10 Star Trek Fan Concepts That Became Real
6. Star Trek: New Voyages - Origins, The Protracted Man
This unfinished episode of New Voyages serves as a prequel to The Original Series, with a cadet-era Kirk and Captain Christopher Pike, here played by Colin Cunningham. Though the idea of a prequel has of course been around for years, this story finally brought Kirk and Pike together.
J.J. Abrams 2009 follows a similar pattern, with Pike directly responsible for recruiting Kirk to Starfleet. As these two men were hugely influential in their own way, with Pike kicking off Star Trek as the audience knows it and Kirk becoming one of the most instantly recognisable characters in modern SciFi history, it was the first time that they had been shown together - not counting Sean Kenney's appearance in The Menagerie.
Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are both actively and set to develop the character of Christopher Pike even further. As Strange New Worlds seems to exist purely because of fan demand, the unfinished episode of New Voyages was one of the earliest indicators that Pike needs all of the screen time that CBS can throw at him. The audience is ready and waiting to lap it up.