Star Trek: 12 Subplots That Went Nowhere

After being omitted from the final cut of Star Trek (2009), the Klingons finally made their Kelvin Timeline debut in JJ Abrams' follow up, Star Trek Into Darkness. Not only did the Klingons make their rebooted debut in Into Darkness, a conflict with the warrior race was explicitly teased in the film by the fear mongering Admiral Marcus.

According to Marcus, war with the Klingons was inevitable, and while Khan made quick work of several Birds-of-Prey-worth of the redesigned baddies, the film not-so-subtly left the impression that the Klingons would be coming for revenge.

Following the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, co-writer Damon Lindelof even teased that the Klingons would be back, saying "there's a promise that there's a larger conflict on the horizon, and that would be fun to see."

But the third Kelvin Timeline installment was heavily reworked and Lindelof departed for Tomorrowland and The Leftovers. Justin Lin's Star Trek Beyond went on to feature no Klingons with even a cameo appearance on the planet Altamid cut before shooting.

The larger conflict with the Klingons, hinted at in Star Trek (2009) and made a major story point in Star Trek Into Darkness, ultimately went unmentioned and unfulfilled in Star Trek Beyond and with no future Kelvin Timelines in sight, it would appear that Admiral Marcus' war wasn't so inevitable after all.