Key Star Trek Beyond Absence Explained

In both TV shows and movies, continuity is important, especially when it comes to the characters. Fans, especially fans in the internet era, are not fools, and will realize when something isn’t explained or cut out completely.

For fans of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films, a breach in continuity was discovered during Star Trek Beyond. At the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, the crew of the Enterprise had gotten a new crewmember in the form of Carol Marcus, known in Star Trek lore as the mother to Kirk’s child from the original saga. However, she was not in, nor mentioned, in Beyond, why was that?

Star Trek Beyond Co-Writer Simon Pegg explained why this was in a podcast, and it turns out, that the reason was actually quite pure and honest:

“We thought rather than have Carol Marcus be not used to a reasonable capacity, let’s just not include her, have her be alive, in canon, and be ready to come back at any time.”

He would go on to note that in an original cut of the film, they had made mention of her working on “The Genesis Project”, but it just didn’t make the cut.

Ironically, one of the few complaints about Star Trek Beyond was that not every character had a prominent role, so adding Carol Marcus would’ve likely grown that sentiment.

There is a 4th Star Trek film on the way, and it’s very possible she could return there.