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This story must begin with a prologue. Way back in 1989, TV guru J. Michael Straczynski had brought his idea for “Babylon 5” to Paramount, hoping the studio would produce it and turn it into a full-blown sci-fi show. He presented Paramount with a series bible, character bios, artwork, and even 22 brief story ideas that he intended to write for the show. The series was set in the mid-23rd century aboard a space station that was located in a neutral part of space. Many aliens would pass through, and the show’s main characters, part of a peacekeeping military-like organization, had to tackle all the natural intrigue of being in that position. Paramount turned down “Babylon 5,” but Straczynski ended up selling his pitch to Warner Bros. a few years later.
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In a suspicious piece of timing, though, Paramount announced — only two months after “Babylon 5” was announced — that it would be producing “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” a series that was also set aboard a numbered space station and that also saw many aliens visiting a beleaguered outpost overseen by a peacekeeping military-like organization. Straczynski has remarked (in a post on his website) that “Deep Space Nine” creators Rick Berman and Michael Piller likely didn’t see his “Babylon 5” materials, but he suspected that some of his ideas were, nonetheless, used to develop that “Star Trek” TV show. The tensions between Straczynski and Paramount remained palpable for years.
This context is important to know when talking about “Star Trek: Re-Boot the Universe,” a proposed 14-page “Star Trek” treatment that Straczynski once cobbled together with Bryce Zabel, the creator of the sci-fi series “Dark Skies.” In 2004, when “Star Trek: Enterprise” was on the air and the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot was just a glimmer in J.J.Abrams’ eye, Straczynski and Zabel idly hammered out their ideas.
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Weirdly, the eventual 2009 reboot also resembled Straczynski’s idea. Zabel talked about said reboot in “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams,” edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross.
J. Michael Straczynski and Bryce Zabel thought up a young Kirk story before Abrams’ Star Trek hit theaters
“Star Trek: Re-Boot the Universe” was actually the result of Straczynski and Zabel trying to distract themselves from brainstorming for a joint TV series they were making called “Cult.” It seems that the pair were idly discussing the “Star Trek” franchise and where it was in 2004. The “Star Trek” property, it should be recalled, was in a pretty sorry state at that time. It had only just experienced a huge bomb with “Star Trek: Nemesis” and was about to run out the clock on “Star Trek: Enterprise,” the only “Star Trek” series on the air. It looked like the franchise was done for, and Zabel and Straczynski knew it. Thus, they figured the only way forward for the property was a reboot. Familiar characters could be retained, but the story had to be started afresh. As Zabel recalled:
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“We started talking about the state of the ‘Trek’ universe. […] Before we could stop ourselves, we banged out a 14-page treatment […] I seem to recall having lunch at Art’s Deli and our conversation veering off into the ‘Trek’ situation. The take we came up with included using the original characters, but not as young officers at Starfleet Academy.”
(Art’s Deli is still standing in Studio City, California, if you want to go.)
But Zabel and Straczynski were on to something. They knew that the adventures of a young Captain Kirk, a young Spock, and a young Dr. McCoy would be the only way to grab audiences again. Yet another original series with all-new characters would only attract the attention of an already-dwindling audience of Trekkies. The mainstream needed to be re-introduced to the familiar.
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Which, of course, is what Abrams did.
Abrams’ Star Trek has a fair amount in common with the 2004 reboot pitch
Zabel continued with his ideas, noting that the new “Star Trek” film would need to be a reboot — that is, a separate entity from the continuity that came before it. As he put it:
“We wanted to do what they would do in the world of comics: create a separate universe for all the past TV and film ‘Trek’ continuity in order to free ourselves creatively so we could embrace the good stuff, banish the bad, and try some new things. In our reboot we wanted to start over, use Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and others in a powerful new origin story about what it was that bonded them in such strong friendship and show them off as you’d never seen them before. It was, admittedly, pretty audacious.”
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It should be noted that Zabel and Straczynski never wrote a script, nor did they advance the project beyond their 14-page treatment. They did, however, feel it was good enough to pitch to Paramount. Sadly, they were turned away at the door, as Abrams had beaten them to the punch. It seems that Abrams was already developing his “Star Trek” reboot when Staczynski and Zabel were working on theirs. The fact that they were both about the young Kirk and the early days of his relationships with Spock and McCoy seemed to be a complete coincidence.
So, while it might sound like this is another case of Paramount potentially lifting some of J. Michael Straczynski’s ideas for a new “Star Trek” project, it seems unlikely. Thanks to the “Deep Space Nine” debacle, though, some “Babylon 5” fans may still be suspicious.
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More recently, “Star Trek” has revisited the “young Kirk” idea again thanks to his inclusion on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” a series set only a few years before the original “Star Trek” TV show. Paul Wesley plays the new young Kirk, while Ethan Peck plays the new young Spock.
