10 Star Trek Fan Concepts That Became Real

6. Star Trek: New Voyages - Origins, The Protracted Man

Star Trek Discovery Pike
CBS

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.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"