Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained

We've remodulated our tricorders to help you make sense of the Star Trek Kelvin timeline from the recent Star Trek movies.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained

Our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article is here to tell Spock from Spock.

How do you reboot a franchise that’s been around more than 50 years old and whose fan base is, shall we say, passionate about the accuracy of its canon? If you wipe the slate completely clean and start afresh, you lose the benefit of five decades of lore from which to draw inspiration and characters. If you keep the continuity, you’re shackled to decades of details from which you can’t escape. What can you do? If you’re Star Trek, you create the Kelvin Timeline.

The Kelvin timeline, or "alternate universe Trek", creates a new environment in which the events of the more recent Star Trek films (Star Trek, Into Darkness, Beyond) won’t contradict those that came before. It’s also how Spock ended up meeting himself. 

If you want to rewatch the new Star Trek movies, our Star Trek streaming guide will show you where to watch them all online. And if you're curious to see how the new movies stack up against the classics, check out our Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best article. Now, let's dive into the Star Trek Kelvin timeline.

Event One: Nero Travels Through Time 

Star Trek What is the Kelvin Timeline: image shows Eric Bana as Nero in Star Trek (2009)

According to Star Trek (2009), the planet Romulus was destroyed by a supernova in the year 2387. Ambassador Spock attempted to use "red matter", a substance so powerful that a single drop can destroy a planet, to save Romulus by destroying the supernova. He did indeed manage to destroy the supernova, but not in time to prevent the planet’s destruction. To make matters worse, both his ship, the experimental Jellyfish, and the Romulan mining ship Narada were pulled into the black hole’s wake and sent hurtling backwards in time. Spock emerged in 2258 while the Romulans landed in 2233. 

The Narada’s captain, Nero decides to use this opportunity to take out his grief on the organization he holds responsible for the ruin of Romulus and, by extension, the death of his family: the Federation. One of his first acts is to destroy the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained heroically to the very last minute by George Kirk, who lives just long enough to name his newborn son James.

And thus begins the Kelvin timeline. 

Spock, Meet Spock 

Star Trek what is the kelvin timeline: image shows Spock in Star Trek movie (2009)

Jim Kirk grows up as a rebellious punk constantly trying to outrun his father’s long shadow. Christopher Pike sees something of value in him and urges him to join Starfleet, which he eventually does. Through a contrivance of events, he ends up aboard the Enterprise along with Spock, Bones McCoy, Uhura, and the rest of the Original Series crew. 

It’s now 2258 and Ambassador Spock emerges from the black hole just in time to be scooped up by Nero, who keeps the Jellyfish — and its cache of red matter — for himself while abandoning Spock on the frozen planet of Delta Vega. He wants Spock to bear witness as the Narada drills a hole into the center of Vulcan and releases red matter at the planet’s core. The Enterprise tries to stop him and fails, though they do manage to rescue Spock’s father, Sarek. Nero is eventually defeated, and Spock's young and old take a moment to reflect on their coexistence

Enter Khan, Exit Kirk 

star trek what is the kelvin timeline: image shows Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Nero’s too-close-to-success-for-comfort attempt to destroy Earth shifts Starfleet’s ethos from one of discovery to one of protection. They still want to "seek out new life forms," but only to find out how dangerous they are. In Into Darkness (2013), Alexander Marcus, leader of the secretive Section 31, finds the SS Botany Bay, stuffed to the rafters full of augmented humans in cryostasis. He wakes one of them up — Khan Noonien Singh — and forces him to build weapons that Earth could use to defend itself against alien threats. 

Huge surprise, Khan betrays Marcus, exacting vengeance on various Starfleet targets. In doing so, he kills Kirk’s father figure Christopher Pike. Marcus tries to leverage Kirk’s hot-headedness by sending Kirk after Khan, who has fled to the Klingon homeworld of Kronos. He figures Kirk will kill, not capture, Khan, thus removing a threat and evidence of Marcus’ secret project.

Kirk goes off script and keeps Khan alive, much to the chagrin of Admiral Marcus, who tries to blow them all the heck up. The sacrifice that leads to victory happens just as in the original, except in the Kelvin timeline it’s Kirk who gives his life to save his crew. In the prime timeline, Genesis brought Spock back to life, but here it’s Khan’s blood that gets the job done.

That bit of ugliness behind them, the Enterprise receives its five-year-mission. You know the one.

Farewell to Spock 

Star Trek what is the Kelvin Timeline: image shows Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) in Star Trek Beyond (2016)

In Star Trek: Beyond (2016), the Enterprise discovers the USS Franklin, a Federation ship that had been lost for decades. Here’s what’s fun about that: the Kelvin timeline doesn’t start until 2233. The Franklin disappeared before that, so it exists in both timelines, which means a different version of it could theoretically pop up in Star Trek media that doesn’t adhere to the Kelvin timeline. 

In Kelvin, however, the Franklin is half-buried after crashing into the surface of the planet Altamid. Few of its former crew remain, and those that do are unrecognizable, having been transformed by technology they’ve used to keep themselves alive. The Franklin’s captain, Balthazar Edison, now known as Krall, rejects Starfleet ideals of peace. He’s a soldier and he believes that he should be allowed to do what he does best. He returns to starbase Yorktown with the goal of commandeering it to launch an attack on the Federation, but first he’ll have to kill every living thing in residence. Kirk et al save the day, of course. 

This is also the point at which Ambassador Spock leaves the timeline due to the passing of the peerless Leonard Nimoy. Kelvin Spock had been planning to rejoin what remains of the Vulcan people, but instead chooses to honor his other self by remaining in Starfleet.

Crossover With the Prime Timeline 

Keeping track of the Kelvin timeline is important because there are still Star Trek properties operating in the prime timeline, such as Picard . However, there has been a little bit of crossover between the two. Picard takes place long after the titular character has quit Starfleet, and early on we discover the destruction of Romulus was why. 

Picard wanted to launch a rescue mission to save as many Romulans as possible before the detonation of the supernova, but Starfleet pushed back. He went forward with it anyway, but when his ships were decimated by a fleet of rogue synths, Starfleet gave up all rescue efforts. Picard resigned in disgust. Everything that happens after that — and therefore everything taking place in the show — is part of the prime timeline, despite being kicked off by Event One.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 108 — Starliner: Better Late Than Never?

5 sci-fi movies that weren't great but still deserve a sequel

Russia vetoes UN resolution against nuclear weapons in space

Most Popular

  • 2 Beavers are helping fight climate change, satellite data shows
  • 3 Astronomers just discovered a comet that could be brighter than most stars when we see it next year. Or will it?
  • 4 This Week In Space podcast: Episode 108 — Starliner: Better Late Than Never?
  • 5 Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will not fly private missions yet, officials say

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Here's How Star Trek: Picard Fits Into The Fractured Franchise Timeline

Patrick Stewart and showrunner Alex Kurtzman delve into the details of Jean-Luc Picard's new life.

Dog, Canidae, Agriculture, Vineyard, Farmworker, Sporting Group, Plant, Field trial, American staffordshire terrier, Hunting dog,

During a panel at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Sunday (January 12), showrunner Alex Kurtzman offered some clarification on the show's timeline, where it sits within the ever-expanding Trek universe.

"We are in the Prime timeline," Kurtzman confirmed, referring to the original series timeline as opposed to the alternate "Kelvin" timeline established in JJ Abrams' 2009 Star Trek movie. "Events from the Kelvin timeline impacted Picard , but if you look at that movie, the destruction of Romulus was in the Prime timeline. It is what enabled the Kelvin timeline jump to happen. So that is very consistent with canon." In other words, the fall of Romulus is the inciting incident for both the Kelvin timeline, and for Star Trek: Picard, which is the first onscreen Trek story to explore the aftermath of that event.

It's fair to say that things are a little bleak for Picard as the series picks up – per Stewart, "Picard's life has changed. He's troubled, disturbed, lonely, and with feelings of strange, unnatural guilt." But there is one extremely significant piece of good news about Picard's new life: he has a really, really excellent dog named Dinero. Even better? Dinero was Stewart's idea.

"To just see him with a dog seemed to me to write a lot of things that didn't have to be said," Stewart explained, "because the presence of the dog alone means that he's looking for some form of comfort, which he cannot find anywhere else, but he finds it in the dog." Stewart pushed for the dog to specifically be a pit bull, he added, "because I'm passionate about these dogs, and they are abused and treated appallingly all over the world. I'm now campaigning in the UK for the laws to be changed and for them to be allowed into the country. So it's terrific to have Dinero in the sequel, and I hope we see much more of him." Hard same.

Later in the panel, Kurtzman shared some insights on how the show compares to other current Star Trek series, particularly CBS All Access's Discovery and Lower Decks . "I think the proposition is that every time you watch a Star Trek show, it has to feel and look totally very different from every other show," he said, adding that Picard will spend substantially more time on our planet than is typical for Trek . "The first chapter is really earthbound. It's very rare that you see a lot of time spent on the planet Earth in the world of Star Trek , and we did not want to rush that. We wanted to take the time to show the condition of Picard's life, and to watch him evolve to taking off into the stars, and we were not in a hurry to do that."

preview for HDM All sections playlist - Esquire

@media(max-width: 73.75rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.4375rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.5625rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}} TV

jerrod carmichael reality show episode 5

Don’t Miss ‘The Jinx: Part Two’

challengers

The Best Tennis Movies of All Time

shogun mariko

10 Shows Like ‘Shōgun’ to Watch Next

family guy

Watch: The 'Family Guy' Cast Celebrate 25 Years

shogun finale

‘Shōgun’ Fans Reached a Consensus on the Finale

2024 winter tca portrait studio

Justin Marks, Rachel Kondo Made ‘Shōgun’ a Classic

a person sitting on a chair

I Spy Guilty Consciences in ‘Under the Bridge’ E3

shogun finale blackthorne and fuji

So What Happens After the ‘Shōgun’ Finale?

shogun

Everything We Know About ‘Shōgun’ Season 2

shogun, episode 10

‘Shōgun’ Episode 10 Is a Bittersweet Finale

the sympathizer

‘The Sympathizer’ Episode 2 Adds Another Downey

  • Stranger Things Season 5
  • Deadpool and Wolverine
  • The Batman 2
  • Spider-Man 4
  • Yellowstone Season 6
  • Fallout Season 2
  • Entertainment

Star Trek: Picard finally cleans up the franchise’s messy timelines

Rick Marshall

We’re just a few episodes into the debut season of Star Trek: Picard , and Patrick Stewart’s return as former USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard has already proven to be a success. Not only has the CBS All Access series managed to channel what made Stewart’s portrayal of Picard so popular, but it’s added to his legacy in a compelling way . The series draws Picard into a galaxy-spanning adventure that plays to his strengths as a character, as well as to Star Trek’s knack for exploring complicated sociopolitical issues through its unique lens.

Kelvin time

Big questions, mystery-solving engaged.

Thankfully, the new series also goes a long way toward clarifying a wholly different element of the Star Trek saga: Its convoluted timeline.

  • How do I get into Star Trek? A guide to how to watch the beloved sci-fi franchise
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 trailer unveils Lower Decks crossover
  • Suck it, Picard. The Orville is Star Trek: The Next Generation’s true spiritual successor

For those unaware, the Star Trek franchise currently encompasses two different sets of characters sharing the same names (and in some cases, experiences), but existing in multiple, alternate timelines. It might sound confusing, but Picard has thankfully taken on the duty of clearing up some of the more perplexing elements.

In order to explain where Picard fits into the Star Trek timeline lexicon, it’s necessary to take a good look at each of the two universes in detail.

The first timeline — dubbed the “Prime” timeline — feature’s William Shatner’s version of James T. Kirk and the rest of the original Star Trek series’ cast of characters exploring the universe through the events of the original series and the first six movies of the franchise. This is the initial, best-known timeline that started it all.

Also included in the Prime timeline are the events of the shows set after the original series, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation ,  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and  Star Trek: Voyager , as well as the movies based on those characters, including Star Trek Generations , Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection , and Star Trek: Nemesis

Finally,  Star Trek: Picard is also part of that Prime timeline, and unfolds 20 years after the events of Nemesis .

It’s a simple, and well-ordered universe. At least it was, until J.J. Abrams’ 2009 soft reboot of the franchise, simply called Star Trek , effectively split the saga into the two parallel timelines we have now.

In Abrams’ Star Trek , Leonard Nimoy’s Spock attempts to stop the Romulan home world’s sun from going supernova, but his plan backfires, sending him and Romulan captain Nero (Eric Bana) back in time more than 100 years.

Upon arriving in the distant past, Nero attacks the USS Kelvin and puts into motion a new set of events that bring a young James Kirk (Chris Pine) to the USS Enterprise, along with a young Spock (Zachary Quinto) and the rest of the original series’ protagonists, in a different way than in the Prime timeline.

So, although Nimoy’s version of Spock begins that particular story in the Prime timeline, he ends up creating a new “Kelvin” timeline through his actions, changing the dynamic between the franchise’s key characters in multiple ways.

These characters would go on to encounter some enemies and allies familiar to the Prime timeline in 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness and 2016’s Star Trek Beyond , establishing the Kelvin timeline as a similar but different spin on Star Trek’s continuity.

With Paramount Pictures, Star Trek’s film studio, focusing on the success of its new, younger franchise in the Kelvin timeline, fans of the Prime timeline’s cast and characters weren’t given any new projects for years — leading many to wonder exactly what became of the original Kirk, Picard, and the rest of that timeline’s inhabitants.

Naturally, this led to more than a few mysteries among the franchise’s faithful scholars.

For example, did the original series’ characters cease to exist after Spock and Nero traveled back in time and put the Kelvin timeline in motion? Or (perhaps) worse, did the Romulan supernova still happen and destroy the universe Spock left behind?

Thanks to Picard , we finally have answers to those questions.

In a surprising — and smart — move, the first episode of Picard  makes the events of 2009’s Star Trek an important plot point in the show’s central narrative. Over the course of the episode, we learn that Jean-Luc Picard was not only aware of the Romulan sun’s impending supernova event, but that he led a massive effort to evacuate Romulans from their home planet.

By acknowledging the supernova and the threat it posed, the new series simultaneously established both the Kelvin timeline and the continuation of the Prime timeline (and all of its popular characters and stories) in one deft bit of exposition.

That’s no simple feat, and given how easy (and at this point, expected) it would have been to ignore the events of Abrams’ Star Trek and the Kelvin timeline, you have to give the  Picard team some credit: They pulled off a bit of narrative trickery likely to make fans of both timelines happy.

There are plenty of episodes left in the inaugural season of  Picard , but at the rate it’s going, the series is primed (pun totally intended, and apologized for) to not only take the series in bold new directions, but also to become the narrative glue that binds the Star Trek franchise together.

There’s a lot of pressure in that role, certainly, but Jean-Luc Picard has never been one to shy away from a perilous mission.

Editors' Recommendations

  • At SDCC, Strange New Worlds goes full musical and more Star Trek trailers
  • Star Trek vs. Star Wars: which one is better in 2023?
  • Spock takes command in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 teaser
  • Does Star Trek have a future on the big screen?
  • New Star Trek videos pave the way for Strange New Worlds
  • Audio / Video

Rick Marshall

Today, April 5, is First Contact Day to fans of Star Trek. It stems from a pivotal event in the film Star Trek: First Contact, which was one of four feature films to utilize the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That's why it's fitting that Paramount+ used today as the occasion to announce that the entire TNG cast will return for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard.

Picard launched in 2020 as a showcase for Patrick Stewart's beloved Jean-Luc Picard, two decades after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. In the first season of Picard,  Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis reprised their roles as Will Riker and Deanna Troi in guest appearances. Brent Spiner also appeared as the android Data and Dr. Altan Inigo Soong. But in the video below, Paramount+ confirmed that Michael Dorn's Worf, LeVar Burton's Geordi La Forge, and Gates McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher will also take part in this onscreen reunion in the upcoming season.

On Paramount+, the Star Trek never ends. Hot off the heels of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 and Star Trek: Picard season 2, Paramount+ is planning to dive into a brand-new series: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. And yet it may be the most old-school Star Trek series to come along in decades. Everything from the aesthetic to the characters and music has been chosen to evoke a modernized version of the original show that spawned the franchise. And unlike its fellow Trek shows, Strange New Worlds is going with self-contained single episode stories.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Official Trailer | Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will explore the cosmos with the original captain of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike, this spring. However, the prequel series apparently has plans for Pike's successor as well. Via Deadline, Paul Wesley has signed on for season two as a younger version of James T. Kirk. William Shatner's Captain Kirk was one of the icons of the original Star Trek. For the reboot films, Chris Pine has assumed the role of Kirk in three movies to date.

Wesley previously headlined The Vampire Diaries for eight seasons as Stefan Salvatore. More recently, he appeared in Tell Me A Story and the Shudder original film History of Evil. Wesley has expanded his career to directing, helming episodes of Shadowhunters, Legacies, and Roswell, New Mexico.

The Star Trek Kelvin Timeline Explained

Chris Pine in Star Trek Into Darkness

In 2009, Paramount Pictures released Star Trek , the first film in what would become a new action-oriented trilogy to reinvigorate the franchise at the worldwide box office. Directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana, Star Trek introduced the world to new versions of classic characters like Kirk, Spock, and Uhura, and it took us back to their earlier days in Starfleet. This wasn't just another reboot, though. Thanks to the heavy sci-fi influence of the original series, this version of Star Trek was actually presented in the form of an alternate timeline, with its roots in events of the original universe and one of the franchise's original characters.

Later dubbed "the Kelvin timeline" because of its connection to a destroyed Federation starship called the U.S.S.  Kelvin , this alternate reality set the stage for three different Star Trek feature films, all of which remixed original series continuity in some form or another. Plus, in recent years, the inciting incident for this reality has become a jumping-off point for more stories in the Prime Star Trek reality, making it a major influence in two different universes. From its explosive origins to its broader implications, this is Star Trek 's Kelvin timeline, explained

The real-world origins of the Kelvin timeline

In the late 2000s, Star Trek was in need of a re-invigoration. The last feature film in the franchise, Nemesis , came out in 2002, and the prequel TV series,  Star Trek: Enterprise , went off the air in 2005, leaving the legendary sci-fi property without a major live-action media presence for the first time in years. Ultimately, Paramount Pictures decided the way to bring Trek back was a prequel film ... but not just a typical prequel. The film that would become 2009's Star Trek fell into the hands of screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who decided to use time travel to create an alternate reality that would both raise the stakes for their "prequel" concept of a younger Kirk and Spock and also allow them to take some creative liberties with the well-worn characters.

Speaking with Sci Fi Wire in 2009 , Kurtzman explained, "Yeah, the biggest thing I think we all hiccuped on, just conceptually, when Trek was presented to us was, 'Well, we know how they all died. We know what happened to them.' And when you know that, it's very difficult to put them in jeopardy in a way that feels fresh or original. How do you ever have real stakes to your characters?" Well, the answer was the introduction of an alternate reality that would link the new Star Trek film series to past canon, while also allowing filmmakers to go their own way.

The Kelvin timeline has its roots in tragedy

The story of Star Trek 's Kelvin timeline began in the Prime Star Trek universe in the 2380s , when it became clear that the Romulan sun presented a major danger not just to the Romulan Star Empire but to a whole quadrant of the galaxy. The sun was nearing the end of its life and would soon go supernova, which would in turn destroy Romulus and other nearby worlds. Desperate to save their people, the Romulans asked the United Federation of Planets for help.

When evacuation efforts failed, Spock — now an ambassador from his homeworld of Vulcan — intervened in 2387 with his own attempt to halt the supernova through the use of red matter. Spock was able to stop the supernova's expansion but not before Romulus was destroyed, something he'd promised he could prevent. Enraged, a Romulan mining ship captain named Nero sought vengeance, and he attacked Spock's one-man vessel with his own ship, the Narada . During the pursuit, both ships were pulled through the black hole left in the wake of the supernova, which sent them back in time.

The fate of the U.S.S. Kelvin

Unbeknownst to Nero, when the Narada was drawn into the black hole, the Romulan ship was sent back to 2233, more than 150 years in the past. But the dude was still very angry. Nero's rage then focused on the first Federation vessel he found, the U.S.S. Kelvin . As the Romulan vessel attacked, First Officer George Kirk took command of the Kelvin after the death of his captain, and he sacrificed the ship to protect the escape shuttles fleeing the area, including the one carrying his wife and newborn son, James Kirk. The Kelvin was destroyed, and Nero's reign of terror continued in what was now an alternate reality. 

As you've probably guessed, the Kelvin Ttmeline is so named because the destruction of the Kelvin is the event triggering the alternate reality. In the Kelvin timeline, life unfolds in a way that's quite recognizable for longtime Star Trek fans but with many differences interspersed throughout the universe. The starships look similar, for example, but the designs are altered in many ways, and the same is true of things like phasers, communicators, and Starfleet uniforms.

A different Kirk

In the Prime Star Trek timeline, James T. Kirk's path to captaining the U.S.S. Enterprise is noteworthy but very conventional. Kirk entered Starfleet in part because of his father, but George Kirk was still very much alive when he signed up, and once Kirk was a part of Starfleet, he spent quite a bit of time doing other things before joining the Enterprise , including a stint as an Academy instructor and serving on the U.S.S. Farragut .

In the Kelvin timeline, though, the absence of Kirk's father sent him off on a very different path, one with much less conviction and certainty early on. This version of James T. Kirk was a rebellious young man, joyriding in stolen cars as a teenager and getting into bar fights in his 20s. His Starfleet journey actually began when one of these fights was broken up by Captain Christopher Pike, a Starfleet officer familiar with Kirk's history and his father's heroism. Pike — who was also Kirk's predecessor as captain of the Enterprise in the Prime timeline, under very different circumstances — urged young James to do something with his life because his father sacrificed himself to make sure Kirk would live and accomplish something meaningful. Spurred on by Pike, Kirk joined Starfleet and eventually tricked his way onto the newly launched Enterprise  after cadets in the Academy were called into service to help battle Nero.

Now, there are two Spocks

While Nero arrived in the Kelvin timeline in 2233, Spock didn't actually emerge from the black hole until 25 years later, and he found the vengeful Romulan waiting for him. Nero captured Spock's ship, the Jellyfish , and left the Vulcan stranded on the icy planet Delta Vega, with the intention of making Spock watch his own homeworld perish just as Nero had to watch Romulus fall. Nero achieved this by drilling into Vulcan's core with his ship's machinery, then shooting red matter into it. Vulcan collapsed as the Kelvin timeline version of Spock attempted to evacuate as many of his people as he could. He was able to save his father but not his human mother, who fell just as they were preparing to beam back up to the Enterprise .

A short time later, Kirk was also marooned on Delta Vega by an irate Spock, who was acting captain of the Enterprise and had already discerned Nero was a time traveler. Here, Kirk met the Prime timeline version of Spock, who used a Vulcan mind meld to reveal to him the explanation for Nero's presence, including the destruction of Romulus and the black hole he journeyed through. Eventually, both Spocks met each other and attempted to rebuild Vulcan culture through their shared knowledge and experience. With Spock Prime's help — including the introduction of transwarp beaming to the Kelvin timeline — Kirk and Spock were able to make amends and defeat Nero before he could destroy Earth, cementing the dynamic of the Enterprise crew.

A warlike Federation

The sudden destruction of Vulcan and the losses in the Federation fleet during the battle with Nero, coupled with the growing hostility of the Klingons, spurred certain factions within Starfleet to seek a more militaristic approach to dealing with the future of the galaxy. In 2258 and 2259, Admiral Alexander Marcus went to great lengths to pursue this more warlike approach in secret, and he began exploring the galaxy for various resources to use for the defense of Starfleet. Marcus' search eventually led to the discovery of Botany Bay and a group of enhanced superhumans in cryogenic stasis.

Desperate to advance his cause, Marcus roused the leader of the group, Khan Noonien Singh, and held the rest of Khan's people hostage while Khan himself was forced to develop advanced weapons for the Federation under the secretive Section 31. This included the development of the Vengeance , a powerful new Federation warship, and a new advanced torpedo design that Marcus hoped to use against the Klingons.

Khan tried to smuggle his people out of Marcus' care by hiding them, still in stasis, in the torpedoes, but Marcus discovered this plan. Certain that the admiral had already killed his people, Khan set out to become a one-man vengeance machine and destroy the Federation from the inside.

The wrath of Khan

Operating under the name John Harrison, Khan staged successful attacks on Starfleet facilities that resulted in the death of Admiral Christopher Pike. After this attack, Marcus saw a path to killing his former hostage and covering up his military conspiracy at the same time. He dispatched Kirk and the Enterprise to capture "Harrison" on the Klingon world Kronos, believing Kirk would simply kill the terrorist as an act of revenge. This set Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise crew on a new, alternate trajectory to a confrontation with their old Prime universe foe.

At fist, Harrison/Khan tried to present himself as an ally to Kirk and Spock before finally turning on them when he felt he could safely extract his still-living crewmates from their torpedoes. The resulting confrontation led to Kelvin timeline Spock seeking the advice of Spock Prime, who recalled the deadly consequences of battling Khan. In the Prime timeline, it was Spock who paid with his life before being revived. In the Kelvin timeline, though, it was Kirk who sacrificed his life in the battle with Khan. Fortunately, Spock was able to defeat Khan through some clever deception, and Dr. Leonard McCoy was able to use Khan's blood, which had strange restorative properties, to revive Kirk.

The clash with Krall in the Kelvin timeline

After the battle with Khan, the Enterprise crew in the Kelvin timeline set out for their own version of the five-year mission we saw in Star Trek: The Original Series , and three years into that mission, they encountered something interesting (particularly from our perspective as observers), something with a backstory that extended far back into the timeline, before the universes diverged.

In Star Trek Beyond , the Enterprise crew discovers the buried U.S.S. Franklin , a Federation starship that was lost decades earlier, in an era before the Kelvin incident diverged the timelines. That means that, since the alternate reality doesn't really split until 2233, the loss of the Franklin is something we can consider to exist in both timelines. What happens after that — including the Enterprise 's encounter with Krall, the mutated former captain of the Franklin  — is part of the Kelvin timeline only, which means another version of Starfleet could encounter the Franklin in the Prime universe and theoretically have a different outcome. It's an intriguing idea spinning out of the fun sci-fi adventure story that  Beyond offers.

Star Trek Beyond also offers another intriguing detail regarding the Kelvin timeline's Spock. Early in the film, he's considering leaving Starfleet to have a more direct role in redeveloping Vulcan culture. After learning that Spock Prime has died, though, he chooses to honor his alternate self's memory by remaining in Starfleet, as it's what Spock Prime was doing at the same age.

How the Kelvin timeline has impacted the Prime timeline

The Kelvin timeline of Star Trek is fascinating for a number of reasons, including the fact that it didn't have to exist this way at all. The writers of 2009's Trek film could have simply said, "We're starting over, but the other films and shows are all still there for you to watch." They didn't do that, instead leaning into the science fiction of it all. That means we have an inciting incident for the Kelvin timeline that also exists as a major, galaxy-altering event in the Prime timeline, and that means there are consequences for both realities.

For a long time, those consequences weren't directly explored in Star Trek live-action storytelling, but that changed with the 2020 series Star Trek: Picard . Set in the decades following Star Trek: The Next Generation , the series follows the latter-day adventures of Jean-Luc Picard , and it reveals that his departure from Starfleet was directly tied to the Romulan sun disaster. Though many in the Federation opposed it, Picard spearheaded a massive evacuation effort to get as many people off Romulus as possible in the years before the supernova, only to have his rescue fleet destroyed by a surprise attack from a group of rogue synths. Starfleet dropped the rescue effort entirely in the aftermath, and Picard resigned.

Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, Explained

The latest run of Star Trek movies, starting in 2009, gave rise to a whole new timeline in the canon. Here's what that means within the franchise.

Star Trek first graced the small screen way back in the late 1960s, and since then it has been a staple in the science fiction adventure genre. Over the years it has not only come up with some of the most incredible depictions of what further lies ahead for mankind, but also influenced modern day technology . This all came to a rather disappointing stop, however, back in 2005 when the Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air, leaving a large void for the first time in years. Eager to bring Star Trek back into popular culture and re-invigorate the franchise Paramount Pictures set about creating not only a new, never seen before action adventure Star Trek film, but to create an entirely new timeline: The Kelvin Timeline.

Paramount wanted a prequel film, showing what led Captain James T. Kirk and the much loved, much memed, Spock to where audiences see them in The Original Series. Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci were hired to create this story, but they quickly ran into conceptual problems. Their biggest problem was that audiences already knew the story of these characters and what happens to them. Unless purely new people were watching the film, there would not be the same amount of drama or suspense, especially when they know how these characters die (and thus know that they don’t die in the new film). The other issue was that Kirk’s life before the events of The Original Series were not particularly film-worthy. That's not to say they were not interesting or exciting, but there wasn’t much canonically there to explore.

RELATED: Star Trek: The Klingon Language, Explained

Keeping to the canon was something Kurtzman and Orci were especially interested in. They had an opportunity to rewrite the story, make changes here and there that broke with the history Star Trek had established so well over the years. Instead, they decided to do something interesting, and use time travel to create a whole new timeline . With this device, they were able to incorporate new and fresh ideas and narrative, but left the original “prime” timeline in place. This is one of the main story elements of the 2009 film Star Trek , which starts in the year 2380 in, interestingly, the “prime” timeline. This is the same universe audiences know and love, the one that gave them heartbreaking moments on DS9 , and the enigmatically wonderful Captain Picard.

The Romulan sun is about to go supernova, which would destroy not only Romulus, but countless other nearby worlds. Cutting a long story short, Ambassador Spock used a red matter device to stop the disaster, but he failed to save the home world, leading him to be chased and attacked by a lone Romulan mining ship, the Narada, captained by a Romulan named Nero. This is where things start to get complicated. During the chase, the two get caught in the gravitation pull of a black hole, which flings them back in time to the year 2233, over 150 years in the past. Being a Romulan , Nero, despite his confusion, seeks out and attacks the nearest Federation ship, which just so happened to be the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained by none other than First Officer George Kirk — James T. Kirk's father. In an effort to save the countless shuttles escaping the destruction wrought by Nero, which included a shuttle containing the newborn James Kirk and his mother, George Kirk sacrifices his ship. As the Kelvin is destroyed, it sets about the start of the new timeline, named in honor of the ships' sacrifice.

From this point onwards, things follow a fairly similar chain of events to those who know the “prime” timeline, but things are all slightly different. Audiences are shown a different Kirk, one who is rebellious, and far away from the fairly conventional pre-enterprise Kirk mentioned earlier. Bar fights and stolen car joyrides are a few of his newfound hobbies, but as things progress, the old Kirk attitude comes through. Eventually he finds himself fighting alongside Starfleet (after a bit of fibbing) aboard the iconic USS Enterprise . Yet despite his similar trajectory, there are bigger differences in the wider universe. One of these, which came as a shock to many first time viewers, was that the 2009 film ended with the destruction of Vulcan by the hands of Nero as penance for the destruction of his own home world, having blamed Spock.

The similarities and differences continue into the second film Star Trek: Into Darkness where audiences are introduced (or perhaps re-introduced) to the one and only Khan Noonien Singh. In the prime timeline, Kirk is the one who awakens him from the cryogenic stasis, and starts a whole series of events that end in one of the best Star Trek films ever made, The Wrath of Khan. However, in the Kelvin timeline, it is Admiral Alexander Marcus who wakes Khan from his slumber.

After the destruction of Vulcan, Starfleet is no longer the same utopian Starfleet audiences have grown to know and love ( ignoring their problematic tendencies ) from the previous iterations into the franchise. It had adopted a much more militaristic persona, breeding warlike minds like that of Admiral Marcus. In secret, he blackmails the reawakened Khan to help develop powerful weaponry, as well as warships for the federation. Audiences are treaded to the same characters and baseline story, but from the perspective of an all new timeline.

The Kelvin timeline is rather hit-and-miss among fans of the Star Trek franchise. Some like to ignore its existence, but in a way that’s exactly what the writers wanted. They wanted to retell a story that everyone knew and do it differently, all without breaking the well-respected canon that fans have grown so attached to. Creating the Kelvin timeline was a stroke of genius in a way, and while not being directly linked to the “prime” timeline, the films have still influenced proceeding additions to the franchise. The destruction of Romulan, an event that the 2009 Star Trek states takes place ion the “prime” timeline, plays as major context to the events of 2020s Picard . The Kelvin timeline is a great example of how one small event can cause major ripples within the universe, changing events to near unrecognizable levels, all while producing four ( to count the upcoming 2023 film ) half-decent Star Trek films.

MORE: How Star Trek: The Next Generation Explored Blindness & Accessibility With Geordi LaForge

Star Trek: Picard producer explains how the new show unites the Trek timelines

Alex Kurtzman talked Star Trek timelines with GamesRadar+

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Since Star Trek: Nemesis brought the Next Generation era to a close, Trek canon has mostly steered clear of what happened next. There’s one notable exception, however – we know from J.J. Abrams ’ first Star Trek that a supernova destroyed the Romulans’ home planet, Romulus, eight years after Nemesis.

While it’s the event that sent Spock back in time, subsequently creating the alternative ‘Kelvin’ timeline, the disaster is very much part of Star Trek’s original ‘Prime’ continuity. And the supernova is absolutely pivotal to Star Trek: Picard , with the older, now-retired Jean-Luc haunted by memories of the rescue mission he led to Romulus – the one moment that ties the two strands of the Star Trek timeline together. 

“That movie gave us a wonderful plot point to draw from, and happened to sync up with Picard’s timeline,” says Alex Kurtzman, Picard executive producer and co-writer on the Abrams Star Trek, in an interview with GamesRadar+. “So when we were looking at the ways in which Picard’s life could have been changed in surprising ways, the idea that the supernova totally diverted the course of his life became a wonderful well to draw from. 

“I don’t think we set out to link it to the film deliberately,” Kurtzman continues, “but actually it was kind of fun to be able to do that. Certainly, when we made the movie we couldn’t have predicted [this show] was coming 11 years later, but it’s nice to be able to create a continuity of Star Trek. 

“[Picard is] in the Prime timeline, we’re not in the Kelvin timeline. But the thing that was interesting about that movie is it was the one element of the film that’s still in the Prime timeline, because it was the supernova, the destruction of Romulus, and Spock’s jump [back in time] that created Kelvin.”

GamesRadar+'s sister publication SFX spoke to Star Trek: Picard's leading star, Sir Patrick Stewart, about his future in the Star Trek universe, with the actor revealing he would love to work with Quentin Tarantino.  If you're eager to watch the new show, we've got plenty of options for you wherever you are in the world in our guide on how to watch Star Trek: Picard online .

Sign up to the SFX Newsletter

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy. 

Fallout season 2 news and everything we know so far about the Prime Video show's return

Evil Dead’s Sam Raimi and 10 Cloverfield Lane writers team up to adapt popular horror web series

Skyrim VR player who spent $15k on the "most immersive" setup adds a second haptic suit to simulate real pain

Most Popular

  • 2 Stellar Blade review: "A good action-RPG that I enjoyed a lot despite several issues"
  • 3 Manor Lords review: "Brimming with the potential to exceed its already broad horizons"
  • 4 Medici board game review: "Friendly competition"
  • 5 Arborea review: "Fascinating interplay"
  • 2 Boy Kills World review: "A gleefully bonkers blend of The Hunger Games and The Raid"
  • 3 Rebel Moon Part Two – The Scargiver review: "Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic stumbles towards the finish line"
  • 4 Abigail review: "A blood-bomb of fun that needs more narrative meat"
  • 5 Sometimes I Think About Dying review: "Daisy Ridley demonstrates her star power"
  • 2 X-Men ’97 episode 7 review: "Season one has finally hit a lull"
  • 3 Knuckles review: "A confident trial run for Sonic 3"
  • 4 Alien RPG Building Better Worlds review: "Carrying on the quiet momentum of one of the best TTRPGs out there"
  • 5 X-Men '97 episode 6 review: "The heart of the X-Men has triumphantly returned, but at what cost?"

star trek picard kelvin timeline

The Cultured Nerd

The Cultured Nerd

star trek picard kelvin timeline

“Star Trek: Picard” referenced the Kelvin Timeline in a big way

Star Trek: Picard has given us a look at the 25th century, and along with it, a glimpse into an alternate timeline — one that was established back in 2009 with Star Trek .

The J. J. Abrams directed reboot film initially begins in the same timeline as Picard; known as the Prime Timeline – but then continues into the alternate timeline; known as the Kelvin Timeline, after a time travel incident.

The key moment that connects these two timelines is the destruction of Romulus. In Star Trek , this is caused by the sun in the Romulan solar system exploding in a supernova.

It is this moment that leads to the creation of a new timeline – shortly before the supernova was projected to occur, Ambassador Spock of Vulcan, feared the supernova could expand to destroy the entirety of the Milky Way Galaxy, concocted a plan to use ‘red matter’ to create a black hole to absorb the exploding star’s energy, and promised to do so in time to save Romulus.

However, the supernova began before Spock could arrive. Romulus and its remaining population were destroyed. Among those killed were the wife and unborn child of Nero, who swore vengeance against Spock, Vulcan, and the Federation for letting his world die.

Spock managed to release the ‘red matter’, causing the planned black hole to swallow the supernova and halt any further destruction. Both the Narada and the Spock’s ship were drawn into the black hole, with Nero’s vessel travelling back in time and arriving before Spock – encountering the U.S.S Kelvin and destroying it, and proceeding with the plan to eradicate Vulcan. Spock is unable to stop Nero and witnesses the annihilation of his home and family.

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Star Trek: Picard indicates the basis of Jean-Luc’s reasoning for leaving Starfleet is rooted in the destruction of Romulus, and the severe lack of motivation and action from Starfleet to help save the millions of endangered lives threatened by the planet’s destruction.

Romulus and its people have been long time enemies of the Federation in the lore of Star Trek , and it is only because of the failure to save the planet is the link between the two timelines established, even though the protagonists in each are two centuries apart in their respective stories.

Share this:

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Published by Shaun Tyr-El

Star Trek: How Picard Connects to Both the Prime and Kelvin Timelines

A major event integral to the plot of Star Trek: Picard connects the series to the trilogy of Star Trek reboot films.

Star Trek: Picard will take on the task of merging events from both older and newer events from the  Trek universe, spanning several timelines.

The upcoming CBS All Access series will feature Patrick Stewart returning to his star-making role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard from  Star Trek: The Next Generation . And the show's backstory is already making a name for itself in uniting the two major  Trek timelines through one event: The destruction of Romulus.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Picard Could Bring Back Another Classic TNG Character

In the 2009  Star Trek film from director J.J. Abrams, the home planet of the Romulans was destroyed when it collided with a supernova. Leonard Nimoy's Ambassador Spock created a black hole to stop the star, but it wound up consuming him instead, sending him back and time and creating an alternate timeline. This new reality, dubbed the "Kelvin" timeline, is where the events of the reboot trilogy are set.

However, back in what's known as the "Prime" timeline, Romulus remains destroyed. The effects of that disaster are still lingering as  Picard begins, with the former admiral having apparently mounted an unsuccessful rescue mission on the day of. It's an event that appeared to have broken his trust in Starfleet, leading him to spend his days in the family vineyard.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Picard - CBS All Access Officially Confirms Season 2 Renewal

"That movie gave us a wonderful plot point to draw from, and happened to sync up with Picard’s timeline," Picard executive producer and Star Trek (2009) co-writer Alex Kurtzman told GamesRadar . "So when we were looking at the ways in which Picard’s life could have been changed in surprising ways, the idea that the supernova totally diverted the course of his life became a wonderful well to draw from."

Despite the event being pivotal to the two timelines, Kurtzman -- who also runs  Star Trek: Discovery and is the overseer of all  Trek projects on All Access -- is quick to clarify that  Picard does not take place in the Kelvin timeline. That means, when Picard takes to the stars once more, there's no chance he'll run into Chris Pine's James T. Kirk or Zachary Quinto's Spock. Instead,  Picard will show how the incident that created the Kelvin timeline affected life in the Prime universe.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Picard Reflects the 'World That We're Living In'

"I don’t think we set out to link it to the film deliberately," Kurtzman said. "But actually it was kind of fun to be able to do that. Certainly, when we made the movie we couldn’t have predicted [this show] was coming 11 years later, but it’s nice to be able to create a continuity of Star Trek ."

Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Harry Treadaway. The series is set to premiere on CBS All Access Jan. 23, 2020.

  • Entertainment
  • How <i>Picard</i> Fits Into the <i>Star Trek</i> Timeline

How Picard Fits Into the Star Trek Timeline

I t’s been 26 long years since Star Trek: The Next Generation graced the small screen. But beginning Jan. 23, a new series centered around that show’s captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), will “boldly go” to the network’s streaming service, CBS All Access. Star Trek: Picard is about our titular captain’s life many years after his last fateful mission for Starfleet.

But how does Picard fit into the larger Star Trek timeline? The CBS series is set where no Trek has gone before, well past the events of TV’s Star Trek: Voyager and the last film of the Picard era, Star Trek: Nemesis. Many fan favorite characters are expected to return, including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Seven-of-Nine (Jeri Ryan).

For Trek nerds out there, this means Picard takes place in the “prime” timeline, which is where each of the television series and the original films live. In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with the film Star Trek, creating a new timeline for the already confusing Trek universe. In the film, a bad guy travels back in time and destroys the USS Kelvin, killing Captain Kirk’s father, George Kirk, in the process. All three of J.J. Abrams’ movies take place in this alternate timeline called the “Kelvin Timeline,” after the annihilated ship.

To familiarize yourself with the Trek universe, here are the two timelines:

Prime Timeline

Cast Portrait From 'Star Trek: Enterprise'

Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2161)

Airdate: 2001-2005

Plot: Set 100 years before the Enterprise ‘s mission in the original Star Trek , this series traces the adventures of the first Warp 4 capable Starfleet ship, also called Enterprise . Scott Bakula starred as the human captain Jonathan Archer, and Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan officer T’Pol.

Yeoh and Martin-Green kick off the new Star Trek with an action-packed episode on Sept. 24

Star Trek Discovery (2255)

Airdate: 2017-

Plot: Sonequa Martin-Green plays officer Michael Burnham, a human who was raised by Spock’s parents, Amanda and Sarek. Burnham has suppressed her human tendencies in order to assimilate into the hyper-logical Vulcan society but tries to reconnect with her emotional side when she serves Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and then Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek.

Star Trek (2265-2269)

Airdate: 1966-1969

Plot: The original Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry featured Captain James Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and the other Starfleet members on a mission of exploration and self-improvement. One of the most diverse shows on television at the time, Star Trek ran for three seasons and inspired future space sagas like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica .

CBS's "Star Trek: The Animated Series"

Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

Airdate: 1973-1974

Plot: After the original series went off the air, Roddenberry created an animated series that continued the stories of Star Trek and reunited much of the same cast to do voice work for cartoon versions of their characters.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Original Star Trek movies (2273-2293)

Airdate: 1979-1991

Plot: Roddenberry leveraged the massive success of the syndicated series into a number of feature films starring Shatner and Nimoy. Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Star Trek V: The Finale Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country continued established storylines.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

Airdate: 1987-1994

Plot: Set 100 years after the events of the original Star Trek , this series followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew (Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis, among them) on the fifth iteration of the Enterprise , USS Enterprise-D .

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Next Generation Movies (2293-2379)

Airdate: 1994-2002

Plot: In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Captain Picard teams up with the once-presumed-dead Captain Kirk. The story unites the casts from the two Star Trek series at the time, effectively passing the baton from Shatner to Stewart. The Next Generation cast went on to star in three more movies, sans the original cast: Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis .

Star Trek:Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Airdate: 1993-1999

Plot: Set on a space station rather than a starship, Deep Space Nine focuses on the adventures of the people charged with guarding the opening to a wormhole at the end of the galaxy. Deep Space Nine was helmed by Trek’ s first black captain, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). It was also the first Trek series created without Roddenberry, who gave the concept his approval before he passed away in 1991.

Cast of Star trek Voyager, first season, from left: Neelix (Ethan Phillips), Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Harry S.L. Kim (Garrett Wang), Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Kes (Jennifer Lien), Thomas Eugene Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), Tuvok (Tim Russ), "The Doctor" (Robert Picardo), B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), 1995.

Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Airdate: 1995-2001

Plot: After the ship Voyager gets stranded in the Delta Quadrant (the far side of the Milky Way galaxy) while searching for a renegade ship, they must make the 75-year journey home. Voyager was fronted by Trek’ s first female captain, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

Star Trek: Picard (2399-?)

Airdate: 2020 — ? (A second season is already in the works)

Plot: Many years after a daring mission to save a dying planet, Captain Picard — now an Admiral — has left Starfleet (or, more accurately, Starfleet has left him). But when a mysterious young woman with a potential connection to a certain beloved android shows up at his doorstep, it sets in motion events that lead Picard back into space — albeit with a crew that’s more swashbuckler than Starfleet.

Kelvin Timeline

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Star Trek (2233-2258)

Release date: 2009

Plot: A bad guy named Nero (Eric Bana), angry that his planet is destroyed in the future, travels back in time and kills Kirk’s father (in 2233). He then hangs out for a long time to destroy Vulcan (in 2258) in front of old Spock who has also traveled back in time (and is played by Leonard Nimoy) because Spock failed to save the baddie’s home planet. Current-day Kirk (Chris Pine) encounters old Spock who explains all the confusing time-jump mechanics to him. Together, current-day Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) become begrudging friends and save the universe.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Airdate: 2013

Plot: The second J.J. Abrams film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain that the marketing team really tried to convince people was not genetically-engineered superhuman Khan. (He was Khan.) Kirk leads a mission to capture Khan after her murders a bunch of Starfleet officers.

Zachary Quinto, left, and Karl Urban appear in a scene from "Star Trek Beyond."

Star Trek Beyond

Airdate: 2016

Plot: Justin Lin took over for the third reboot film and threw in some motorcycles because he has a thing for fast vehicles. In this one, a baddie named Krall (Idris Elba) kidnaps part of Kirk’s crew in hopes that Kirk will exchange a powerful McGuffin for their safety.

More Must-Reads From TIME

  • The 100 Most Influential People of 2024
  • Coco Gauff Is Playing for Herself Now
  • Scenes From Pro-Palestinian Encampments Across U.S. Universities
  • 6 Compliments That Land Every Time
  • If You're Dating Right Now , You're Brave: Column
  • The AI That Could Heal a Divided Internet
  • Fallout Is a Brilliant Model for the Future of Video Game Adaptations
  • Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Eliana Dockterman at [email protected]

  • Action/Adventure
  • Children's/Family
  • Documentary/Reality
  • Amazon Prime Video

Fun

More From Decider

Sydney Sweeney Sings “Unwritten” Into Glen Powell’s Butt in Iconic ‘Anyone But You’ Credits Scene

Sydney Sweeney Sings “Unwritten” Into Glen Powell’s Butt in Iconic...

Holly Madison Calls Bob Guccione A "Horrible Person" For Publishing Explicit 'Caligula' Content in Penthouse

Holly Madison Calls Bob Guccione A "Horrible Person" For Publishing...

'9-1-1's Oliver Stark Says Season 7 Fan Response Is "A Beautiful Reminder" Of The Show's Cultural Impact

'9-1-1's Oliver Stark Says Season 7 Fan Response Is "A Beautiful Reminder"...

'Deal Or No Deal Island' Star Rob Mariano Says There's "No Masterminds" In The Night Owls Alliance: "They're Just Birds"

'Deal Or No Deal Island' Star Rob Mariano Says There's "No Masterminds" In...

Jennifer Lopez Sets The Record Straight On 'The View' After Alyssa Farah Griffin Asks About Her Matching Valentine's Tattoos With Ben Affleck: "We Did Not!" 

Jennifer Lopez Sets The Record Straight On 'The View' After Alyssa Farah...

Bill Maher Compares Nickelodeon To Neverland Ranch After Watching 'Quiet on Set'

Bill Maher Compares Nickelodeon To Neverland Ranch After Watching 'Quiet...

Woody Allen in Exile: 'Coup De Chance' Finally Arrives On Streaming, Where No One Will Shame You For Watching

Woody Allen in Exile: 'Coup De Chance' Finally Arrives On Streaming, Where...

Donald Trump Once Invited 'The View's Joy Behar To Be On 'The Apprentice' — But She Said No

Donald Trump Once Invited 'The View's Joy Behar To Be On 'The Apprentice'...

Share this:.

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to copy URL

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Timeline: From ‘Next Gen’ to J.J. Abrams’s Film, Here’s How The Series Fits In

Jean-Luc Picard wearing a great sweater in Star Trek: Picard

Where to Stream:

  • Star Trek: Picard

CBS All Access

Star Trek: Picard pushes the Star Trek franchise into the future when it comes to prestige storytelling. Instead of following a crew of do-gooders exploring the fringes of space, Star Trek: Picard follows a disillusioned Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as he is roused out of retirement to help a young woman… who might be Data’s daughter ?

Star Trek: Picard is a lot to unpack, not merely because it futzes with the storytelling conventions of Star Trek. The series also uses the supernova that destroyed Romulus (and helped create an alternate timeline) as a major cultural flashpoint for the Federation. We learn that Picard led efforts to ferry refugees away from Romulus and to safety and that an android insurrection led to draconian new rules about synthetic life forms in the Federation. Because Starfleet would not consider bending the rules and letting androids aid in the Romulan rescue mission, Picard quit.

All this leads us to ask…what happened when? What is the deal with Star Trek’s timeline — or is it timelines? When does Star Trek: Picard take place? How long ago did Data “die”? When did the Romulan supernova happen? And what does Star Trek: Picard have to do with J.J. Abrams’s 2009 Star Trek film with Chris Pine?

WHEN DOES STAR TREK: PICARD TAKE PLACE? WHAT YEAR IS STAR TREK: PICARD SET?

Star Trek: Picard takes place in the year 2399. That’s 14 years after Picard retires, 20 years after Data’s death, and almost 30 years after the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION AND STAR TREK: PICARD ? WHEN DID DATA DIE AND ROMULUS GET DESTROYED BY A SUPERNOVA?

Okay, okay, okay…so a lot of random dates and years get thrown around in Star Trek: Picard and it might be a little bit difficult to figure out what happened in what order in the Star Trek Prime timeline. Between an official video timeline on StarTrek.com and what we learn about the android ban in Star Trek: Picard Episode 2, we believe this is the order of major events brought up in Star Trek: Picard :

2364-2370 – The Events of Star Trek: The Next Generation 2365 – Starfleet Makes First Contact with Borg Late 2366 – Early 2367 (circa) – Data Creates His First “Daughter,” Lal  2369 – Data Paints the Twin Oil Paintings entitled “Daughter” 2379 – Data Sacrifices Himself and Dies in Star Trek: Nemesis 2385 – Androids Rebel on Mars, Sparking a Ban on “Synthetic” Life 2387 – Romulus Destroyed by a Supernova (Alternate Kelvin Timeline created in J.J. Abram’s Star Trek Film) 2399 – The Events of Star Trek: Picard

HOW DOES STAR TREK: PICARD TIE IN WITH THE ALTERNATE KELVIN TIMELINE IN STAR TREK (2009)

Before Star Trek: Discovery (which is a prequel set in the years before the original Star Trek , sheesh), there hadn’t been any new additions to Star Trek canon…except the film trilogy. J.J. Abrams’s 2009 film was not merely your standard reboot; it was set in a canonical alternate timeline created by the same supernova that destroyed Romulus in Picard’s 2387.

'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Renewed For Season 4 At Paramount+

Bill maher applauds william shatner for controversial 'star trek' interracial kiss, patrick stewart was asked to wear a wig at his 'star trek' audition — a wig that flew by itself from heathrow to lax, tom hardy "never said 'good morning'" or "good night" while filming 'star trek: nemesis,' says patrick stewart.

When Jean-Luc Picard heard that Romulus would soon be destroyed in a supernova, he pushed for a massive rescue effort. However, another Starfleet great, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) tried to stop the supernova altogether. He developed something called “Red Matter,” aka that red spinning ball thing, to shoot into the supernova to stop it. However, he was late, and the planet was still destroyed. His attempt to stop it, though, created a space time rift sending him and some Romulans from 2387 back in time to 2233. The Romulans, led by Eric Bana’s Nero stranded Spock on an ice planet and crossed paths with a Federation ship called the USS Kelvin . This sparked a new timeline, called the Kelvin timeline, and it’s the one with Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, and the Enterprise that looks like it was made by the Apple store.

So the Romulan supernova created the Kelvin timeline, but Star Trek: Picard ‘s timeline isn’t aware of this. Does that make sense? No, take it up with the Star Trek people, then.

Where to stream Star Trek: Picard

  • CBS All Access

Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? The Latest Updates On 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date

Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? The Latest Updates On 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date

Whoopi Goldberg Accuses 'The View' Producer Of "Side-Eyeing" Her After She Promised Not To Speak About Israel-Palestine Protests: "He's Starting To Get Annoyed"

Whoopi Goldberg Accuses 'The View' Producer Of "Side-Eyeing" Her After She Promised Not To Speak About Israel-Palestine Protests: "He's Starting To Get Annoyed"

‘Anyone But You’s Big Sex Scene Finds Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell Steaming Up a Shower

‘Anyone But You’s Big Sex Scene Finds Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell Steaming Up a Shower

Is 'Grey's Anatomy' New Tonight? Here's When The Next Episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' Is On ABC And Hulu 

Is 'Grey's Anatomy' New Tonight? Here's When The Next Episode of 'Grey's Anatomy' Is On ABC And Hulu 

Is 'One Chicago' Back Tonight? When Will 'Chicago Med,' 'Chicago Fire,' And 'Chicago P.D.' Return To NBC With New Episodes?

Is 'One Chicago' Back Tonight? When Will 'Chicago Med,' 'Chicago Fire,' And 'Chicago P.D.' Return To NBC With New Episodes?

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut’ on Netflix, a Documentary About Actual Poop, and the Emerging Science About It

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut’ on Netflix, a Documentary About Actual Poop, and the Emerging Science About It

TREKNEWS.NET | Your daily dose of Star Trek news and opinion

Hi, what are you looking for?

TREKNEWS.NET | Your daily dose of Star Trek news and opinion

New photos from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 4 "Face the Strange"

New photos from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 4 “Face the Strange”

Star Trek: Discovery "Under the Twin Moons" Review: Clues among the moons

Star Trek: Discovery “Under the Twin Moons” Review: Clues among the moons

star trek picard kelvin timeline

New photos from the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5

star trek picard kelvin timeline

First Photo from Star Trek: Section 31 revealed, legacy character confirmed

New Star Trek: Discovery posters revealed ahead of final season premiere

New Star Trek: Discovery posters revealed ahead of final season premiere

Star Trek: Discovery "Mirrors" Review: Navigating Reflections

Star Trek: Discovery “Mirrors” Review: Navigating Reflections

Star Trek: Discovery “Face the Strange” Review: Embarking on a Temporal Odyssey

Star Trek: Discovery “Face the Strange” Review: Embarking on a Temporal Odyssey

Star Trek: Discovery "Jinaal" Review: One step forward, two steps back

Star Trek: Discovery “Jinaal” Review: One step forward, two steps back

Star Trek: Picard — Firewall Review: The Renaissance of Seven of Nine

Star Trek: Picard — Firewall Review: The Renaissance of Seven of Nine

From TNG to Enterprise, Star Trek VFX Maestro, Adam Howard, shares stories from his career

From TNG to Enterprise, Star Trek VFX Maestro, Adam Howard, shares stories from his career

Strange New Worlds director Jordan Canning talks "Charades," the versatility of the series & fandom

Strange New Worlds director Jordan Canning talks “Charades,” the versatility of the series & Star Trek fandom

'Star Trek Online' lead designer talks the game's longevity, honoring the franchise, and seeing his work come to life in 'Picard'

‘Star Trek Online’ lead designer talks the game’s longevity, honoring the franchise, and seeing his work come to life in ‘Picard’

Gates McFadden talks Star Trek: Picard, reuniting with her TNG castmates, InvestiGates, and the human condition

Gates McFadden talks Star Trek: Picard, reuniting with her TNG castmates, InvestiGates, and the Human Condition

Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating talk Enterprise and how they honor the Star Trek ethos with Shuttlepod Show, ahead of this weekend's live event

Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating talk ‘Enterprise’, their relationship with Star Trek in 2023 and their first live ‘Shuttlepod Show’

57-Year Mission set to beam down 160+ Star Trek guests to Las Vegas

57-Year Mission set to beam 160+ Star Trek guests down to Las Vegas

star trek picard kelvin timeline

John Billingsley discusses what he’d want in a fifth season of Enterprise, playing Phlox and this weekend’s Trek Talks 2 event

Veteran Star Trek director David Livingston looks back on his legendary career ahead of Trek Talks 2 event

Veteran Star Trek director David Livingston looks back on his legendary career ahead of Trek Talks 2 event

ReedPop's Star Trek: Mission Seattle convention has been cancelled

ReedPop’s Star Trek: Mission Seattle convention has been cancelled

56-Year Mission Preview: William Shatner, Sonequa Martin-Green and Anson Mount headline this year's Las Vegas Star Trek convention

56-Year Mission Preview: More than 130 Star Trek guests set to beam down to Las Vegas convention

New photos + video preview from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 5 "Mirrors"

New photos + video preview from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 5 “Mirrors”

2023: A banner year for Star Trek — here’s why [Op-Ed]

2023: A banner year for Star Trek — here’s why [Op-Ed]

'Making It So' Review: Patrick Stewart's journey from stage to starship

‘Making It So’ Review: Patrick Stewart’s journey from stage to starship

The Picard Legacy Collection, Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Complete Series box sets announced

54-Disc Picard Legacy Collection, Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Complete Series Blu-ray box sets announced

Star Trek: Picard series finale "The Last Generation" Review: A perfect sendoff to an incredible crew

Star Trek: Picard series finale “The Last Generation” Review: A perfect sendoff to an unforgettable crew

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Blu-ray, 4K UHD and DVD this December

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Blu-ray, 4K UHD and DVD this December

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds "Hegemony" Review: An underwhelming end to the series' sophomore season

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Hegemony” Review: An underwhelming end to the series’ sophomore season

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 finale "Hegemony" preview + new photos

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 finale “Hegemony” preview + new photos

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 209 "Subspace Rhapsody" Review

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 209 “Subspace Rhapsody” Review: All systems stable… but why are we singing?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds "Subspace Rhapsody" preview + new photos

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Subspace Rhapsody” preview + new photos

Star Trek Day 2021 To Celebrate 55th Anniversary Of The Franchise On September 8 With Live Panels And Reveals

Star Trek Day 2021 to Celebrate 55th Anniversary of the Franchise on September 8 with Live Panels and Reveals

Paramount+ Launches With 1-Month Free Trial, Streaming Every Star Trek Episode

Paramount+ Launches with 1-Month Free Trial, Streaming Every Star Trek Episode

Paramount+ To Launch March 4, Taking Place Of CBS All Access

Paramount+ to Officially Launch March 4, Taking Place of CBS All Access

STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS Season 2 Now Streaming For Free (in the U.S.)

STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS Season 2 Now Streaming For Free (in the U.S.)

[REVIEW] STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS "Children of Mars": All Hands... Battlestations

[REVIEW] STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS “Children of Mars”: All Hands… Battle Stations

Star Trek: Lower Decks – Crew Handbook Review

‘U.S.S. Cerritos Crew Handbook’ Review: A must-read Star Trek: Lower Decks fans

New photos from this week's Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 finale

New photos from this week’s Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 finale

Star Trek: Lower Decks "The Inner Fight" Review: Lost stars and hidden battles

Star Trek: Lower Decks “The Inner Fight” Review: Lost stars and hidden battles

New photos from this week's episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks

New photos from this week’s episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy begins streaming on Netflix on Christmas day

Star Trek: Prodigy begins streaming December 25th on Netflix

Star Trek: Prodigy lands at Netflix, season 2 coming in 2024

Star Trek: Prodigy lands at Netflix, season 2 coming in 2024

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 sneak peek reveals the surprise return of a Voyager castmember

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 sneak peek reveals the surprise return of a Voyager castmember

Star Trek: Prodigy canceled, first season to be removed from Paramount+

Star Trek: Prodigy canceled, first season to be removed from Paramount+

Revisiting "Star Trek: Legacies – Captain to Captain" Retro Review

Revisiting “Star Trek: Legacies – Captain to Captain” Retro Review

The Wrath of Khan: The Making of the Classic Film Review: A gem for your Star Trek reference collection

The Wrath of Khan – The Making of the Classic Film Review: A gem for your Star Trek reference collection

The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to continue in new IDW miniseries "Echoes"

The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to continue in new IDW miniseries “Echoes”

Star Trek: The Original Series - Harm's Way Review

Star Trek: The Original Series “Harm’s Way” Book Review

William Shatner's New Book 'Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder' Review: More of a good thing

William Shatner’s New Book ‘Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder’ Review: More of a good thing

Star Trek: Infinite release date + details on Lower Decks­-themed pre-order bonuses

Star Trek: Infinite release date + details on Lower Decks­-themed pre-order bonuses

'Star Trek: Infinite' strategy game revealed, set to be released this fall

‘Star Trek: Infinite’ strategy game revealed, set to be released this fall

Hero Collector Revisits The Classics In New Starfleet Starships "Essentials" Collection

Hero Collector Revisits The Classics in New Starfleet Starships Essentials Collection

New Star Trek Docuseries 'The Center Seat' Announced, Coming This Fall

New Star Trek Docuseries ‘The Center Seat’ Announced, Coming This Fall

Star Trek Designing Starships: Deep Space Nine & Beyond Review: A Deep Dive Into Shuttlecraft Of The Gamma Quadrant

Star Trek Designing Starships: Deep Space Nine & Beyond Review: a Deep Dive Into Shuttlecraft of the Gamma Quadrant

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Illustrated Handbook Review: Terok Nor Deconstructed In Amazing Detail

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Illustrated Handbook Review: Terok Nor Deconstructed in Amazing Detail

Robert Beltran Is Officially Returning To Star Trek As Chakotay On 'Prodigy'

Robert Beltran Is Officially Returning to Star Trek as Chakotay on ‘Prodigy’ + More Casting News

Robert Beltran Says He's Returning To Star Trek In 'Prodigy'

Robert Beltran Says He’s Returning to Star Trek in ‘Prodigy’

John Billingsley Talks Life Since Star Trek: Enterprise, Going To Space And Turning Down Lunch With Shatner And Nimoy

John Billingsley Talks Life Since Star Trek: Enterprise, Going to Space and Turning Down Lunch with Shatner and Nimoy

Star Trek: Enterprise Star John Billingsley Talks Charity Work, Upcoming TREK*Talks Event

Star Trek: Enterprise Star John Billingsley Talks Charity Work, Upcoming TREK*Talks Event

New Star Trek: Picard Prequels, Kelvin Timeline Books Announced

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Avid readers will get the chance to not just read new Star Trek: Picard stories as they wait for the show’s release, but also read new stories set in the Kelvin Timeline.

As announced at Star Trek Las Vegas , two Star Trek: Picard prequel stories are coming from CBS Consumer Products in association with Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books and IDW. The first, Star Trek: Picard – Countdown , is coming in November. It’s a three-issue comic book miniseries written by Mike Johnson and Kirsten Beyer that focuses on the mission that “would go on to change the life” of Picard, according to the StarTrek.com .

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard (CBS)

The second story, The Last Best Hope , is a novel written by Una McCormack , who previously wrote eight Star Trek novels. This novel, set to release next year, will lead directly into the show and spotlight some of the new characters featured in the series.

“From the moment we announced this series, we’ve seen a groundswell of support from our fan base who are thrilled to have Jean-Luc Picard back on their screens,” said Veronica Hart, EVP Global Franchise Management in the press release. “Having this brand new original backstory play out through both comic book and novel formats will set the stage for the new series in an exciting way while also showcasing the work of our talented partners at Simon & Schuster and IDW.”

Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek 2009

Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek 2009 (Paramount Pictures)

Other Star Trek publishing news coming out of STLV is that the Kelvin Timeline – seen in the three most recent Star Trek movies – is getting its own set of novels. The two books are The Order of Peace by Alan Dean Foster and More Beautiful Than Death by David Mack . Both are no strangers to writing Star Trek.

In fact, Mack noted on social media that he originally wrote a Kelvin Timeline book 10 years ago, but that his book, as well as three other Kelvin Timeline books, were cancelled.

“I’m very excited by this news, because I have always been pleased by how that book turned out,” Mack said on a Facebook post . “I felt that it was a faithful continuation of those characters’ stories, one that could not be possible in the original series incarnation of Trek. Next year, fans of the films and the books will get to decide for themselves whether I succeeded, and if the book was worth the wait.”

The Order of Peace is due out in April 2020, and More Beautiful Than Death is due in August 2020.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on the new Star Trek: Picard series and for live coverage of Star Trek Las Vegas . Connect with us on social media: @TrekNewsNet on Twitter , @TrekNews on Facebook , and @TrekNews on Instagram .

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

star trek picard kelvin timeline

August 22, 2019 at 8:30 pm

Don’t give a crap about STP or any of that but I can’t wait for the Kelvin books.

' data-src=

Why are some people still trying to push the kelvin time line on us, the fan base as a whole have rejected it. that is why the last movie was a bust.Stick with the time line Gene Roddenberry created the prime time line which unite the fan base and not divide it. We can not bring new fans in if we are divided. Get rid of the kelvin time line. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

' data-src=

Jason Wright

Looking forward to all of this. Very excited about the “Picard” prequels and the Kelvin Timeline stuff. But I do wish we got more Trek books in general, like we used to. I just finished the new Discovery book about where Pike and the Enterprise were during the Klingon war and enjoyed it a lot.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Trending Articles

Star Trek: Picard — Firewall Review: The Renaissance of Seven of Nine

Review: Star Trek: Picard – Firewall Seven of Nine, a heroine who has resurged in popularity thanks to Jeri Ryan’s return to the franchise...

star trek picard kelvin timeline

An article celebrating the longevity of the Star Trek franchise has given us our first look at Michelle Yeoh’s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31...

Star Trek: Discovery "Jinaal" Review: One step forward, two steps back

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 stumbles with “Jinaal” Discovery’s voyage to the ultimate treasure brings Captain Michael Burnham and her crew to Trill, where...

New photos + video preview from Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode 5 "Mirrors"

Preview: Star Trek: Discovery 505 “Mirrors” The fifth episode of Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth and final season “Mirrors” premieres this Thursday, April 25. The...

  • The Original Series
  • The Animated Series
  • The Next Generation
  • Deep Space Nine
  • Strange New Worlds
  • Lower Decks
  • Star Trek Movies
  • TrekCore on Twitter
  • TrekCore on Facebook

Logo

The last subject to be discussed was the state of the long-generated  Star Trek  novel continuity, as 24th Century  Trek  is about to return to the screen in  Star Trek: Picard — Schlesinger commented that “We are taking [the status of the books] very seriously, and we are not looking to do anything to jeopardize our relationship with the fan base… stay tuned.”

Panelist John Jackson Miller commented that there are “a lot more opportunities to integrate things [between books and television] now… you guys want it to work, and WE want it to work. The stories that matter to you will still matter in some form [even if it may not be neat and tidy]…. keep in mind Star Trek is a multiverse.”

In addition,  Trek  novelist Dayton Ward — who was not in attendance at this panel —  weighed in on Facebook  with his take on that issue:

My various consulting duties for CBS involve working with certain licensing partners to help develop tie-in opportunities, primarily as they pertain to the new shows but also the older series as appropriate. One of those tasks – indeed, one of the very first things I was asked to help tackle when they hired me – was to work with S&S *and* CBS and figure out a path forward for the novels as they pertain to the new Picard series. From the minute this came up, I’ve approached it as one thing and one thing only: the most epic fucking ‘Star Trek’ storytelling challenge ever. There have already been several discussions on this topic, going back more than a year – even before I started developing the storyline for what became my TNG novel AVAILABLE LIGHT – about how we might proceed. A lot of the earlier conversations didn’t have the benefit of knowing just what the new show was going to do, so we ended up with a lot of talk about pretty much anything you can think of with respect to these books. Well, it’s a year later, and we know a whole lot more than we did then. As our editor, Ed Schlesinger, and John intimated, it’s a complicated process with ongoing conversations (David Mack and I had a pretty drawn-out talk about this very thing at the recent Shore Leave con, and that was basically “part 1”), and everyone involved is taking it very seriously because we all want to do it right. So, as has been said in somewhat joking fashion before now but which I’ll re-iterate with absolutely no snark: We’re working on it. Honest.

Keep your sensors locked here at TrekCore for all the latest in  Star Trek book news!

  • Kelvin Timeline
  • Star Trek: Picard
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • Star Trek: The Original Series
  • Star Trek: Voyager

Related Stories

Lost-for-decades original star trek uss enterprise model returned to roddenberry family, hallmark’s 2024 star trek ornaments include dr. crusher, captain pike, the long-awaited enterprise-b, and more, vice press celebrates star trek: the original series with a new poster from artist lyndon willoughby, search news archives, new & upcoming releases, featured stories, star trek: lower decks cancelled; strange new worlds renewed for season 4, our star trek: discovery season 5 spoiler-free review.

TrekCore.com is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with Paramount, CBS Studios, or the Star Trek franchise. All Star Trek images, trademarks and logos are owned by CBS Studios Inc. and/or Paramount. All original TrekCore.com content and the WeeklyTrek podcast (c) 2024 Trapezoid Media, LLC. · Terms & Conditions

star trek picard kelvin timeline

  • Comic Books
  • Comic Book Films
  • Gaming News
  • Table Top Gaming

Select Page

STAR TREK: Is PICARD In The Kelvin Timeline?

Posted by ThatHashTagShow | Jan 9, 2019 | Sci-Fi , Star Trek | 0 |

Captain Picard

New details have emerged about the CBS All Access series focusing on Jean-Luc Picard several years after the events of the last film featuring the Next Generation cast, Star Trek: Nemesis . The new information is the first major story details we’ve received about the series and is sure to divide the fan base yet again.

Alex Kurtzman

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Kurtzman revealed that the events of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) are now official prime universe canon and that Picard will pick-up the story after Romulus has been destroyed and the Romulan Empire has been dissolved. Having been a huge proponent of trying to bridge the gap between the Federation and the Romulans, the destruction of their homeworld and the subsequent fallout had a profound effect on Jean-Luc.

Romulus destroyed by a supernova

So is Picard in the Kelvin Timeline or Prime Timeline?

I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s in the Prime timeline. Being that the series takes place after Romulus is destroyed and Nero and Spock are sent back in time, it would stand to reason the series take place in that same timeline, not the newly created one.

star trek picard kelvin timeline

Picard’s Tone

Kurtzman added that Patrick Stewart insisted that if he were to return, the series would have to do something new. That he wanted it to be “both what people remember but also not what they’re expecting at all”. I hope that they’re expecting people to bitch and moan that anything from the JJ film is being included, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Personally, it doesn’t bother me at all, as long as the show is good, I’ll be happy. When Discovery was released and even before that with the JJ movies, there were so many people complaining “this isn’t my Star Trek ” and you know what? They’re right. It’s not “their” Star Trek .

Star Trek does not belong to them, while the people behind the shows and the movies have to try to appeal to the old fans, they also have a responsibility to appeal to a new audience as well. Audiences in 2019 are not the same as audiences in 2001, 1987, or 1966. Audiences aren’t even the same as we were 2 years ago. The fandom always gets riled up about something new and different. People didn’t like TNG , people didn’t like DS9 or Voyager or Enterprise .

Fan-made Picard poster by FlyNebula on Deviant Art

Maybe I won’t like Picard, but that won’t retroactively destroy TNG for me. . . and there’s plenty of other projects in the works that I might like instead. . . I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it though. We’ll just have to wait and see. While there’s no firm release date just yet, Picard is expected to release towards the end of the year.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

About the author.

ThatHashTagShow

ThatHashTagShow

Related posts.

SYFY Reveals Spring/Summer Slate: Chucky, Reginald the Vampire & More

SYFY Reveals Spring/Summer Slate: Chucky, Reginald the Vampire & More

February 14, 2024

Star Wars: Rangers Of The New Republic Is Reportedly No Longer In Active Development At Lucasfilm

May 21, 2021

“Avatar: The Way Of Water” Beaten By “Slam Dunk” Anime Film In Japan

“Avatar: The Way Of Water” Beaten By “Slam Dunk” Anime Film In Japan

December 22, 2022

Scott Snyder Talks ComiXology, New Projects, And More [Interview]

Scott Snyder Talks ComiXology, New Projects, And More [Interview]

November 30, 2021

Sign Up For Paramount +

star trek picard kelvin timeline

What are you looking for?

Recent reviews.

  • Astro Note Ep. 4: A Gourmet Ghost Story [Review] Score: 96%
  • Dead Boy Detectives: Superb Supernatural Fun! [Review] Score: 85%
  • HUMANE: Taking A Stab At The Elite [Review] Score: 80%
  • Kaiju No. 8 Ep. 2 “The Kaiju Who Defeats Kaiju”: Silly Kaiju Man [Review] Score: 100%
  • Spice And Wolf: MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF Ep. 4 “Romantic Merchant And Moonlit Farewell”: Economic Intrigue [Review] Score: 100%
  • Astro Note Ep. 3: Bento Boxed Lunch Hijinks [Review] Score: 97%
  • Sadly, ‘Challengers’ Is Not A Smash [Review] Score: 50%
  • Black Butler -Public School Arc- Ep. 2 “His Butler, In Disguise”: Game Of Public School [Review] Score: 100%
  • Boy Kills World – Frenetic Action With Some Strange Quirks [Review] Score: 85%
  • Knuckles – For The Silly Warriors Out There [Series Review] Score: 86%

star trek picard kelvin timeline

'Star Trek Picard's Michelle Hurd Discusses Saffi's Origins & Their Future

  • At Calgary Expo, Michelle Hurd spoke in depth about the relationship between Seven and Raffi.
  • Hurd confirms Raffi's enduring love for Seven, hinting at a potential future in Star Trek: Legacy if Paramount+ greenlights the series.
  • The unexpected Seven and Raffi romance in Picard was sparked by the chemistry between the Hurd and Jeri Ryan at Comic-Con.

While many Star Trek: The Next Generation fans watched their dreams come true in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard , Saffi fans were left wanting more. Having gotten together in the Season 1 finale and sharing a rocky, but ultimately happy relationship in Season 2, Saffi — or Seven and Raffi to those who may not know their 'ship moniker — went through an off-screen break-up ahead of the final season. While the split was never really directly addressed in the jam-packed season, it set both characters up to serve as the captain and first officer of the newly commissioned Enterprise-G in the series finale.

Speaking during a panel at Calgary Expo hosted by Collider's Maggie Lovitt , a fan asked Michelle Hurd about the break-up and the relationship's potential future in Star Trek: Legacy . Laughing, Hurd said, "[You say] break up and I've got my U-Haul." She went on to say that she and her co-star Jeri Ryan have discussed the relationship at length. "Jeri and I have also talked about this and I’ve said it to her many times. And I’m like, ‘You do understand that Raffi loves Seven, period. End of discussion.’ She will love Seven [until] the end of time. "

While that answer is about as straightforward as they come, Hurd went on to say, "The one thing that we also have to acknowledge is that Raffi loves Seven, that Fenris Ranger, that incredible creature, that amazing individual that stands in front of her. Raffi would never want to limit her or extinguish any of her beautiful flames . So, Raffi will always be happy with Seven in her vision." Even if the pair technically shouldn't be in a relationship while in command, "She wants Seven to be happy with Raffi in her eyesight, but she's perfectly happy to be in her space."

'Star Trek': Why the Captain/First Officer Ship Is So Irresistible

Hurd went on to say, "One of the things that we really wanted to tell [was] that story of two women of a certain age, who are stubborn, who are set in their patterns, who are living their lives as authentically as they can, who can't help but find each other. So with that, it's a beautiful thing, but it's a complicated thing. And so, I think that there's always going to be love there. " While we don't know if Legacy will get the green light yet at Paramount+ , if the spin-off does happen Hurd said:

"It would be an amazing thing to see that kind of dynamic, to see the respect that each other has to have for each other's space as well as, [some] jealousy[...] I think it would be a phenomenal story. So I can't say for sure whether there's going to be, you know, a white picket fence. But if you're asking Raffi, theres a white picket fence"

How Saffi Became Part of the 'Star Trek: Picard' Season 1 Finale

During the panel, another fan spoke about being surprised by the handhold between Seven and Raffi in the Picard Season 1 finale and asked Hurd if the relationship was planned from the beginning or if it was added in later. While their romance wasn't always planned, Hurd explained that when she looked back at the first season there was an "appreciation" between Seven and Raffi from their first scenes together. She said: "I think that in that season, that episode where they're getting ready to go down to the planet, and I'm helping Seven and Raffi’s giving her [the handcuffs], you could tell that she respects her. So there was already some kind of appreciation between the two of them that moment ."

Hurd went on to tell the story of how at SDCC ahead of the first season, co-star Jonathan Del Arco happened to snap a picture of Hurd and Ryan dressed to the nines and immediately showed it to their producers. She told the Calgary Expo crowd:

"I believe it was at the San Diego Comic-Con, that same event, which was huge and fantastic. And they had a green room, a space where all the actors and everybody goes to get ready for whatever. And Jeri was in this fantastic red dress. She was absolutely gorgeous, and I was wearing a white Helston jumpsuit, so I didn't look too bad myself. And were friends, I adore her, and we were standing together and I kind of put my arm around her waist and I kind of gave her a squeeze. And Jonathan Del Arco, Hugh, [and] Jeri's manager is Jonathan's husband. So we're all friends, with Kyle [Fritz]. So Jonathan was standing over there, and he was like, Oh my God, look at me. And so we both just looked at him and he took a picture. And then I swear to God, he took that camera, walked right over to our producers, Akiva Goldsman , Alex Kurtzman , [and] Michael Chabon . Were all sitting right there, and he said, You guys look at how big these two look together."

The rest was history as the producers immediately turned around and told Hurd and Ryan, "'Ladies, we have an idea,' and that’s how it started." While we wait to see if Hurd and Ryan will return on Star Trek: Legacy you can stream all three seasons of Picard on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series toStar Trek: The Next Generation (1987)andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002)that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Release Date January 23, 2020

Cast Patrick Stewart, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Harry Treadaway

Genres Sci-Fi

Rating TV-MA

Watch on Paramount+

'Star Trek Picard's Michelle Hurd Discusses Saffi's Origins & Their Future

Screen Rant

Picard never appeared in star trek’s mirror universe but his doppelganger was just as evil.

TNG never visited the Mirror Universe, but Star Trek: Picard revealed that the Confederation of Earth's Jean-Luc was just as evil as any Terran.

  • General Picard's reign of terror in the Confederate Earth was just as brutal as the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation never visited the Mirror Universe due to a cooler, scientific approach by the producers.
  • Fans had to wait until Star Trek: Picard to meet General Picard's evil alternate, as TNG rejected the idea.

Audiences never met the Mirror Universe version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), but Star Trek: Picard revealed that he had an evil doppelgänger who was just as evil as anyone in the Terran Empire. In Picard season 2, the machinations of Q (John de Lancie) created an alternate timeline in which the United Federation of Planets becomes the Confederation of Earth. This brutal regime was the antithesis of Star Trek's Federation, drawing comparisons between the Confederation and the Terran Empire .

Both the Confederation and the Terran Empire placed humanity above all other species in the galaxy, leading to a bloody and brutal subjugation of other alien races. As Star Trek: TNG didn't visit the Mirror Universe , General Picard was the closest that fans got to seeing his evil counterpart. Just like the Mirror Universe version of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), the Confederation's General Picard was a cruel despot who had conquered countless worlds and killed scores of enemies .

Worf Ruled The Mirror Universe In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (No, Really)

General picard of confederation of earth was as evil as mirror universe.

Of the many reveals about Star Trek: Picard 's Confederation , the information about General Picard and his reign of terror was the most chilling. General Picard annihilated the Klingon home world Qo'noS, much like the Mirror Universe's Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) did in Star Trek: Discovery . Rather than command the USS Enterprise-D, Picard was in command of the CSS World Razer, a fearsome looking starship of which an oil painting was hung in the General's study . General Picard's study was also decorated with the skulls of some notable Star Trek figures, including:

  • Borg Sentinel One of Two
  • Grand Nagus Zek (Wallace Shawn)
  • Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo)
  • General Martok (J.G. Hertzler)
  • Director Sarek (Mark Lenard)

Like his Prime Universe counterpart, General Picard also had a synthetic body, which he had acquired following a battle with Gul Dukat . The General's chateau was staffed by both Romulan and synthetic slaves, who maintained his home while he was on important business for the Confederation Corps. When Prime Picard arrives in the Confederation reality in Star Trek: Picard season 2, it's on the eve of Eradication Day, in which the General is scheduled to publicly execute the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching). The Borg Queen's skull would have joined the others in Picard's trophy room if Jean-Luc and the La Ceritos crew hadn't saved her.

Why Star Trek: The Next Generation Never Went To The Mirror Universe

The notion of a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode set in the Mirror Universe existed from as early as 1987, when David Gerrold joked about a sequel to "Mirror, Mirror" in Starlog magazine which would have featured Edith Keeler (Joan Collins) and dangerous, carniverous Tribbles . Jerome Bixby, who wrote the original Mirror Universe episode of Star Trek: The Original Series pitched a sequel for TNG that would have featured older versions of the TOS characters . However, this idea was rejected by Paramount, who didn't want to feature them so heavily in TNG .

Of the many Mirror Universe episodes pitched to Star Trek: The Next Generation , hardly any of the failed pitches have become public knowledge.

A.J. Black's book Lost Federations: The Unofficial Unmade History of Star Trek suggests that the pulpy idea of a darkest timeline didn't sit well with " The Next Generation's cooler, scientific approach to Star Trek, particularly in the Piller era. " Black's assumption is largely correct, backed up by Michael Piller himself. Piller explained that he " wasn't interested " in revisiting the Mirror Universe during TNG , despite the multiple "Mirror, Mirror" sequels that were pitched to him . While Piller would eventually acquiesce and produce a "Mirror, Mirror" sequel on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , fans would have to wait until Star Trek: Picard to meet Jean-Luc's evil alternate.

All episodes of Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: The Next Generation are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Picard

*Availability in US

Not available

After starring in Star Trek: The Next Generation for seven seasons and various other Star Trek projects, Patrick Stewart is back as Jean-Luc Picard. Star Trek: Picard focuses on a retired Picard who is living on his family vineyard as he struggles to cope with the death of Data and the destruction of Romulus. But before too long, Picard is pulled back into the action. The series also brings back fan-favorite characters from the Star Trek franchise, such as Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Worf (Michael Dorn), and William Riker (Jonathan Frakes).

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

'Picard's Michelle Hurd Reveals Who She Wants To See Raffi Team Up With in a 'Star Trek: Legacy' Spin-Off

Fans haven't given up hope for 'Star Trek: Legacy' and Hurd shared some exciting potential team-ups at Calgary Expo this weekend.

The Big Picture

  • Fans are still hopeful for a Star Trek: Legacy spin-off series after the successful final season of Picard on Paramount+.
  • Actress Michelle Hurd expresses excitement for the potential spin-off and a desire to work with more Next Generation alums.
  • Hurd mentions wanting Raffi to meet Guinan; recently Whoopi Goldberg hinted at a possible return to the franchise.

While there's been no official news of a spin-off in the year since Star Trek: Picard Season 3 became one of Paramount+'s most-watched Star Trek seasons, fans are still holding out hope for Star Trek: Legacy . Despite still waiting for a green light from the studio herself, actress Michelle Hurd spoke hopefully about the potential spin-off series during a panel hosted by Collider's Maggie Lovitt at Calgary Expo this weekend. When Lovitt asked what it means to Hurd to know so many people want to see her come back to play Raffi again, she said, "It's an unbelievable honor and one that I absolutely cherish and understand the responsibility of."

As the panel went on, Hurd accepted several Star Trek questions from the attendees in the crowd. When one hopeful fan opened with plans to " assume Star Trek: Legacy is a go " Hurd wholeheartedly agreed saying, "Shall we? I like that, I like where you're going." The fan would go on to ask which other "legacy" characters from the long-running franchise she'd like to see Raffi team up with on the spin-off.

Hurd noted that "Raffi didn't get to interact with everybody that came back." As much as she loved working with Michael Dorn as Worf for most of the season, Hurd had a few other Next Generation alums from Picard Season 3 that she'd love to share the screen with. She went on to say:

"I mean, Levar Burton , Kunta Kinte, I mean can I just— I had one line, I think, with Marina [Sirtis] on the second season. I didn't really get to work other than shooting with Gates [McFadden] . So, of that, I would love to actually experience those guys. And then, you know, what I love is that Terry Matalas is such an OG that he, I mean, he had to like, you know, force some of our cameos on the show because…how do I say [this]? But some people, maybe the studio didn't really get it. They were like, ‘Oh, why would we bring this character on? Nobody knows him.’ And it was like, ‘No, everybody— YOU don't know, but everybody knows them.’ So I honestly, I think that he would, he would do an amazing job pulling in people. "

Michelle Hurd Wants to See Raffi Meet Guinan If 'Star Trek: Legacy' Happens

Hurd had one more major player from Next Generation and Picard that she would love to see Raffi team up with, saying "selfishly, Guinan would be nice to play with, I’m just saying." And it's possible she could get her wish. A few weeks ago Whoopi Goldberg — who played Guinan across six of Next Generation 's seven seasons — played coy when her The View co-host Joy Behar appeared to spill the beans about Goldberg potentially returning to the franchise again.

While we wait to see if Paramount+ will boldly go with Star Trek: Legacy , you can watch both Picard and Next Generation in their entirety on the streamer.

Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Watch on Paramount+

IMAGES

  1. Star Trek: Picard Properly Explains The Kelvin Timeline's Origin

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

  2. How Star Trek: Picard May Connect to the Kelvin Timeline Movies

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

  3. Kelvin timeline

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

  4. “Star Trek: Picard” referenced the Kelvin Timeline in a big way

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

  5. Star Trek: How Picard Connects to Both the Prime and Kelvin Timelines

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

  6. Picard Fan Casting for Star Trek: The Next Generation

    star trek picard kelvin timeline

VIDEO

  1. The Problem with STAR TREK: LEGACY

  2. STAR TREK NEWS

  3. STAR TREK ONLINE kelvin timeline kirk

  4. STAR TREK ONLINE kelvin timeline kirk

  5. Star Trek Online Kelvin timeline intel Dreadnought cruiser 2024 01 15 13 02 56

  6. Star Trek Online Kelvin Timeline Intel Dreadnought Cruiser 2024 01 08 06 04 30

COMMENTS

  1. Star Trek: Picard Properly Explains The Kelvin Timeline's Origin

    Star Trek: Picard is not only boldly going where Star Trek has never gone before, it's also explaining the proper origins of the alternate reality films known as the Kelvin timeline.In the 2009 soft reboot film - titled simply Star Trek - it's explained that Spock and the villainous Romulan Nero were sent back in time through a black hole created by an experimental material called red matter ...

  2. Star Trek: How Picard Ties In With Kelvin Timeline

    Star Trek: Picard is set after the establishment of the Kelvin timeline, providing further context to the catastrophic event that helped shape the alternate reality.All Star Trek television series and films prior to 2009 take place in what is known as the "Prime" timeline.The 2009 film, Star Trek, created an alternate reality known as the "Kelvin" timeline.

  3. Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained

    Crossover With the Prime Timeline . Keeping track of the Kelvin timeline is important because there are still Star Trek properties operating in the prime timeline, such as Picard. However, there ...

  4. 'Star Trek: Picard' Timeline and Backstory Explained

    Here's How. Star Trek: Picard. Fits Into The Fractured Franchise Timeline. Patrick Stewart and showrunner Alex Kurtzman delve into the details of Jean-Luc Picard's new life. It's been almost two ...

  5. Star Trek: Picard finally cleans up the franchise's messy timelines

    With Paramount Pictures, Star Trek's film studio, focusing on the success of its new, younger franchise in the Kelvin timeline, fans of the Prime timeline's cast and characters weren't given ...

  6. The Star Trek Kelvin Timeline Explained

    The story of Star Trek 's Kelvin timeline began in the Prime Star Trek universe in the 2380s, when it became clear that the Romulan sun presented a major danger not just to the Romulan Star Empire ...

  7. Star Trek's Kelvin Timeline, Explained

    The Kelvin Timeline Is One of Many Alternate Realities in Star Trek. Between 2006 and 2019, CBS Television and Paramount owners Viacom were separate companies. While CBS retained the rights to Star Trek on TV, Paramount was able to hold on to the film rights thanks to the 2009 film. The characters and situations in the movies were off-limits ...

  8. How Star Trek: Picard May Connect to the Kelvin Timeline Movies

    It may also have an important connection to the Star Trek movies set in the Kelvin Timeline. The Picard trailer reveals that, during the years since fans last saw Picard, Starfleet promoted him to ...

  9. Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, Explained

    The destruction of Romulan, an event that the 2009 Star Trek states takes place ion the "prime" timeline, plays as major context to the events of 2020s Picard. The Kelvin timeline is a great ...

  10. Star Trek: Picard producer explains how the new show unites the Trek

    While it's the event that sent Spock back in time, subsequently creating the alternative 'Kelvin' timeline, the disaster is very much part of Star Trek's original 'Prime' continuity.

  11. "Star Trek: Picard" referenced the Kelvin Timeline in a big way

    Prime Timeline Picard / Kelvin Timeline Kirk. Star Trek: Picard has given us a look at the 25th century, and along with it, a glimpse into an alternate timeline — one that was established back in 2009 with Star Trek.. The J. J. Abrams directed reboot film initially begins in the same timeline as Picard; known as the Prime Timeline - but then continues into the alternate timeline; known as ...

  12. Star Trek: Picard Timeline Explained

    Greetings Trekkies!In Today's video, we dive into when the Star Trek: Picard show will be taking place, and what universe it is going to be in. I feel like I...

  13. Star Trek: How Picard Connects to Both the Prime and Kelvin Timelines

    RELATED: Star Trek: Picard - CBS All Access Officially Confirms Season 2 Renewal "That movie gave us a wonderful plot point to draw from, and happened to sync up with Picard's timeline," Picard executive producer and Star Trek (2009) co-writer Alex Kurtzman told GamesRadar. "So when we were looking at the ways in which Picard's life could ...

  14. How Picard Fits Into the Star Trek Timeline

    Airdate: 1994-2002. Plot: In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Captain Picard teams up with the once-presumed-dead Captain Kirk. The story unites the casts from the two Star Trek series at the time ...

  15. Star Trek Timeline Explained: From The Original Series to Picard

    In the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk is born aboard a USS Kelvin shuttlecraft as time-traveling Romulan Nero attacks the ship now being captained by James' soon-to-be-deceased father George (Star Trek 2009).

  16. Star Trek's Kelvin Timeline Accomplished a Major Starfleet First

    The Kelvin timeline, which began with JJ Abrams's big-budget reimagining in 2009 and concluded with 2016's Star Trek: Beyond, helped change the face of the franchise.Thanks to time travel, a new Star Trek timeline was created, one that was not bogged down by almost 50 years of stories. The movies were all box office successes, and helped keep interest in Star Trek alive during the ...

  17. 'Star Trek: Picard' Timeline: From 'Next Gen' to J.J ...

    Photo: Everett Collection HOW DOES STAR TREK: PICARD TIE IN WITH THE ALTERNATE KELVIN TIMELINE IN STAR TREK (2009). Before Star Trek: Discovery (which is a prequel set in the years before the ...

  18. Timeline of Star Trek

    This article discusses the fictional timeline of the Star Trek franchise.The franchise is primarily set in the future, ranging from the mid-22nd century (Star Trek: Enterprise) to the late 24th century (Star Trek: Picard), with the third season of Star Trek: Discovery jumping forward to the 32nd century.However the franchise has also outlined a fictional future history of Earth prior to this ...

  19. 'Star Trek: Picard' Timeline: Where Does the New Series Fit ...

    "Star Trek: Picard" has a timeline that unites the "Star Trek" TV series and the recent movies, as well as taking the CBS franchise into a new century. ... (known to fans as the "Kelvin Timeline ...

  20. New Star Trek: Picard Prequels, Kelvin Timeline Books Announced

    Other Star Trek publishing news coming out of STLV is that the Kelvin Timeline - seen in the three most recent Star Trek movies - is getting its own set of novels.The two books are The Order ...

  21. STAR TREK: PICARD and Kelvin Timeline Tie-In Books Lead 2020 Trek

    Today at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention, the team at the forefront of Trek publishing took the stage to lay out some of the upcoming plans for tie-in print offerings coming up for Star Trek: Picard, the legacy Trek shows, and even the Kelvin Timeline! Gallery Books senior editor Ed Schlessinger was joined on stage by authors John Jackson Miller, Robb Pearlman, and IDW Publishing's Chase ...

  22. STAR TREK: Is PICARD In The Kelvin Timeline?

    Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Kurtzman revealed that the events of JJ Abrams' Star Trek (2009) are now official prime universe canon and that Picard will pick-up the story after Romulus has been destroyed and the Romulan Empire has been dissolved. Having been a huge proponent of trying to bridge the gap between the Federation and the Romulans, the destruction of their homeworld ...

  23. How is the new Picard show *not* in the Kelvin timeline?

    We learned from a recent interview with Alex Kurtzman that the new Picard series will involve the aftermath of the destruction of Romulus seen in the 2009 Star Trek movie, during which Spock and Nero from the prime universe go back in time and dramatically alter the timeline. You've misunderstood the film - they create another timeline, they do ...

  24. 'Star Trek Picard's Michelle Hurd Discusses Saffi's Origins ...

    Star Trek: Picard Follow-up series toStar Trek: The Next Generation (1987)andStar Trek: Nemesis (2002)that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Release Date January 23, 2020

  25. Picard Never Appeared In Star Trek's Mirror Universe But His

    Audiences never met the Mirror Universe version of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), but Star Trek: Picard revealed that he had an evil doppelgänger who was just as evil as anyone in the Terran Empire. In Picard season 2, the machinations of Q (John de Lancie) created an alternate timeline in which the United Federation of Planets becomes the Confederation of Earth.

  26. 'Picard's Michelle Hurd Reveals Which "Legacy" Characters ...

    Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Release Date January 23, 2020