Movie Timeline To Save The Franchise

Published Oct 19, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT

Once head of Screen Rant's Star Wars coverage, Tom's career began as a fan of the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and his love of major franchises has ultimately led to a decade-long career. He'd had the privilege of interviewing writers, authors, directors, actors, stunt coordinators, and VFX artists on a staggering number of his favorite franchises, including Star Wars, the MCU, Stranger Things, Halo, Foundation, and more. He's conducted set visits in the UK, attending major comic cons in New York and London, and reported at Star Wars Celebration 2023 as press. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon, on LinkedIn @tabacon, or on Muckrack under tombacon.

Tom has a wide range of interests, and he continues to serve his university as a volunteer chaplain. He's heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he's into British politics too.

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We're finally getting a sense of the future of Star Trek. After the success of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan suggested Hollywood was finally moving into a "post-franchise" era where audiences long for something new. He seems to have been right; since then, we've seen unexpected successes like Sinners and Weapons, the launch of whole new franchises like KPop Demon Hunters, and established franchises struggling. Star Wars, the MCU, and even Doctor Who seem to be in trouble right now. And Star Trek is no exception.

The Alex Kurtzman era of Star Trek appears to be coming to an end, with the franchise breaking an 11-year streak where a new TV show had either been greenlit or was in production. Part of this is the end of peak streaming, because the entire model has fallen apart; but it's also a natural conclusion, because momentum has ebbed. Strange New Worlds always had a final (James T. Kirk-shaped) destination in mind, while Starfleet Academy was just too controversial for a third season. Now, at last, we're beginning to learn what comes next.

The Star Trek Reboot Won't Be In The Kevlin Timeline, Nor Have Legacy Characters

Back in 2009, J.J. Abrams relaunched Star Trek for the big screen by rebooting the whole franchise in a time travel epic that allowed him to recast the original series stars. Star Trek was a moderate success, grossing $385 million in the global box office, and it was followed by two sequels in this so-called "Kelvin Timeline." Unfortunately, 2016's Star Trek Beyond was a lot less successful, with lower box office takings despite a higher budget. Since then, the entire film side of Star Trek has essentially been on hold.

This part of the Star Trek timeline has been ignored since 2016, with Kurtzman launching a steam of TV shows set in the original timeline instead (and, amusingly, recasting original series heroes yet again for Strange New Worlds). But now, filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley have revealed the next Star Trek film will abandon both approaches. As they explained to Empire, the next Star Trek movie will be something entirely new:

John Francis Daley: "Entirely. No legacy characters, nobody that you’ve met before. A different time, not a different timeline per se, but it’s a little further in the future."

Jonathan Goldstein: "Sort of a different timeline."

John Francis Daley: "Well, not the Kelvin timeline. It’s not the J.J. [Abrams] timeline."

Jonathan Goldstein: "It’s tribbles. It’s all tribbles. The whole movie."

Why Star Trek 4 In The Kelvin Timeline Isn't Happening

Everett

This is how the Kelvin timeline ends: not with a bang, but a whimper. The three movies were simply too expensive to justify, given their modest box office performance. The fanbase had grown increasingly divided, with a substantial backlash after Star Trek Into Darkness' Khan reveal. Paramount became paralyzed, with Star Trek 4 caught in Development Hell for a full decade; no doubt the streaming revival made the movie less pressing, because the franchise was booming in another medium instead.

Looking back, I do find the collapse of the Kelvin timeline more than a little frustrating. It's true that these films had struggled to find their feet, but Star Trek Beyond arguably pulled it off at last. Its story emphasized the crew's relationships, introduced new characters and concepts rather than playing to nostalgia beats, and was so much more compelling than its predecessors. But the creative direction was finally working, just when the commercial case was weakening.

Ultimately, ten years is a long time between sequels, especially when the Kelvin timeline movies never really captured the public imagination in the first place. By now, the Kelvin timeline is more of a historic curiosity; a random side-step in an ongoing franchise's journey, more akin to a creative cul-de-sac than a promising new direction. It's a shame, but nobody is particularly surprised to see Star Trek 4 shelved in favor of something new.

A Fresh Start For Star Trek Is For The Best Now

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In the end, then, a fresh start for Star Trek seems both inevitable and wise. Popular culture is finally moving on from nostalgia, which means both the Kurtzman era and a Kelvin timeline revival feel like a bad fit right now (Kurtzman may have pushed on to the 32nd century with Star Trek: Discovery and Starfleet Academy, but the focus has become increasingly nostalgia-driven).

That's the approach every other franchise is trying to take, too. Next year's Avengers: Secret Wars is based on a comic book story that reset the entire Marvel Universe, setting up a potential reboot for the MCU. Star Wars will celebrate its 50th anniversary with Star Wars: Starfighter, a self-contained adventure featuring new characters in a part of the timeline that's never been explored before. The BBC has put Doctor Who out for competitive tender, looking for a fresh vision for the world's longest-running sci-fi TV show.

It's time for a fresh start for Star Trek. Not a story that's been done before, not a prequel, not something you have to be familiar with a random episode 20 years ago to understand or a reboot of characters who were first popular in the 1960s. If Star Trek is to flourish, then it needs to boldly go where it has not gone before.

The Next Star Trek Movie Is In The Perfect Hands

Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley do seem like the perfect choice to relaunch Star Trek. They're experienced with major franchises (think Spider-Man: Homecoming), and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves showed they know how to make a complex universe accessible to whole new audiences without dumbing anything down. It's true that Dungeons and Dragons failed to perform in the box office, but it's become a hit on streaming, and their star is clearly ascending.

There is still something of a gamble here, though; Goldstein and Daley are known for a whimsical, humorous take that will need to be subtly reworked for Star Trek. And yet, I can't help pointing to the skill they've displayed on projects like Game Night, which suggest they can pull this off. They already clearly have a vision for the kind of film they want to make, and they're wise to step away from Star Trek 4 and the Kelvin timeline.

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