May 8th marked the 15-year anniversary of the release of J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. The film was the highly anticipated reboot of the popular science fiction franchise, one whose plot was surrounded by mystery up until the film's release. The film not only had the monumental task of reviving the Star Trek franchise for a modern audience but also recasting some of the biggest names in popular culture. Names like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were so linked to Kirk and Spock's characters that it seemed impossible to imagine anyone else in the role.

Now, though, both have been recast twice. Spock himself can be seen on the Paramount+ streaming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, played by Ethan Peck. Yet before that, the actor who first had to fill the boots of the legendary Leonard Nimoy was Zachary Quinto. Fans flocked to Quinto as the perfect actor to take up the role of Spock almost immediately after his debut as Sylar on Heroes in November 2006. By the following year, he was cast as Spock, and when the film opened in 2009, fans, critics, and Nimoy himself praised Quinto's performance.

While Quinto certainly gets many of the Spock hallmarks down, he is also a very different take on the character. Here is where Zachary Quinto's Spock from the Kelvin timeline differs from Nimoy's and Peck's versions from the Prime timeline.

Quinto's Spock Is a Member of an Endangered Species

Easily, the biggest change from the two timeline versions of Spock is that in the Kelvin timeline of J.J. Abrams's reboot, Spock's homeworld of Vulcan is destroyed. Vulcan is a significant planet in the Star Trek franchise. It was frequently seen in the original series and was vital to the plot of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and subsequent Star Trek material featured the planet. Vulcans are one of the most recognizable and recurring alien species in Star Trek.

But in the Kelvin timeline, Nero destroys Vulcan using red matter that creates a black hole at the center of the planet. Spock estimates that no more than 10,000 Vulcans survived the planet's destruction, which makes Spock a member of an endangered species. While the older Spock from the Prime timeline does find a planet to set up a new Vulcan colony, this changes Spock's journey in the Kelvin films. In both Star Trek and Star Trek Beyond, Quinto's Spock feels like he must serve his duty to the Vulcan species whereas Nimoy's and Peck's versions were more than free to do their duties to Starfleet.

It is only on the advice of Nimoy's Spock in the first film, informing him how valuable the friendship with Kirk will be, and then having that friendship in action in Star Trek Beyond, that Spock makes a decision for himself. While Nimoy's Spock famously said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one," Quinto's Spock has done something for the needs of himself, which will be for the betterment of many.

Quinto's Spock Has a Different Relationship with His Family

As seen in both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Spock has a complicated relationship with his father, Sarek, but is more open with his mother, Amanda Grayson, a human, which is where Spock gets his half-human nature. This dynamic is similar to that of 2009's Star Trek, but the destruction of Vulcan causes Amanda Grayson to die. Whereas Spock's mother didn't die until he was much older in the original timeline, here he loses her as a much younger man and in the act of war.

This now only draws a parallel to Kirk, as now both men have lost a parent in this timeline that they did not in the other thanks to the time-traveling villain Nero, but it forces Spock and his father to open up to one another. Previously, Amanda Grayson often acted as a buffer between Spock and Sarek, the two men must now take comfort in one another without her.

In one of the best moments in the franchise, Sarek and Spock finally have a heart-to-heart following Spock's outburst when Kirk got him to show he was emotionally compromised on their mission by insulting his mother. Sarek tells Spock it is never unwise to speak his mind, and Spock opens up with the human emotion of anger, wanting to take revenge on the person who killed his mother. Sarek tells Spock he is proud his son can be half-human and half-Vulcan, allowing these two men to become closer than they were in the original timeline. When Sarek finally answers Spock's question from earlier in the film about why he married a human, Sarek responds with a very emotional answer: he loved her. While Spock loses his mother at a young age in this new timeline whereas his older counterpart got to spend many years with her, that loss brings father and son closer together.

Quinto's Spock is in a Long-Term Relationship with Uhura

One of the most controversial decisions in J.J. Abrams's Star Trek was not the destruction of Vulcan, but the reveal that Spock was in a relationship with Lt. Nyota Uhura. In the original series, the two are no more than co-workers, and this is carried over into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which shows Uhura's earliest missions aboard the USS Enterprise in the original timeline. In Star Trek: The Original Series and Strange New Worlds, Spock is engaged to a fellow Vulcan, T'Pring. T'Pring is not present or mentioned in the Kelvin timeline films.

Spock's relationship with Uhura is a major part of his arc in three recent live-action Star Trek films. Star Trek Into Darkness deals with the troubles the two face in a relationship, while by the time Star Trek Beyond begins, the two have broken up, only to reconcile by the end of the film. This romantic relationship does a lot to humanize Spock and draw a contrast with the past incarnations that highlight this younger version of the character.

Quinto's Spock Is Younger, but Learning Lessons Quicker

Of course, Spock's age difference is a major part of what separates him from the other versions. Spock is born in 2230. 2009's Star Trek takes place in 2255, meaning Spock is only 25 during the events of the movie, a much younger character than when audiences first meet him in Star Trek: The Original Series, which took place between 2266 and 2269 when Spock was between 36 and 39. The youngest that audiences see Spock in the original canon is during Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, which is between 2257 and 2258, placing Spock at about 27. That means his youngest canon appearance in the original timeline is still older than Spock during his massive adventure in 2009's Star Trek.

Because of this change in the timeline, Spock has to experience many major events at a younger age. A great example of this is his first meeting with his future best friend, Captain Kirk. In Star Trek, Kirk meets Spock in 2255 during an academic trial where Spock (rightfully) accuses Kirk of cheating on a test. The two start out as adversaries but eventually grow to respect one another. Their meeting in the original timeline does not happen until four years later, as seen on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where they are at the bar onboard the USS Enterprise and the two have a more relaxed, friendly encounter.

In addition, Spock does not die at the wrath of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness like his prime self does in the appropriately named Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but instead, it is Captain Kirk, when they are both much younger men. In Wrath of Khan, the death highlights the long friendship between Kirk and Spock, and Spock's sacrifice is meant to humble Kirk and make him realize that he can't always win, flipping the script and having it be Kirk die (if only briefly) at the early part in his and Spock's friendship in Star Trek Into Darkness gets Spock to open up and admit to Kirk that he is his friend.

He becomes overwhelmed with anger and goes on to chase Khan down, giving into his violent urges until Uhura stops him, informing him they need Khan alive to save Kirk. This is a Spock who is still struggling to handle his emotions, and while he might appear like the classic Spock on the surface when he is prone to moments of emotion, they are bigger.

It is clear that Zachary Quinto's Spock was going on a journey to grow into the version Leonard Nimoy played while also forging his own path. Certainly, the long and many delays to Star Trek 4 have certainly stalled more major developments than this version of Spock would have. Hopefully, Paramount can get that fourth film in the Kelvin timeline off the ground, bring back the cast, and give Quinto at least one more outing as everyone's favorite Vulcan.