Movies News Talk
JJ Abrams's 2009 *Star Trek* debuted the Kelvin Timeline. Pursued by Romulans, Spock makes time travel trips back. Arriving early in the 23rd century, the Romulans attack the USS Kelvin, therefore altering the chronology. This let creative teams produce original *Star Trek* storylines outside of accepted guidelines. Among the alterations done to the show were a sleeker Enterprise and fresh performers filling out known characters.
Following the movie in 2013 was *Star Trek Into darkness* and *Star Trek Beyond* in 2016. As knowledge on *Star Trek Beyond* spilled to the press, it was found that Sulu was gay in the Kelvin Timeline. This shift was done in honor of George Takei, the openly gay actor who first brought Sulu to life. This led Sulu, the first openly gay character in the show, to be Still, the choice was controversial; Takei even participated in the discussion once. When *Beyond* opened theatres, fans only saw Sulu's family in a fleeting glimpse. In the *Star Trek* franchise, this was a somewhat disappointing milestone.
The Kelvin timeline brought various tweaks to the *Star Trek* franchise, and now they have doubled down on one of its most divisive modifications in the best of interests. It was revealed in the run-up to *Star Trek: Beyond*, that the helmsman of the Enterprise, Hikaru Sulu, is gay. Though the choice was divisive, viewers of the new *Star Trek Celebrations: Pride* will find how it all turned out for the best.
Steve Orlando and Lauren Knight's story "The Knight Errand" features the Kelvin form of Sulu making reappearance. On a far-off world, Sulu is sword fighting an alien warlord utilizing his fencing skills. Stake: the life of the away team. Sulu narrates the events as though he were a knight in a medieval tale. Fans discover Sulu is telling the story to his young daughter Demora.
Playing Vernestra Rwoh in Star Wars' forthcoming TV series *The Acolyte*, Rebecca Henderson has divulged some of the secrets about her great weapon, the lightwhip. Originally featured in *Star Wars* Legends, also known as the Expanded Universe, this lightsaber type has subsequently become canon in the High Republic era. Something seen regularly in her character in the High Republic books and comics, Vernestra is the Jedi wielding the purple weapon. It will eventually be seen live-action now, and Henderson is divulging some secrets about it before its premiere.
Henderson tells Collider precisely how the weapon is turned into its whip shape and the risks involved. She first dissects the physics of it, telling viewers of a "twist" in the hilt that lets the lightsaber become a whip, and then she shows how effortlessly Vernestra is able to accomplish this. Having carried the weapon for many years, she can even utilize the Force to activate this ability now she is at ease with it.
Not only does Sulu save the day, but he also makes it home in time to show Demora the best family guy and support the most divisive choice taken on the Kelvin timeline.
Orlando and Knight show that this was the right one. It adds to Sulu's character dimension and development the absent classic *Star Trek* series possessed. Readers of "The Knight Errand" will be able to see Sulu's leadership qualities and sword skills. Sulu feels confident in his capacity to save the away team and is rather fond of them. Sulu not only rescues the day but also shows that he is a committed family guy by making it home in time to put Demora to bed, therefore supporting the most controversial choice of the Kelvin timeline.
Jonathan Frakes then went on to describe how directing for *Star Trek* on Paramount+ series is far different from how the present episodes gave filmmakers latitude with dialogue the *Star Trek* series made did not allow. While the present shows are more flexible and allow for experimentation, *Star Trek* demands the actors be word-perfect and memorize all speech as written. See Frakes's observation on his experience managing the crossover between *Star Trek: Strange New Worlds* and *Star Trek: Lower Decks*.
That's an intriguing point. Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome visited to help with that on "Those Old Scientists". Second City improvisation expert Tawny misled slightly with the lines. Arriving on location with Kat Lyn and Bill Wolkoff as my writers, we all sort of locked eyes and I just whispered to them, saying, "What do you think? Should we let them march straight forward? They answered, "Sure," then. And it liberated Anson, Rebecca, and all of a sudden we performed the scenes as written, but then we played with the scenes and that was such a pleasure to have. As you are certainly aware, Next Gen has strict restrictions. Our program was quite demanding. It was exact on every performance addressing the topic. It was so a rather freeing experience.