Summary
- J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2009 rejuvenated the franchise with a new timeline, dynamic characters, and high-stakes action.
- Nero's vengeful plan to destroy Earth stemmed from Romulus' destruction, leading to Kirk and Spock's heroic battle against him.
- Kirk's journey to becoming Captain of the USS Enterprise was marked by ambition, friendship, and the will to save Earth.
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek 2009 movie didn't just end with the crew of the USS Enterprise saving the Earth, but it also breathed new life and energy into the dormant Star Trek franchise, setting up not just more feature films but also the new TV series on Paramount+. Set in the alternate Kelvin Timeline created by a Romulan time traveler named Nero (Eric Bana), Star Trek is an origin story of how James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) became Captain of the USS Enterprise and forged his eternal friendship with Spock (Zachary Quinto).
The young crew of the Starship Enterprise was in a race against time to stop Nero in Star Trek 2009's final act. Nero stole Earth's defense codes from the captured Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood). The Romulans' starship, the Narada, reached Earth and lowered a drill to dig into the planetary core in San Francisco Bay near Starfleet Headquarters. From there, Nero would drop red matter to create a singularity that would swallow the planet into a black hole, just as the Romulans previously destroyed Spock's homeworld of Vulcan. The USS Enterprise's counterattacked by using the gravitational field of Saturn's moon, Titan, to hide the starship from the Narada's sensors. This allowed Kirk and Spock to beam aboard Nero's ship to rescue Pike and stop the Romulans' drill from destroying Earth.
Star Trek 2009 Cast & Character Guide
J.J. Abrams' Star Trek relaunched the movie franchise and reintroduced audiences to Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise.
Nero's Plan To Destroy The Federation Explained
Nero wanted to do to Earth what he did to Vulcan
Nero's plan was, simply, vengeance in the form of intergalactic genocide. In 2387, which is 129 years before the present day of Star Trek 2009's main story, Nero was helpless to watch a supernova destroy his homeworld of Romulus. Nero was furious at Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who promised the Romulans he would stop the supernova, but the legendary Vulcan was too late to exact his plan to use red matter to create a black hole that would swallow the supernova before it eradicated Romulus.
Both Nero and Spock were pulled into the black hole's singularity, but they emerged at different points in Star Trek's past. The Narada arrived in 2233 and its destruction of the USS Kelvin ended up creating an alternate reality from that point forward. Spock arrived in the Kelvin timeline 25 years later, in 2258. Nero immediately captured Spock and stranded him on Delta Vega, forcing him to watch as Nero destroyed Vulcan.
Star Trek: Picard season 1's backstory goes into more detail about the Federation's failure to stop the Romulan supernova.
Nero ultimately blamed the United Federation of Planets for doing "nothing" to save Romulus. Nero decided that he would use red matter to wipe out every Federation world, starting with Vulcan and Earth, in the 23rd century to ensure there would be no Federation in his 24th-century era. Nero even attacked a Klingon prison planet (possibly Rura Penthe) and wiped out a Klingon fleet with his advanced technology, because the Romulan also knew the Klingons and the Federation become allies in the 24th century,
How Kirk And Spock Stopped Nero
Only by working together could Kirk and Spock save Earth
James T. Kirk and Spock beamed onto the Narada to stop Nero's drill. Scotty (Simon Pegg) mistakenly transported them into a populated era of the Romulans' ship, so a shootout quickly ensured. But, through a mind-meld with one of the Romulans, Spock learned the location of the Jellyfish, Ambassador Spock's ship containing the red matter, while Kirk learned where Captain Pike was being held. The Starfleet heroes then split up. Spock piloted his elder self's ship into Earth's atmosphere and destroyed Nero's drill, saving the planet. Since the red matter was with Spock, Nero couldn't use it on the Terran homeworld. Meanwhile, Kirk got into a fistfight with Nero, but after he killed Nero's First Officer, Ayel (Clifton Collins, Jr.), he was also able to rescue the injured Captain Pike.
Incensed at Spock for destroying his drill, Nero's ship followed the Jellyfish as the Vulcan warped away, leading the Romulans from Earth. Spock's gamble was to exit warp near Saturn, which would allow the Enterprise to come to the rescue. That's exactly what happened as the Enterprise arrived like the cavalry and saved Spock from Nero's torpedoes. Kirk, Pike, and Spock beamed back aboard the Enterprise before Spock's ship crashed into the Narada, which released the red matter and created a black hole that would swallow the ship.
Kirk offered to beam Nero and his crew to safety (against Spock's wishes) but the Romulan preferred to "die in agony" rather than accept the Federation's help. Kirk's response? "You got it." And they let the singularity swallow the Romulans. However, another problem arose, and the Enterprise was trapped in the black hole's gravity well, preventing it from warping away. Kirk ordered Scotty to eject the warp core, hoping that the force of the detonation would push the Enterprise to safety. The gamble worked, and the Federation flagship was able to gain enough distance from the singularity and make it home to Earth.