abraham lincoln star trek

Historifans

“All Too Human, Dr. McCoy”: Abraham Lincoln and Star Trek

By Dr. M.A. Davis, Visiting Assistant Professor, Lees-McRae College

Featured image by Sam Nystrom Costales

On March 7, 1969, just over a century after the death of Abraham Lincoln, those still tuning into Star Trek: The Original Series in its third season got a chance to see the most famous American president on the Enterprise. 1 The story began with the crew  preparing to leave orbit of the planet Excalbia. They have had a strange mission, having detected lifesigns on what is supposed to be an uninhabited volcanic planet – but the strangeness has just begun. Suddenly, they are met in space by a figure in a familiar black overcoat and stovepipe hat (played by Lee Bergere) who introduces himself by declaring, “I am Abraham Lincoln.” 

So begins “The Savage Curtain.” The episode’s narrative is a morality play turned to action in which powerful aliens wish to witness a battle between good and evil. As their cast, they have summoned Lincoln to fight alongside Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner), Commander Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), and Surak (played by Barry Atwater), a famous Vulcan philosopher and pacifist, against embodiments of Genghis Khan (played by Nathan Jung), Kahless (played by Robert Herron), an ancient Klingon warlord, Colonel Phillip Green (played by Phillip Pine), a near-future American dictator, and Zora (played by Carol Daniels Dement), an alien mad scientist. 2 During the struggle, Lincoln, Surak, Green, and Kahless are killed, the surviving villains flee, and the Excalbians allow the Enterprise crew to leave, their spokesman complaining that “Your good and your evil use the same methods, achieve the same results.” 3 The episode is not one well-loved by fans, appearing in multiple lists of the worst episodes of the Original Series , but its depiction of Lincoln is a fascinating one. In an era when Lincoln revisionism (for both good and ill) was spreading through academia and just about to break into popular culture, the show set in the future firmly looked to the past for its depiction of the 16th President of the United States of America. 4   

Lincoln’s appearance in “The Savage Curtain” began in a story treatment by Gene Roddenberry from 1964 called “Mr. Socrates.” The original was something of a satire of the network television he had been battling with for so many years, with the Excalbians explicitly portrayed as decadent consumers whose only source of knowledge and entertainment were their recreations of historical and current events. 5 This angle is largely abandoned in third-season rewrites by the show’s production staff, as was his ample cast of guest stars for the two teams of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ pitted against each other by the Excalbians. Roddenberry had hoped to put Adolf Hitler among the ranks of the evil team, and wanted to show the failure of a then-near-future pacifist named “Pon, the Flower Child Messiah” – but Lincoln was a constant. (Given the show’s difficulty in handling the hippie movement on-screen, perhaps this latter omission was for the best). 6 This should be no surprise; Roddenberry loved Lincoln, considered him a childhood hero, and filled his home with Lincolnia. Founded in 1967, Lincoln Enterprises, the mail-order catalog company that first marketed Star Trek memorabilia, bore the former President’s name because Roddenberry “loved Abraham Lincoln. It’s that simple.” 7

Roddenberry’s was not Lincoln’s first appearance in sci-fi network television; for example in 1961, a consoling, ghostly Lincoln appears as the last casualty of the Civil War to a grieving Confederate widow with secrets of her own in an episode of The Twilight Zone . 8 This was not even the first time someone in the cast of “The Savage Curtain” had played Abraham Lincoln in a supernatural context; Barry Atwater (who portrayed Surak) had played Lincoln in a 1960 episode of One Step Beyond about the alleged Spiritualist predictions of Lincoln’s assassination. 9 And the above examples are just the Lincoln of sci-fi television. Lincoln had already appeared as a stand-in for the values and virtues of 19th century America as a whole in Wilson Tucker’s 1958 time travel novel, The Lincoln Hunters . 10 These heroic and science fiction Lincolns were largely similar, reflecting the beloved, saccharine Lincoln of contemporary popular culture. They were the Lincoln of Sandburg and Henry Fonda, the self-made, humble man of the frontier, an iconic symbol of American democracy and justice. This omnipresent hagiography of the 16th president should be no surprise; Abraham Lincoln has long dominated American memory, and in the mid-1960s that domination was at its zenith, as I show below, the culmination of a Lincoln renaissance that had begun a few decades earlier. 11

An explosion in Lincolnia that began in the 1920s with a wave of Lincoln biographies continued full-throttle through the war years and beyond. This was a generation of Lincoln scholarship that viewed him through the lens of the conservative, anti-Reconstruction Dunning School that then dominated Civil War historiography; an interpretation that saw him as a Unionist moderate on race, a Great Emancipator nonetheless uninterested in Black equality. When there was Lincoln revisionism in this period, it was liable to be critical of Lincoln as a member of the ‘blundering generation’ of antebellum politicians, but that academic argument never made it into the popular consciousness. 12 In 1947, the Library of Congress unveiled the latest technological marvel to ease Lincoln research, a fully-organized collection of Lincoln papers available (through microfilm) for scholars distant from Washington, DC. The Lincoln Papers were a vast archive of more than 40,000 letters, memoranda, and other documents, so big that its index alone is more than a hundred pages long – Lincoln studies would never be the same. This new availability of Lincoln documents, combined with the gradual anti-racist moral realignment of American society brought by the Second World War and subsequent Cold War changed Lincoln scholarship. In particular, it paved the way for a new wave of revision and counter-revision. 13 The Lincoln scholarship of the 1940s and 1950s took Lincolnolatry to new heights, painting him as a cunning politician and progressive, in other words, as a precursor to FDR who was the hero for many of that generation of scholars. 14 But that historiographic line was itself utterly transformed after the publication of Lenore Bennet’s infamous “Was Abe Lincoln a White Supremacist?” article in Ebony in 1968. The article, which answered its title question in the vigorous affirmative, sparked a bitter debate among historians like Ludwell Johnson and Stephen Oates, who alternatively sought to portray Lincoln as either the embodiment of American racism or anti-racism. 15  

But this conflict, which would endure for decades in the academic literature, had little immediate impact on pop culture in the late 1960s. In any case, no academic book could hope to match the popularity of the gentle, wise statesman Lincoln of contemporary mass media, dominated as that was by the sentimental popular imagery of a previous generation. This was true both on-screen and on the page; those reading about him would have almost certainly encountered Lincoln through the pages of Carl Sandburg,  “the best-selling, most widely read, and most influential book[s] about Lincoln,” even now. 16 Sandburg, the poet and literary titan, was much more interested in a Lincoln who was “both steel and velvet…as hard as rock and soft as drifting fog, who [held] in his heart and mind the paradox of terrible storm and peace unspeakable and perfect” than he was in the fine details of emancipation and race. With all this in mind, the popular Lincoln of the 1960s owed far more to pop culture in film and print than to the academic historians of the day. And this should be no surprise. But of all of these, which was Trek’s Lincoln? 17

The Lincoln of “The Savage Curtain” is a backwoodsman, a wrestler, kind, wise, humorous, forced into war by an enemy, and dies a martyr just as the conflict is coming to an end. Of his role as emancipator we hear nothing at all, with the show’s only foray into race being an awkward conversation with Nichelle Nichols’ character, Uhura.

LINCOLN: What a charming negress. Oh, forgive me, my dear. I know in my time some used that term as a description of property. UHURA: But why should I object to that term, sir? You see, in our century we’ve learned not to fear words. KIRK: May I present our communications officer, Lieutenant Uhura. LINCOLN: The foolishness of my century had me apologizing where no offense was given. 18

In retrospect it’s hard not to wince at this scene with a Black actress performing the words of White writers while reassuring Lincoln that he’s not a racist, particularly since the dialogue exchange is Nichelle Nichols’s last significant performance in televised Trek. (All of her subsequent dialogue in this, the penultimate episode of 60s Trek, is background filler and she does not appear at all in the last episode of the series.) But for a TV audience in the 1960s, the scene has a job – and it does it. We the viewers are reassured that Lincoln was good, and so too are those who admire him. 

This take on Lincoln, particularly the reassurance to the audience of his goodness, is a striking lapse, as Star Trek in general, and the oft-derided third season in particular, was quite willing to push the boundaries of what was socially acceptable in mainstream 1960s America. 19 Most famously, the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” portrayed what is often remembered as the first scripted interracial kiss on network television. 20 Other episodes, too, tried for boundary-breaking social commentary. “Day Of The Dove” sympathetically portrayed the need for peace between hostile rival powers in the midst of the Cold War. 21 “The Mark of Gideon” wrestled with themes of contraception and overpopulation only a few years after Griswold vs. Connecticut legalized contraception nationwide. But as unconventional as the show could be, its Lincoln is thoroughly conventional. 22

Star Trek ’s Lincoln is the white Lincoln – specifically the white, canonized Lincoln of the early 20th century. A backwoodsman who wrestles but will not kill, who dies trying to save an innocent, he is Sandburg’s humble son of the soil made flesh, more put-upon saint than man. 23 One can imagine actor Lee Bergere taking performance notes from the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show, the audio-animatronic Lincoln show at Disneyland that had debuted in July of 1965 – certainly the writers of “Savage Curtain” gave him little more to do than play a stereotypical Lincoln in space. As discussed above, serious Lincoln historiography was quite young when Roddenberry would have begun writing his script for “Savage Curtain”, certainly younger even than the forty-seven year old Roddenberry himself. 24 Roddenberry was a Texan by birth who grew up in the middle-class Southern diaspora in Jazz Age Los Angeles. But in the early 20th century Lincolnphilia was common even in the white South. Many young white Southerners of Roddenberry’s generation were raised amid a cult of Lincoln that saw “Lincoln more often than Lee as their ideal character.” 25 Perhaps this should not surprise us; even someone as aligned with white Southern identity as D. W. Griffith had been a Lincoln partisan as far back as Birth Of A Nation. As late as Roddenberry’s college years at LA City College just before WWII, it’s much more likely he’d have picked up one of Carl Sandburg’s books on Lincoln rather than the Lincoln revisionists of the 1930s. 26 (Sandburg was of course not the first Lincoln biographer, but The Prairie Years and The War Years were among the best-selling popular biographies of their day and have never gone out of print. Poet and literary giant that he was, Sandburg was not a professional historian. 27 ) Thus it should be no surprise that Roddenberry, who was not a professional historian and did not rely heavily on their work, would embrace the Lincoln of popular culture rather than the Lincoln of the historians. Then, as now, academic historiography is (as the name implies) academic, generally having a limited influence on popular culture. Certainly the Lincoln of today has survived both revisionists and counter-revisionists. If Star Trek ’s Lincoln was hagiographic, so too were all the televised Lincolns of the era, and for that matter many years to come. 28

Star Trek fans are fond of pointing to the franchise’s influence on broader American culture, particularly our language, culture, and technology, ranging from the naming of the first Space Shuttle (Enterprise) through the communicator-like smartphone, among many other things. But just as television can influence the culture that watches it, so too can television reflect the culture of those that make it. Ultimately, Star Trek was influenced by the way its audience and creators remembered the past far more than it sought to influence the way they remembered things. And our pop culture isn’t so different than it was when “Savage Curtain” aired. Even now, our Lincoln biopics (such as Spielberg’s 2012 Lincoln) are often accused of abandoning African-American memory in favor of “The Great Emancipator,” of lionizing Lincoln in ways not too dissimilar from what Roddenberry and Heineman had done at the end of the 1960s. (Perhaps the closest we’ve come to changing the memory of Lincoln in our popular culture came with Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in the same year as Spielberg, which gave Lincolnian hagiography a knowing wink before equipping its hero with a silver-tipped ax to fight the legions of undead.) 29

A righteous crusade against the forces of Hell seems a fitting place to stop in this brief look at the intersection of Lincoln and speculative fiction through the lens of Star Trek . Abraham Lincoln’s death in April 1865 made him a “saint” in the American national pantheon, a martyr who had sacrificed himself for liberty while freeing the helpless enslaved, at least in the minds of mainstream white American culture. 30 A century later when the original Star Trek aired, this memory of Lincoln was as powerful as ever, as indeed it is in the 2020s in most parts of American popular culture. Challenging a culture’s memory of a canonized “saint” is a difficult task. Often a legitimately ground-breaking show even in its worst moments, Star Trek’s much-derided third season was willing to challenge a great many of the 1960s cultural norms. But thanks to the culture of Lincolnia in which its writers and audience were steeped, Abraham Lincoln proved a subject too great to challenge, even on the Final Frontier.

Dr. M.A. Davis is a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. His current projects include a biography of California’s own Dalip Singh Saund and a piece on Lincoln and science fiction. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeDavisNoNot1 . 

•   Star Trek: The Original Series , season 3, episode 22, “The Savage Curtain,” directed by Herschel Daugherty, written by Arthur Heinemann and Gene Roddenberry, aired March 7, 1969. NBC.
•   Marc Cushman, These Are the Voyages – TOS: Season Three . 1st ed. (Los Angeles: Jacobs Brown Press, 2015), 591. 
•  “The Savage Curtain,” 46:30
•  “Worst Star Trek Episodes: The Savage Curtain.” Aspie Catholic, September 20, 2016, https://aspiecatholic.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/worst-star-trek-episodes-the-savage-curtain/ ; Jamahl Espicokhan, “‘The Savage Curtain,’” Jammer’s Reviews, January 1, 2013, https://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tos/s3/savage.php . 
•  Cushman, These Are The Voyages , 592, 594-596, 605. 
•  Kevin C. Neeceand John Tenuto, “The Way to Eden: The Edenic Imagination of the Original Series,” in The Gospel According to Star Trek: The Original Crew , 1st ed. (The Lutterworth Press, 2016), 33–39, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvj4swr2.11.
•  Cushman, These Are the Voyages , 637; Tilotta, Dave, “A Conversation with Bjo Trimble: Film Clips and Lincoln Enterprises,” StarTrekHistory.com. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
•  “Shakespeare in the Twilight Zone: The Passerby.” Bardfilm, January 7, 2013. http://bardfilm.blogspot.com/2013/01/shakespeare-in-twilight-zone-passersby.html .
•   TV Guide. “One Step Beyond – Season 2 Episode Guide,” n.d. https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/one-step-beyond/episodes-season-2/1030245529/
•   Tom Ruffles, “The Lincoln Hunters, by Wilson Tucker,” Book Notes , September 22, 2016. https://tomruffles.wordpress.com/2016/09/22/the-lincoln-hunters-by-wilson-tucker/.
•   Merril Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory , 1st ed. (London: Oxford, 1994), 346-347. 
•  David F. Ericson, “The Crisis in Lincoln Scholarship,” review of Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates , by Harry V. Jaffa. Reviews in American History 38, no. 4 (2010): 664–69, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40985429. 
•  Arthur Zilversmit. “Lincoln and the Problem of Race: A Decade of Interpretations.” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association 2, no. 1 (1980): 22–45.
•  Ericson, “The Crisis in Lincoln Scholarship,” 664. 
•  John M Barr, “Holding Up a Flawed Mirror to the American Soul: Abraham Lincoln in the Writings of Lerone Bennett Jr.,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Associatio n, vol. 35, no. 1 (2014): 43-65, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24573833.
•  Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory , 285, 335-340. 
•  James Hurt, “Sandburg’s Lincoln within History.” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association . 20, no.1 (Winter 1999): 55–65; Carl Sandburg, “Address before the Joint Session of Congress” (speech, Washington DC, February 2, 1959), National Parks Service, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/carl-sandburg-s-abraham-lincoln-address.htm . 
•  “The Savage Curtain,” 12:50.
•  Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek: The First 25 Years (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2016), 224. 
•  “After 40 Years, Star Trek ‘Won’t Die.'” Space.com. 7 September 2006. Archived from the original on 8 October 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2011; Christian Höhne Sparborth “Nichols Talks First Inter-Racial Kiss,” TrekToday, accessed December 19, 2022, https://www.trektoday.com/news/050901_05.shtml.
•   Star Trek: The Original Series , season 3, episode 7, “Day of the Dove,” directed by Marvin Chomsky, written by Jerome Bixby, aired November 1, 1968, NBC;George A. Gonzalez, Popular Culture and the Political Values of Neoliberalism (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017), 31.
•   Star Trek: The Original Series , season 3, episode 16, “The Mark of Gideon,” directed by Jud Taylor, written by Stanley Adams and George Slavin, aired January 17, 1967, NBC; Keith R.A. DeCandido, “Star Trek: The Original Series Rewatch: ‘The Mark of Gideon,'” Tor.com, September 20, 2016, https://www.tor.com/2016/09/20/star-trek-the-original-series-the-mark-of-gideon/ .
•  Carl Sandburg, “Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years.” in Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now , ed. Harold Holzer (New York: Library of America, 2008), 464-465. 
•  Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory , 256-257. 
•  David Alexander, Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry , (New York: Roc, 1995), 15–17; Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory , 252. 
•   Keith Booker, Star Trek: A Cultural History (New York: Bloomsbury, 2017), 72.
•  James Hurt, “Sandburg’s Lincoln within History,” Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association , vol. 20, no. 1 (1999): 55-65, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.2629860.0020.105.
• Peterson, Lincoln in American Memory , 346-347; K. C. Wheare, review of The Emergence of Lincoln. Vols. 1 and 2, by Allan Nevins, The American Historical Review , vol. 56, no. 3 (April 1951): 593-595, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1848481. 
•  Kate Masur, “In Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln,’ Passive Black Characters,” New York Times, November 12, 2012, retrieved December 4, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/opinion/in-spielbergs-lincoln-passive-black-characters.html; Joseph Williams, “Honest Abe Slays Demons in Vampire Hunter.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch , June 21, 2012, retrieved July 5, 2012, https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/honest-abe-slays-demons-in-vampire-hunter/article_4476c47c-ba93-11e1-aafc-0019bb30f31a.html.
•  “Americans’ Perspective on Abraham Lincoln,” Participant, February 2013, accessed January 20, 2023, participant.com/2013/02/americans-perspective-abraham-lincoln.

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In the third season episode of Star Trek: TOS , The Savage Curtain , a 19th-century President Lincoln is thrust into the 23rd century not for laughs, but to represent a person of good nature and character in history in this “good vs. evil” and the struggle for peace-themed episode.

Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of Starship Enterprise are getting readings of possible carbon-based life forms on a seemingly uninhabitable planet they’re orbiting. The planet’s molten lava-like conditions and poisonous atmosphere make it impossible for a landing crew to beam down to the surface and investigate the readings. Just as Kirk gives the order for the ship to warp out and continue on to the next assignment, Spock picks up a signal that the ship is being scanned by a probe. On the ship’s view screen, a familiar outline appears floating in space, which eventually becomes a person resembling Abraham Lincoln, complete with necktie and stovepipe hat, sitting in an armchair reminiscent of the one in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

While the crew is skeptical of the Lincoln figure’s identity, armchair Lincoln clearly believes he is the former U.S. President. “I am Abraham Lincoln,” he proclaims.

The episode focuses are several themes: Kirk’s admiration of Abraham Lincoln; Lincoln’s quest for peace in time of war; good vs. evil and the struggle for survival; and self-sacrifice for the greater good. I talk about this episode in length below, so beware of SPOILERS . You can watch a clip of the scene, which takes place before the opening theme, over at Amazon and you can buy the episode there too for $1.99 (or 12 Pepsi points).

Lincoln (played by Lee Bergere ) requests to come aboard the Enterprise and upon arrival via transporter is greeted with Presidential honors by the crew, including ceremonial music (taped, not live) and Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Scotty in full-dress uniforms (with Scotty in a Scottish-themed uniform). Scotty tells McCoy that what he beamed aboard could have been made of living rock, and Kirk ponders whether this figure is an illusion or a reincarnation.

Lincoln invites Kirk and Spock down to the surface with him to a small area of the planet with Earth-like conditions. The two officers know they’re being lured down to the planet for some reason, but don’t know why. Spock states that whatever the purpose, it’s obvious that the life form was made to look and act like the President as a way to titillate Kirk’s curiosity, since Lincoln has always been a hero of his. The life form is also meant to affect Spock, who finds the President “fascinating” and charming.

Once down on the surface, Kirk and Spock realize that their phasers and tricorders did not beam with them, and that all communications to the Enterprise have been cut off. The trio finds out from the powerful rock-like entity Yarnek that they’ve been lured to the planet, called Excalbia, to participate in a battle for survival. Lincoln, Kirk, Spock, and Vulcan founder Surak are to fight Genghis Khan and three other notoriously evil figures from Star Trek history, so that Yarnek and his kind can observe which of the two humanoid philosophies — good and evil — is the stronger.

After the evil figures attack, the sides get into a scuffle, but quickly conclude that Yarnek is the real enemy. Yarnek observes that the good side will not fight without a cause, so he sets the Enterprise to self-destruct in four hours if the good side does not defeat its evil opponents.

In an allusion to the American Civil War, Lincoln tells Kirk, “The war is forced upon us. History repeats itself.” They have no choice now but to fight. Kirk strategizes their attack plan, which Lincoln says reminds him of another man he admires — General Grant (leader of the northern Union army — the “good” side — during the U.S. Civil War).

Surak approaches the evil opponents offering peace, but they capture him to provoke the others to battle. Lincoln comes up with a rescue plan that has them fighting on the same level with “trickery, brutality, finality … we match their evil.” He explains that while he’s typically thought of as a gentle man, he was Commander in Chief during the four bloodiest years of his country’s history, giving orders that sent 100,000 men to their deaths during the Civil War.

Both Lincoln and Surak perish in the battle, but ultimately Kirk and Spock win by fighting until their opponents flee. The good side wins out, though the entity still doesn’t see many differences between the two sides. Kirk and Spock are free to return to the Enterprise and all’s well again.

Back aboard the ship, Spock conjectures that the entity was able to scan their minds to create the perfect images of Lincoln and Surak, the two people Kirk and Spock admire, respectively. “They seemed so real,” Kirk says. “I feel I actually met Lincoln.” Kirk says that after seeing Lincoln die again, he feels like he understands what Earth must have gone through to achieve final peace.

Of Lincoln and Surak, Kirks says:

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS3E22TheSavageCurtain

Recap / Star Trek S3 E22 "The Savage Curtain"

Edit locked.

Original air date: March 7, 1969

The One With… Abraham Lincoln IN SPACE!

Another day on the Enterprise , another new planet to explore. Excalbia will be explored from afar due to excessive amounts of volcanic activity. Kirk asks Spock if he detects any life forms. He actually detects a few, though there should be none. Oh well, obviously a computer error. Time to pack it in and call it a....is that Abraham Lincoln hovering in space? note  We are not making this up, okay?

He's posed just like his statue in the Lincoln Memorial, armchair and all. Somehow, he can not only exist in space but speak in the vacuum of space . He politely requests to be beamed aboard. Kirk beams him aboard with full presidential honors. He realizes there is no logical way this should be the Great Emancipator himself, but he'll play along anyway. Lincoln, still charmingly polite, requests Kirk and Spock to beam down to Excalbia with him. He cannot explain why, only that they must. Bones and Scotty think this is a very dumb idea. So of course Kirk's willing to do it! Spock declares he will accept the invitation too. And so they do.

On beaming down, they meet Surak, a Messianic Archetype from Vulcan history who makes Spock look like a Keet . They also meet a Rock Monster called Yarnek who wants to know if Good or Evil is stronger. To find out, he becomes Teddy Long and makes an 8-person Tag team match, pitting Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak against Genghis Khan , Zora (a Mad Doctor from Tiburon), Colonel Phillip Green (ecoterrorist and genocidal maniac from World War III ) and Kahless the Unforgettable ( Hero of the Klingons ). Why? Eh, why not?

The Savage Tropes:

• Yarnek is never named in dialogue, but is so named in the script. Even in the closed captioning, he's merely identified when speaking off-screen as "Excalbian."
• This episode would get a sequel of sorts in the novel Savage Trade , which develops the mindset of the Excalbians and reveals their true motives for staging this fight, as well as the aftereffects that set in after the Enterprise leaves.
• Artistic License – Biology : The rock monsters are stated to be carbon life forms, where silicon based life would make much more sense. Even more baffling is that silicon based life has appeared on the show earlier.
• Artistic License – History : The historical characters, most notably Lincoln, do not look or act much like their real counterparts. Justified, since they are based on Kirk's and Spock's images of these historic figures.
• Badass Pacifist : Surak refuses to take part in battle, even though Kirk insists the war they're fighting is for a just cause. Still, Surak insists on a peaceful negotiation with Col. Green. Even Kirk is moved to remark to Spock that "your Surak is a brave man", to which Spock replies "Men of peace usually are, Captain." Unfortunately, it gets him killed.
• Black-and-White Morality : Sums up the whole episode, with Yarnek the super power who wants to know if Good or Evil is stronger. Ultimately subverted — at the end, Yarnek expresses confusion because the distinction between the two isn't as clear as he'd been expecting, since Kirk's team also resorted to violence to win. Kirk explains the difference was in what motivated them: the villains were offered power, while Kirk and Spock were fighting for the lives of the Enterprise crew.
• Blatant Lies : Green tells Kirk that he would like to peacefully team up with Kirk against their common foe. It's all a deception to attack him when his guard's down.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality : Yarnek does not understand the concept of good and evil.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu : Kirk decides he's going to slug Yarnek for what he put Spock and himself through. Yeah, punch the monster made of lava rocks, Jim. You'll have third degree burns on top of that broken arm!
• Captain Obvious : Yarnek tells Kirk "If you and Spock survive, you return to your vessel. If you do not... your existence is ended." Thanks for telling us, Yarnek! That's right up there with "People die if they're killed!"
• Characterization Marches On : Kahless is based on the Federation's conception of the Klingon hero, and it is (due to the political climate) both not terribly favorable and comparatively ignorant. If this episode were to be made in the era of Star Trek: The Next Generation , Kahless would undoubtedly be on the good side along with Lincoln and Surak. Especially if Worf were one of the participants. note  The tyrant Molor, established as the true Big Bad in Klingon mythology, would have been a likely candidate for the evil side.
• Combat Pragmatist : Lincoln advocates fighting just as dirty as Colonel Green and his friends.
• Door Jam : Yarnek disables the Enterprise 's transporter until they show whether good or evil is stronger. This leaves Kirk and Spock stranded on an alien planet without the support of their crew, with only a pacifist alien and Abe Lincoln to aid them in fighting history's greatest villains.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good : Col. Green expects Surak's peace talks to be a trick. That's what he'd be doing if he tried to talk peace with someone. (In fact, he just did a few minutes ago.)
• Colonel Green to Kirk - Cunning human officers who easily take charge of their respective packs
• Zora to Spock - Alien scientists
• Kahless to Surak - each the greatest influencer of his race
• Genghis Khan to Lincoln - commanders-in-chief from human history
• Famous, Famous, Fictional : Of the six "historical" characters in this episode, only two are known to modern day humans. The others got their characterization expanded on in future Star Trek incarnations, save for Zora. Pity. It would've been interesting to see what a female Josef Mengele of the future would be like.
• Faux Affably Evil : Col. Green seems quite polite and soft-spoken, despite freely admitting to at least some of his bad historical reputation. His good behavior is quickly shown to be a diversionary tactic.
• Forced into Their Sunday Best : Bones and Scotty rankle at getting gussied up for someone who is probably not Abraham Lincoln.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil : Surak, Spock and President Lincoln have a hard time understanding the motives and actions of the opposing "evil" side. Only Kirk seems to have a grasp of their potential for deceptiveness and duplicity.
• Historical Domain Crossover : The Hero team is Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Abraham Lincoln and Surak of Vulcan. The villain team is Genghis Khan, the Klingon Kahless, Colonel Green and the Mad Scientist Zora. Everyone except Kirk and Spock are actually alien rock creatures masquerading as humanoids.
• Historical Hero Upgrade : Kirk's idealized picture of Abraham Lincoln is mostly based on the simplistic, idealized version of Lincoln that was popularized up to The '60s or even into The '70s . The dialogue at the end of the episode actually lampshades as Kirk acknowledges that the image of Lincoln was created out of his own idealization of what he wanted the man to be, not necessarily ignorance of actual history.
• Impromptu Fortress : Kirk and company find a raised outcrop of rock that he says will be their base of operations, because "it's defensible."
• Innocuously Important Episode : While the episode takes place too near to the end of TOS's run to count for anything in terms of that series, its introduction of Surak and Kahless (and to a lesser extent, Colonel Green) would have far-ranging implications for future spin-off shows.
• Innocently Insensitive : Lincoln casually refers to Uhura as a "charming negress". He quickly apologizes though Uhura isn't offended since bigoted terms like that are now only a thing of the distant past.
• Involuntary Battle to the Death : As in in "Arena", "The Gamesters of Triskelion", "Bread and Circuses", "Spectre of the Gun", and "Day of the Dove", Kirk is forced to fight for an alien's amusement.
• Kirk Summation : Kirk can't punch Yarnek, but he can give him a piece of his mind, demanding "What gives you the right to do this?"
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!" : Kirk and Spock are both pretty honored to meet their personal heroes. Spock even admits to showing emotion at the sight of Surak (albeit some of which was simple shock).
• Leitmotif : When Lincoln is beamed aboard, one of the security officers blows a bosun's whistle and they play a recording of "Hail To The Chief". Lincoln looks around and asks where the band is.
• Mirroring Factions : Played with. Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak represent Good; Colonel Green, Kahless, Khan, and Zora represent Evil. Yarnek complains afterward that he can't see the difference between them; Kirk responds by pointing out that they fought for different things: the evil side fought for power, while he and Spock fought for their ship and its crew.

• "Not So Different" Remark : Yarnek insists his method of exploration is no different from Kirk's. That's Blue-and-Orange Morality in action, folks.
• Patrick Stewart Speech : Kind of odd to have an example of this twenty years before Star Trek: The Next Generation began, but that's what it is: Yarnek complains that he doesn't see the difference between 'good' and 'evil'; Kirk points out that he and Spock fought to defend life, while the evil side fought to gain power.
• Rock Monster : The aliens who set up the morality play are made of carbon-based stones.
• The Silent Bob : Neither Genghis Khan nor Zora have any dialogue between them, with Colonel Green and Kahless being the only members of the Rogues Gallery who actually speak.
• Truce Trickery : Kirk points out to Colonel Green that he was notorious for striking his enemies while in the midst of negotiating with them.
• Two of Your Earth Minutes : The Excalbian recreation of Abraham Lincoln asks if they still measure time in minutes, to which Kirk responds that they "can convert to it". (Lincoln consults a pocket watch as he says this.)
• Voice Changeling : The fake Kahless is able to perfectly mimic the voices of both Surak and Lincoln. Possibly Justified in that all three are Excalbian impersonations and thus all their voices are "fake".
• What the Hell, Hero? : Relatively gently, but Bones and Scotty call out Kirk for being a fawning fanboy over Lincoln and not using common sense.
• We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill : Green pulls this and assumes Surak is doing the same.
• White Male Lead : Col. Green instantly takes command of the villain team, with no less than Genghis Khan obeying his orders. There seems to be no reason for this except that he's the one white dude. The real Genghis Khan and Kahless (a member of a race that considers humans inferior) would not approve. Of course, their uncharacteristic behavior is slightly justified because they're not the real Genghis or Kahless.
• Would Hit a Girl : Spock has no problem laying his fists on Zora. Wouldn't you slug Ilsa Koch if you got the chance?
• Star Trek S3 E21 "The Cloud Minders"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S3 E23 "All Our Yesterdays"

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Abraham Lincoln

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Lincoln in space

A simulacrum of Abraham Lincoln was created by the Excalbians in the 23rd century out of the mind of James T. Kirk . He was constructed as part of the first trial of good vs evil, alongside a simulacrum of Surak , to assist Kirk and Spock against the simulacrums of Kahless , Colonel Phillip Green , Zora and Genghis Khan .

Lincoln was killed during the trial, but his simulacrum was recreated as the Excalbians continued to debate good vs evil. During the second trial, in 2411 , he assists the player in navigating the trials and dealing with Yarnek . He is shown as a moderating influence on the Excalbians, defending the player when their choices are criticized.

• 2 Missions involved
• 3 References
• 4 External links

Notes [ | ]

• Despite being a simulacrum, Abraham Lincoln is the first real-life person to appear in Star Trek Online , as he is based on the 16th President of the United States .

Missions involved [ | ]

• “The Measure of Morality (Part 1)”
• “The Measure of Morality (Part 2)”

References [ | ]

• ↑ For those of you who asked on the stream, the voice of Lincoln is Mark Dodson. Who, according to IMDB, is also the voice of Salacious Crumb.

External links [ | ]

• Abraham Lincoln (Excalbian) at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Abraham Lincoln at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• 1 Playable starship
• 3 Merian Command Science Dreadnought

Abraham Lincoln (Excalbian)

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Abraham Lincoln ' s lookalike was created by the Excalbians in a 2269 plot devised to better understand the concepts of good and evil , with Lincoln, Surak , James T. Kirk , and Spock representing "good". It was Spock, who later observed that the Excalbian created Lincoln was created, and registered as humanoid , despite being a product of matter-energy conversion , whereby other Excalbians themselves were used as the source matter .

Lincoln was a personal hero of Kirk, and this fact was the reason why the Excalbians created this image. The image of Lincoln first appeared sitting in a chair, floating in space above Excalbia . ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")

Abraham Lincoln from "The Tardigrade in Space"

In The Tardigrade in Space , the image of Lincoln sitting in his chair in front of the Enterprise was seen by the tardigrade " Ephraim " as she pursued the Enterprise , on which she had laid her eggs . ( ST : " Ephraim and Dot ")

Though "Lincoln" was obviously an illusion created from Kirk's mind and the Enterprise memory banks , Kirk insisted on greeting Lincoln with full Presidential honors upon his boarding the Enterprise .

In the initial conflict forced by the Excalbians, the middle-aged simulacrum of Lincoln was able to hold his own against the forces of "evil", forcing Kahless the Unforgettable and Genghis Khan into retreat. The simulated Lincoln recognized a kindred spirit in the re-created image of the Vulcan patriarch, Surak , and sacrificed his "life" in an effort to save his counterpart when he was killed by a spear .

After witnessing Lincoln's "second" death, Kirk felt he understood something of what Earth had to endure before achieving "final peace". ( TOS : " The Savage Curtain ")

This "Lincoln's" death in the plot was evidently a permanent ending for the Excalbian, and the skeletal remains , complete with spear and stovepipe hat , were later acquired and placed in a diorama, alongside the bones of an Excalbian in its natural form, where they were displayed in the ossuary room of noted collector Kerner Hauze .

During the USS Cerritos ' mission to catalog Hauze's ship , the away team came under attack by hovering vacuum cleaners , one of Hauze's automated defenses , the away team build a wall of bones . After a few of the vacuums broke through the barrier, Beckett Mariner shoved Lincoln's skull into the pile to fill the entry hole. ( LD : " Kayshon, His Eyes Open ")

• 1.1 Appearances
• 1.2 Background information
• 1.3 Apocrypha
• 1.4 External links

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS : " The Savage Curtain " (first appearance)
• ST : " Ephraim and Dot "
• LD : " Kayshon, His Eyes Open " (skeleton only)

Background information [ ]

In "The Savage Curtain", Lincoln was portrayed by actor Lee Bergere .

Early planning had Mark Lenard in the role. He was eager to take the part, inspired by having played two well-received roles on Star Trek , but he ultimately couldn't accept it due to prior commitments to another TV series. " The Lincoln segment came up about Christmas time when we had a slight hiatus, and I thought I could work it in, " he recalled, " But it turned out we just couldn't work it in. I think we went back to work on the other series too soon, and instead of having the six or seven days I would have needed to do the role, I only had three or four days. " ( Starlog #42, January 1981 , p. 24)

Apocrypha [ ]

The Excalbian Lincoln returns as part of the tenth anniversary of Star Trek Online . In the two-part mission "The Measure of Morality", the player character is brought to Excalbia, and Lincoln helps Yarnek oversee new "trials" to determine good and evil. When the trials go awry, Lincoln joins the player and Seven of Nine in protecting Yarnek from attackers. Following the conclusion of the trials, Lincoln volunteers to act as an Excalbian ambassador to the Alliance.

External links [ ]

• Abraham Lincoln (Excalbian) at StarTrek.com
• Abraham Lincoln at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek 4 Gets Back on Course With New Screenwriter Revealed

The long-gestating Star Trek 4 is looking to get back on course with an Emmy-nominated writer penning the script.

Star Trek 4 might be finally getting out of development hell with a new writer attached to the project.

A planned fourth movie set in Star Trek 's Kelvin Timeline has been planned for several years, but multiple false starts have had fans doubting that the movie might ever get made. However, Paramount hasn't pulled the plug on the project, as it's getting back onto the rails with a new screenwriter on board. Per Variety , It's been revealed that Steve Yockey has signed on as the new screenwriter for Star Trek 4 .

A Complete History of the Pre-Federation Vulcans in Star Trek

Steve Yockey is the co-creator and developer of the acclaimed Max series The Flight Attendant . His work on the show earned him multiple nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards. He is also a co-showrunner and writer of the upcoming Netflix series Dead Boy Detectives , a spinoff of The Sandman . He also worked on Doom Patrol , Supernatural , and the Scream television series.

The Kelvin Timeline was launched with the Star Trek reboot film released in 2009. It introduced a new cast taking on familiar characters from Star Trek: The Original Series , including Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldaña as Nyota Uhura, Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard McCoy, John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott, and the late Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov.

William Shatner Joins Leonard Nimoy's Family in Remembering the Star Trek Legend

Star Trek was given two sequels. The first, Star Trek Into Darkness , was released in 2013, later followed by Star Trek Beyond in 2016. Plans to make a sequel have been around since that film's release, as Paramount first announced Star Trek 4 would happen in 2016, originally with J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay writing the script. Different potential writers and directors have since revolved through the project as the years progressed, with The Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman on board at one point.

Other Star Trek Movies Are Planned

There are big plans at Paramount to expand the world of Star Trek , and that includes developing another feature film separate from Star Trek 4 . Another planned project is currently in the works with writer Seth Grahame-Smith ( Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ) and director Toby Haynes ( Black Mirror 's "USS Callister"). This will introduce a new cast that's described as more of an origin story for the franchise. Meanwhile, another Star Trek film with Kalinda Vazquez ( Fear the Walking Dead ) attached to write is also in development.

Star Trek 4 does not have a release date at this time.

Source: Variety

Star Trek 4

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

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The Savage Curtain

• Kirk, Spock, Abraham Lincoln and Vulcan legend Surak are pitted in battle against notorious villains from history for the purpose of helping a conscious rock creature's understanding of a concept he does not understand, "good vs. evil".
• The Enterprise's sensor readings indicate a planet unsuitable for any carbon-based life at the level of a developed civilization. Suddenly they get an apparition in space from someone who looks like and claims to be Abraham Lincoln. He insists on them checking him out and coming over to a small part on the planet surface (which has suddenly developed a perfect atmosphere for humans). He is received with full presidential honors and Kirk and Spock agree to beam down with him, but as they do, phasers and tricorders fail to dematerialize with them, and communicators won't work. There they meet Surak, the greatest Vulcan of all time, equally convincing. The quartet is greeted by a creature consisting of molten rock who presents them to notorious historical villains Ghengis Khan, Colonel Green, Zora and the Klingon Kahless the Unforgettable. They're told the teams represent good versus evil and must battle to the death against each other to teach the creature their concept. When Kirk refuses to continue after beating off a first traitorous attack, the creature ups the stake by causing a power disaster which will blow up the Enterprise in four hours unless they win. — KGF Vissers
• Tracking down space legends of intelligent life leads the Enterprise to encircle a planet with a poisonous atmosphere and a molten rock surface (later known to them as Excalbia). As they're about to leave, they're probed and promptly greeted by former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln. Over Scott and McCoy's objections, this impossible personage is beamed aboard under military honors, after which Kirk and Spock agree to return to the planet with him. Excalbia, by this time, has transformed a section of itself into a habitable state, and it is there they meet up with Surak, the greatest Vulcan who ever lived. Now a true inhabitant of the planet appears, having set up a life and death "drama" to test out a concept alien to his people - good versus evil - pitting Kirk's group of four against another group of four composed of historical figures known for their notorious evil: genocidal war leader Col. Green, Kahless the Unforgettable of Klingon, conqueror Genghis Khan, and Zora of Tiburon who ran body chemistry experiments on tribespeople. Surmising that Kirk won't participant without proper incentive, the Enterprise is set to explode if his good group doesn't defeat the evil group in under four hours. — statmanjeff
• When someone purporting to be Abraham Lincoln asks them to beam down to the planet below, Kirk and Spock agree to join him. Soon Surak, the greatest Vulcan of all time, is with them. They are told by a rock-like creature that they are there to do battle against four of history's most evil characters. The rock creature's society does not understand the concepts of good and evil and the battle between the two groups will determine which has the greatest merit. They are free to use any materials available to them on the planet and Kirk soon realizes that there are weapons to be made. — garykmcd
• Tracking down space legends of intelligent life leads the Enterprise to encircle a planet with a poisonous atmosphere and a molten rock surface (later known to them as Excalbia). Spock finds evidence of a carbon based life-form on the planet surface, which is impossible given the circumstances of the planet's surface. All attempts to establish communications are met with no response. As they're about to leave, they're probed and promptly greeted by former U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (Lee Bergere). Lincoln wishes to be beamed aboard and tells Kirk that his ship would be directly overhead his position in 12.5 minutes. All of a sudden, an area of 1000 sq kms clears up the surface, with an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. Over Scott and McCoy's objections, this impossible personage (Just before beaming Spock thinks he has locked onto a mass of living rock, with claws, which formed into a human form) is beamed aboard under military honors (full dress uniforms), after which Kirk and Spock agree to return to the planet with him. McCOy again protests as he thinks Kirk is being misguided by the form of Lincoln, who was Kirk's greatest personal hero of all times. Kirk is treating "this form" as the real thing when they all know that the real Lincoln died 300 yrs ago on Earth. Kirk agrees, but argues that the Enterprise exists to make contact with other life-forms. He decides to beam down with Spock. Excalbia, by this time, has transformed a section of itself into a habitable state, and it is there they meet up with Surak (Barry Atwater), the greatest Vulcan who ever lived. But McCoy and Scott notice that when Kirk and Spock beam down, their phasers don't beam down with them. They have their communicators, but they are being jammed. Meanwhile the Enterprise loses all power, but no systems on-board the ship are damaged.. Now a true inhabitant of the planet appears (it is a lava based life form with claws), having set up a life and death "drama" to test out a concept alien to his people - good versus evil - pitting Kirk's group of four against another group of four composed of historical figures known for their notorious evil: genocidal war leader Col. Green (Phillip Pine), Kahless (Bob Herron) the Unforgettable of Klingon, conqueror Genghis Khan (Nathan Jung), and Zora (Carol Daniels) of Tiburon who ran body chemistry experiments on tribes-people. Surmising that Kirk won't participant without proper incentive, the Enterprise is set to explode if his good group doesn't defeat the evil group in under four hours. Surak is against fighting, but Kirk insists that the Enterprise is at stake. Surak says perhaps it is their belief in peace that is being tested. Surak goes to Col Green to negotiate peace, but he is killed instead. Kahless imitates the voice of Surak to call out to Spock for help. Lincoln convinces Spock and Kirk to mount a frontal attack on Col Green, so he can go from the back to rescue Surak. But as this executes, Lincoln finds that Surak is dead and Green and Kahless capture him. A hand to hand battle ensues and Kirk and Spock emerge victorious. Kirk argues with the creature, about what gives him the right to hand out life and death. He says its his right to learn new things. Kirk and Spock are allowed to leave in peace. The ship is functioning normally again and the duo are beamed back aboard. The planet reverts to its normal appearance. Spock speculates that the beings on the planet have the power to arrange molecules in whichever way they see fit. They also scanned the human minds to pick the concept of good and evil and materialized them in the form of historical characters, which were based on the memories and thoughts of the people they scanned.

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Star Trek Origin Story Movie In The Works

Posted: March 27, 2024 | Last updated: March 27, 2024

Variety released a massive feature about the future of the Star Trek franchise, and there is plenty in there for fans to get excited about. Not the least of which is a possible “origin story” film that would show the beginnings of the main timeline of the entire franchise. That is a pretty general description, but it would definitely be a very unique addition to the upcoming Trek projects.

Before Enterprise

The supposed Star Trek origin story film would be written by Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) and to be directed by Toby Haynes (Andor, Black Mirror: USS Callister), but details are very scant other than that. Based on the brief description alone, this series would take place before The Original Series and maybe even before Star Trek: Enterprise, which is the earliest era of Trek we’ve seen so far. Perhaps this movie would be showing us how Starfleet and the Federation were formed, but we’ll likely have to just sit tight until Paramount Pictures decides to release more details about the project.

Star Trek 4 Is Happening

In any case, Paramount Pictures seems to be increasing its efforts to bring Star Trek back to the big screen. Along with the Star Trek origin story movie, the studio is reportedly still planning on making the “final chapter” of the JJ Abrams Kelvin Timeline films. The most recent news is that Steve Yockey is writing a new script for the film, so this seemingly confirms that stars like Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, and Zachary Quinto will return to reprise their roles once again

Paramount Pictures is also focused on bringing Star Trek films to the small screen alongside big-screen efforts like the origin film and Star Trek 4. Filming was recently completed for Michelle Yeoh’s TV movie Section 31, which is a spy thriller that Yeoh described as “Mission: Impossible in space.” Yeoh has also said she would be willing to return for a sequel if Section 31 ends up being a success.

The Picard Follow-Up

Alex Kurtzmann, who is in charge of Star Trek’s growing TV universe, is reportedly also looking to make additional TV movies, like a potential Picard follow-up. The final season of Picard was one of the most well-received Star Trek TV projects in recent memory, so fans would undoubtedly be glad to see this come to fruition. Still, it would be nice to hear more solid news about Star Trek 4 and the origin story films, so we had some idea as to when those would come out.

More Spin-Offs On The Way

While the Star Trek origin story film and Star Trek 4 slowly move forward behind the scenes, the Trek TV universe is alive and well. Along with the Michelle Yeoh TV movie, the first young adult Trek series, Starfleet Academy, is in the works. Fans can also look forward to the fifth season of Discovery premiering in April, along with future seasons of Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will premiere on April 4. Other release dates are yet to be announced. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep you updated on these release dates along with any updates about the origin story film.

Source: Variety

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After Rumored Setbacks, Star Trek 4 Has Taken A Huge Step Forward

Hopefully this time the project will live long and prosper!

It’s been too long since Star Trek graced the big screen. The last time Trekkies watched the USS Enterprise go into warp speed in theaters was back in 2016 with Star Trek Beyond . Since then, Paramount has been trying to bring back Chris Pine ’s Captain Kirk and his crew for one last hurrah, but setback after setback has been rumored to bring down the project. However, the latest news about Star Trek 4 brings some revived hope for another galactic adventure.

Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot Productions have reportedly found a new screenwriter for Star Trek 4 in The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey. Per the news that comes from Variety , Yockey will pen the script for what’s expected to be the final installment of the saga starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldaña, Karl Urban , John Cho and Simon Pegg . It’s a huge step forward for the long-gestating project, but it should be noted that this report signals Star Trek 4 is still in early development over at Paramount.

Steve Yockey started his career in Hollywood as a writer for television shows like Awkward , Scream and Supernatural before developing HBO’s The Flight Attendant from the novel of the same name. The series starring Kaley Cuoco was cancelled after two seasons, but was critically-acclaimed throughout its run and earned Cuoco numerous accolades, alongside other aspects of the production.

Upcoming Star Trek TV Shows: What's Ahead For The Sci-Fi Franchise

Yockey has another series coming soon to the 2024 TV schedule with Netflix’s Dead Boy Detectives . The supernatural detective comedy is based on the DC Comics property by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, and is set to premiere for those with a Netflix subscription on April 25.

Over the years, there’s been numerous writers and directors attached to the next Star Trek movie, from Madame Web ’s S.J. Clarkson previously in talks to direct back in 2018, to Fargo ’s Noah Hawley being attached to write and direct back in 2019. WandaVision ’s Matt Shakman was last involved for a year before he decided to leave the project to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four movie . According to Shakman, while he very much enjoyed his time working on Star Trek 4 alongside J.J. Abrams, returning to Marvel Studios to revive the comic book crew, was “too hard to pass up.”

This step forward for Star Trek 4 comes just a few months after rumors came out that Paramount was thinking of rebooting the franchise again . A couple of months ago, it was also reported that Andor ’s Toby Haynes will direct another Star Trek movie based on a script by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ’s Seth Grahame-Smith .

While we know very little about the direction of Star Trek 4 , here’s hoping the main cast led by Chris Pine will in fact come back once more! Check out our ranking of all the Star Trek movies as we imagine what could be in store for the iconic Starfleet crew!

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The Future of ‘Star Trek’: From ‘Starfleet Academy’ to New Movies and Michelle Yeoh, How the 58-Year-Old Franchise Is Planning for the Next Generation of Fans

Anson Mount is sitting across from me on one of the Toronto soundstages for the Paramount+ series “ Star Trek : Strange New Worlds,” which is set in the years when his character, Capt. Christopher Pike, led the legendary Federation starship with a young Spock and Uhura. We’re speaking on the sleek Enterprise bridge, and Mount is recounting the out-of-body experience he had the first time he sat in the iconic captain’s chair. “I had this immediate flashback to playing ‘Star Trek’ as a kid,” he says. “I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t at some point stop and think to myself, ‘I’m on fucking “Star Trek.”’”

Neil Jamieson for Variety

“Strange New Worlds” is the 12th “Star Trek” TV show since the original series debuted on NBC in 1966, introducing Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a hopeful future for humanity. In the 58 years since, the “Star Trek” galaxy has logged 900 television episodes and 13 feature films, amounting to 668 hours — nearly 28 days — of content to date. Even compared with “Star Wars” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Star Trek” stands as the only storytelling venture to deliver a single narrative experience for this long across TV and film.

In other words, “Star Trek” is not just a franchise. As Alex Kurtzman , who oversees all “Star Trek” TV production, puts it, “‘Star Trek’ is an institution.”

Without a steady infusion of new blood, though, institutions have a way of fading into oblivion (see soap operas, MySpace, Blockbuster Video). To keep “Star Trek” thriving has meant charting a precarious course to satisfy the fans who have fueled it for decades while also discovering innovative ways to get new audiences on board.

“Doing ‘Star Trek’ means that you have to deliver something that’s entirely familiar and entirely fresh at the same time,” Kurtzman says.

Fulfilling that mandate has never been more vital to Paramount Global, which needs the franchise to flourish while the company competes in a troubled streaming economy and burnishes its value for potential buyers. “We take it very seriously,” says David Stapf, president of CBS Studios. “‘Star Trek’ is one of the most valued, treasured and to-be-nurtured franchises in all of media.”

The franchise has certainly weathered its share of fallow periods, most recently after “Nemesis” bombed in theaters in 2002 and UPN canceled “Enterprise” in 2005. It took 12 years for “Star Trek” to return to television with the premiere of “Discovery” in 2017; since then, however, there has been more “Star Trek” on TV than ever: The adventure series “Strange New Worlds,” the animated comedy “Lower Decks” and the kids series “Prodigy” are all in various stages of production, and the serialized thriller “Picard” concluded last year, when it ranked, along with “Strange New Worlds,” among Nielsen’s 10 most-watched streaming original series for multiple weeks. Nearly one in five Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. is watching at least one “Star Trek” series, according to the company, and more than 50% of fans watching one of the new “Trek” shows also watch at least two others. The new shows air in 200 international markets and are dubbed into 35 languages. As “Discovery” launches its fifth and final season in April, “Star Trek” is in many ways stronger than it’s ever been.

“’Star Trek’s fans have kept it alive more times than seems possible,” says Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., who executive produces the TV series through Roddenberry Entertainment. “While many shows rightfully thank their fans for supporting them, we literally wouldn’t be here without them.”

But the depth of fan devotion to “Star Trek” also belies a curious paradox about its enduring success: “It’s not the largest fan base,” says Akiva Goldsman, “Strange New Worlds” executive producer and co-showrunner. “It’s not ‘Star Wars.’ It’s certainly not Marvel.”

When J.J. Abrams rebooted “Star Trek” in 2009 — with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña playing Kirk, Spock and Uhura — the movie grossed more than any previous “Star Trek” film by a comfortable margin. But neither that film nor its two sequels broke $500 million in global grosses, a hurdle every other top-tier franchise can clear without breaking a sweat.

There’s also the fact that “Star Trek” fans are aging. I ask “The Next Generation” star Jonathan Frakes, who’s acted in or directed more versions of “Star Trek” than any other person alive, how often he meets fans for whom the new “Star Trek” shows are their first. “Of the fans who come to talk to me, I would say very, very few,” he says. “‘Star Trek’ fans, as we know, are very, very, very loyal — and not very young.”

As Stapf puts it: “There’s a tried and true ‘Trek’ fan that is probably going to come to every ‘Star Trek,’ no matter what it is — and we want to expand the universe.”

While Paramount Pictures redoubles its efforts to get a “Star Trek” feature into theaters, Kurtzman and his production company Secret Hideout are pushing the boundaries of what “Star Trek” can look like on the small screen. Michelle Yeoh just wrapped filming the first “Star Trek” TV movie, “Section 31,” a spy thriller that the Oscar winner characterizes as “‘Mission: Impossible’ in space.” And this summer, the first “Star Trek” YA series, “Starfleet Academy,” will start production on the largest single set ever created for “Star Trek” on TV.

Every single person I spoke to for this story talked about “Star Trek” with a joyful earnestness as rare in the industry as (nerd alert) a Klingon pacifist.

“When I’m meeting fans, sometimes they’re coming to be confirmed, like I’m kind of a priest,” Ethan Peck says during a break in filming on the “Strange New Worlds” set. He’s in full Spock regalia — pointy ears, severe eyebrows, bowl haircut — and when asked about his earliest memories of “Star Trek,” he stares off into space in what looks like Vulcan contemplation. “I remember being on the playground in second or third grade and doing the Vulcan salute, not really knowing where it came from,” he says. “When I thought of ‘Star Trek,’ I thought of Spock. And now I’m him. It’s crazy.”

To love “Star Trek” is to love abstruse science and cowboy diplomacy, complex moral dilemmas and questions about the meaning of existence. “It’s ultimately a show with the most amazing vision of optimism, I think, ever put on-screen in science fiction,” says Kurtzman, who is 50. “All you need is two minutes on the news to feel hopeless now. ‘Star Trek’ is honestly the best balm you could ever hope for.”

I’m getting a tour of the USS Enterprise from Scotty — or, rather, “Strange New World” production designer Jonathan Lee, who is gushing in his native Scottish burr as we step into the starship’s transporter room. “I got such a buzzer from doing this, I can’t tell you,” he says. “I actually designed four versions of it.”

Lee is especially proud of the walkway he created to run behind the transporter pads — an innovation that allows the production to shoot the characters from a brand-new set of angles as they beam up from a far-flung planet. It’s one of the countless ways that this show has been engineered to be as cinematic as possible, part of Kurtzman’s overall vision to make “Star Trek” on TV feel like “a movie every week.”

Kurtzman’s tenure with “Star Trek” began with co-writing the screenplay for Abrams’ 2009 movie, which was suffused with a fast-paced visual style that was new to the franchise. When CBS Studios approached Kurtzman in the mid-2010s about bringing “Star Trek” back to TV, he knew instinctively that it needed to be just as exciting as that film.

“The scope was so much different than anything we had ever done on ‘Next Gen,’” says Frakes, who’s helmed two feature films with the “Next Generation” cast and directed episodes of almost every live-action “Trek” TV series, including “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds.” “Every department has the resources to create.”

A new science lab set for Season 3, for example, boasts a transparent floor atop a four-foot pool of water that swirls underneath the central workbench, and the surrounding walls sport a half dozen viewscreens with live schematics custom designed by a six-person team. “I like being able to paint on a really big canvas,” Kurtzman says. “The biggest challenge is always making sure that no matter how big something gets, you’re never losing focus on that tiny little emotional story.”

Marni Grossman

To strike that balance, “Strange New Worlds” showrunners Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have rooted the series in a classic episodic structure while constantly experimenting with the fluidity of what “Star Trek” can be. In its first two seasons, “Strange New Worlds” hopped from monster horror to body-swap comedy to costume fantasy to courtroom drama to a full-blown musical featuring a Klingon boy band. For Season 3, debuting in 2025, Frakes directed an episode framed as a Hollywood murder mystery that he calls “the best episode of television I’ve ever done.”

At this point, is there a genre that “Strange New Worlds” can’t do? “As long as we’re in storytelling that is cogent and sure handed, I’m not sure there is,” Goldsman says with an impish smile. “Could it do Muppets? Sure. Could it do black and white, silent, slapstick? Maybe!”

This approach is also meant to appeal to people who might want to watch “Star Trek” but regard those 668 hours of backstory as an insurmountable burden. “You shouldn’t have to watch a ‘previously on’ to follow our show,” Myers says.

To achieve so many hairpin shifts in tone and setting while maintaining Kurtzman’s cinematic mandate, “Strange New Worlds” has embraced one of the newest innovations in visual effects: virtual production. First popularized on the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian,” the technology — called the AR wall — involves a towering circular partition of LED screens projecting a highly detailed, computer-generated backdrop. Rather than act against a greenscreen, the actors can see whatever fantastical surroundings their characters are inhabiting, lending a richer level of verisimilitude to the show.

But there is a catch. While the technology is calibrated to maintain a proper sense of three-dimensional perspective through the camera lens, it can be a bit dizzying for anyone standing on the set. “The images on the walls start to move in a way that makes no sense,” says Mount. “You end up having to focus on something that’s right in front of you so you don’t fall down.”

And yet, even as he’s talking about it, Mount can’t help but break into a boyish grin. “Sometimes we call it the holodeck,” he says. In fact, the pathway to the AR wall on the set is dotted with posters of the virtual reality room from “The Next Generation” and the words “Enter Holodeck” in a classic “Trek” font.

“I want to take one of those home with me,” Peck says. Does the AR wall also affect him? “I don’t really get disoriented by it. Spock would not get ill, so I’m Method acting.”

I’m on the set of the “Star Trek” TV movie “Section 31,” seated in an opulent nightclub with a view of a brilliant, swirling nebula, watching Yeoh rehearse with director Olatunde Osunsanmi and her castmates. Originally, the project was announced as a TV series centered on Philippa Georgiou, the semi-reformed tyrant Yeoh originated on “Discovery.” But between COVID delays and the phenomenon of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” there wasn’t room in the veteran actress’s schedule to fit a season of television. Yeoh was undaunted.

“We’d never let go of her,” she says of her character. “I was just blown away by all the different things I could do with her. Honestly, it was like, ‘Let’s just get it done, because I believe in this.’”

A few minutes later, dozens of extras in all manner of outlandish eveningwear file into the club, several of them made up as classic “Star Trek” aliens that fans might be surprised to see in this kind of swanky establishment. But I’m far more distracted by a different discovery: Georgiou is standing with a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), a character first introduced on “Next Generation” as the older fearless captain of the USS Enterprise-C.

If that means nothing to you, don’t worry: The enormity of the revelation that Garrett is being brought back is meant only for fans. If you don’t know who the character is, you’re not missing anything.

“It was always my goal to deliver an entertaining experience that is true to the universe but appeals to newcomers,” says screenwriter Craig Sweeny. “I wanted a low barrier of entry so that anybody could enjoy it.”

Nevertheless, including Garrett on the show is exactly the kind of gasp-worthy detail meant to flood “Star Trek” fans with geeky good feeling.

“You cannot create new fans to the exclusion of old fans,” Kurtzman says. “You must serve your primary fan base first and you must keep them happy. That is one of the most important steps to building new fans.”

Michelle Yeoh stars in “Section 31.” Jan Thijs/Paramount+

On its face, that maxim would make “Section 31” a genuine risk. The titular black-ops organization has been controversial with “Star Trek” fans since it was introduced in the 1990s. “The concept is almost antagonistic to some of the values of ‘Star Trek,’” Sweeny says. But he still saw “Section 31” as an opportunity to broaden what a “Star Trek” project could be while embracing the radical inclusivity at the heart of the franchise’s appeal.

“Famously, there’s a spot for everybody in Roddenberry’s utopia, so I was like, ‘Well, who would be the people who don’t quite fit in?’” he says. “I didn’t want to make the John le Carré version, where you’re in the headquarters and it’s backbiting and shades of gray. I wanted to do the people who were at the edges, out in the field. These are not people who necessarily work together the way you would see on a ‘Star Trek’ bridge.”

For Osunsanmi, who grew up watching “The Next Generation” with his father, it boils down to a simple question: “Is it putting good into the world?” he asks. “Are these characters ultimately putting good into the world? And, taking a step back, are we putting good into the world? Are we inspiring humans watching this to be good? That’s for me what I’ve always admired about ‘Star Trek.’”

Should “Section 31” prove successful, Yeoh says she’s game for a sequel. And Kurtzman is already eyeing more opportunities for TV movies, including a possible follow-up to “Picard.” The franchise’s gung-ho sojourn into streaming movies, however, stands in awkward contrast to the persistent difficulty Paramount Pictures and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot have had making a feature film following 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond” — the longest theaters have gone without a “Star Trek” movie since Paramount started making them.

First, a movie reuniting Pine’s Capt. Kirk with his late father — played in the 2009 “Star Trek” by Chris Hemsworth — fell apart in 2018. Around the same time, Quentin Tarantino publicly flirted with, then walked away from, directing a “Star Trek” movie with a 1930s gangster backdrop. Noah Hawley was well into preproduction on a “Star Trek” movie with a brand-new cast, until then-studio chief Emma Watts abruptly shelved it in 2020. And four months after Abrams announced at Paramount’s 2022 shareholders meeting that his 2009 cast would return for a movie directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”), Shakman left the project to make “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel. (It probably didn’t help that none of the cast had been approached before Abrams made his announcement.)

The studio still intends to make what it’s dubbed the “final chapter” for the Pine-Quinto-Saldaña cast, and Steve Yockey (“The Flight Attendant”) is writing a new draft of the script. Even further along is another prospective “Star Trek” film written by Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and to be directed by Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) that studio insiders say is on track to start preproduction by the end of the year. That project will serve as an origin story of sorts for the main timeline of the entire franchise. In both cases, the studio is said to be focused on rightsizing the budgets to fit within the clear box office ceiling for “Star Trek” feature films.

Dan Doperalski for Variety

That tension isn’t exclusive to the film studio. I lost count of the number of times someone made a point to note, with real pride, how one or the other of the “Star Trek” TV productions is saving money, whether it be “Section 31” repurposing sets from “Discovery” or “Strange New Worlds” redressing the same set to be everything from crew quarters to a sparring gym. No one will get specific about budgets, but Kurtzman says that “Section 31” costs “so much less than you’d ever make a ‘Star Trek’ movie for.”

Far from complaining, everyone seems to relish the challenge. Visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman says that “working with Alex, the references are always at least $100 million movies, if not more, so we just kind of reverse engineer how do we do that without having to spend the same amount of money and time.”

The workload doesn’t seem to faze him either. “Visual effects people are a big, big ‘Star Trek’ fandom,” he says. “You naturally just get all these people who go a little bit above and beyond, and you can’t trade that for anything.”

In one of Kurtzman’s several production offices in Toronto, he and production designer Matthew Davies are scrutinizing a series of concept drawings for the newest “Star Trek” show, “Starfleet Academy.” A bit earlier, they showed me their plans for the series’ central academic atrium, a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space. To fit it all, they plan to use every inch of Pinewood Toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage, the largest in Canada.

But this is a “Star Trek” show, so there do need to be starships, and Kurtzman is discussing with Davies about how one of them should look. The issue is that “Starfleet Academy” is set in the 32nd century, an era so far into the future Kurtzman and his team need to invent much of its design language.

“For me, this design is almost too Klingon,” Kurtzman says. “I want to see the outline and instinctively, on a blink, recognize it as a Federation ship.”

The time period was first introduced on Season 3 of “Discovery,” when the lead character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), transported the namesake starship and its crew there from the 23rd century. “It was exciting, because every time we would make a decision, we would say, ‘And now that’s canon,’” says Martin-Green.

If Roddenberry’s conception of an egalitarian future is the foundation for “Star Trek,” then canon is its lumber, creating its expansive and elaborate narrative framework of alien species, theoretical technology and para-historical incident. As the word implies, for some fans, canon is no less than holy writ. Any perceived deviation or disruption — like deciding Burnham is Spock’s heretofore unmentioned adopted sister — is akin to blasphemy, and “Trek” fans have never been shy about expressing their displeasure.

“We listened to a lot of it,” Kurtzman says. “I think I’ve been able to separate the toxic fandom from really true fans who love ‘Star Trek’ and want you to hear what they have to say about what they would like to see.”

By Season 2, the “Discovery” writers pivoted from its dour, war-torn first season and sent the show on its trajectory 900-plus years into the future. “We had to be very aware of making sure that Spock was in the right place and that Burnham’s existence was explained properly, because she was never mentioned in the original series,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise. “What was fun about jumping into the future is that it was very much fresh snow.”

That freedom affords “Starfleet Academy” far more creative latitude while also dramatically reducing how much the show’s target audience of tweens and teens needs to know about “Star Trek” before watching — which puts them on the same footing as the students depicted in the show. “These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before,” Noga Landau, executive producer and co-showrunner, says. “They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”

In the “Starfleet Academy” writers’ room in Secret Hideout’s Santa Monica offices, Kurtzman tells the staff — a mix of “Star Trek” die-hards, part-time fans and total newbies — that he wants to take a 30,000-foot view for a moment. “I think we need to ground in science more throughout the show,” he says, a giant framed photograph of Spock ears just over his shoulder. “The kids need to use science more to solve problems.”

Immediately, one of the writers brightens. “Are you saying we can amp up the techno-babble?” she says. “I’m just excited I get to use my computer science degree.”

After they break for lunch, Kurtzman is asked how much longer he plans to keep making “Star Trek.”

“The minute I fall out of love with it is the minute that it’s not for me anymore. I’m not there yet,” he says. “To be able to build in this universe to tell stories that are fundamentally about optimism and a better future at a time when the world seems to be falling apart — it’s a really powerful place to live every day.”

From Variety US

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Screen Rant

Abraham lincoln's relationship with frederick douglass was way more complicated than manhunt implies.

Manhunt portrays calm meetings between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, but these conversations may have been more difficult than depicted.

This article contains spoilers for Manhunt.

• Manhunt's portrayal of Lincoln, Stanton, and Douglass meetings is intense, but likely not more so than in real life.
• Frederick Douglass played a significant role in fighting for African American rights during and after the Civil War.
• Despite disagreements, Douglass respected Lincoln and became a key advisor, influencing important decisions.

In the third episode of Manhunt , there are two flashback scenes involving meetings between Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass, and though those meetings likely did occur, there is a good chance that they were much more intense than what is depicted on-screen. Manhunt is a brand-new historical drama series from Apple TV+. It follows Secretary of War Edwin Stanton as he embarks on an intense search to find President Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth in April 1865. The series stars Tobias Menzies, Anthony Boyle, Hamish Linklater, and Lovie Simone.

While Abraham Lincoln is undoubtedly the most recognizable face among Manhunt's cast of characters , there are other key historical figures present in the series, including Frederick Douglass. Douglass was a notable abolitionist, orator, and leader for African American civil rights throughout the 19th century. After escaping slavery in Maryland, Douglass earned attention for his oratory skills, fighting the racist argument that slaves were not smart enough to function as independent citizens. Later, Douglass held several public offices and wrote autobiographies about his experiences. Overall, Douglass was a vital voice for the African American cause during and after the Civil War.

Manhunt Episode 3 Ending Explained: Why John Wilkes Booth Wants To Get To Richmond

Frederick douglass' role in manhunt explained.

In Manhunt episode 3 , Frederick Douglass plays a small but significant role. For the most part, his presence in the show thus far helps provide context to the historical era, the Civil War, and to Abraham Lincoln's beliefs . In the first flashback scene, Edwin Stanton, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass are discussing whether to allow Black men to join the Union army. Lincoln is seemingly opposed, while Stanton and Douglass are totally on board. Douglass argues that his sons are eager to fight and die for the Union . Lincoln seeks a compromise, disliking the idea of non-citizens as true soldiers.

The first flashback takes place two and half years before April 1865, where the second flashback takes place six months before.

The second flashback of the third episode returns to Stanton, Lincoln, and Douglass, and not only has time passed, but Lincoln's opinions have significantly changed. He notes that if the Union does not win the war, and if he is not reelected, he wants Stanton and Douglass to work together to free as many slaves as possible . He reveals that abolishing slavery is his most important ideal. Both Stanton and Douglass are seemingly surprised by Lincoln's determination, but agree to his request that they collaborate with the Underground Railroad and bring as many escaped slaves to the North as possible.

How Frederick Douglass Pushed For Change During Lincoln's Presidency

Abraham Lincoln's presidency notably coincided with the Civil War, which emboldened Frederick Douglass to meet with the president and share his beliefs. At the time, Douglass was already incredibly well-known for his impassioned speeches , and though many Americans disliked him due to his skin color, others were convinced by him to join the abolitionist cause.

As Manhunt episode 3 portrayed, in 1863, Frederick Douglass met with Abraham Lincoln to discuss the role of Black men in the war. Douglass staunchly believed that if the war revolved around African American freedom, then they should be allowed to participate in that fight.

Once Lincoln allowed Black men to become soldiers in the Union army in 1863, Douglass went even further in his fight. Not only did his three sons, Charles, Lewis, and Frederick Jr., enlist in the army, but he continued spreading awareness on the topic through his writings. The most notable piece he wrote was a broadside called "Men of Color to Arms!," which inspired Black men to join the fight for their freedom. Ultimately, the controversy and struggle of Black men as Union soldiers is explored in Manhunt when a group of Black Union soldiers are harassed by white citizens.

Although Abraham Lincoln did follow some of Frederick Douglass' ideals, such as allowing Black men to join the army, they did not completely see eye-to-eye. Notably, during the Election of 1864, Douglass publicly endorsed John C. Frémont , who was the candidate for the Radical Democracy Party. Douglass did not endorse Lincoln because he disliked that Lincoln was not openly supportive of African American suffrage. In this way, Douglass and Lincoln were able to agree on many topics, but Lincoln's measured activism was not nearly enough for Douglass , who wanted big and immediate change for America and its African American population.

Douglass & Lincoln Respected Each Other Despite Criticisms

Although Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln did not agree on every topic during Lincoln's presidency, there was no animosity or hostility between the men . Though their meetings may have been more heated than what was depicted in Manhunt, Douglass still respected Lincoln's role as president, and Lincoln respected the work Douglass did for African Americans. This respect even translated after Abraham Lincoln's assassination in April 1865. In 1876, more than ten years after Lincoln's death, Douglass made the keynote speech at the unveiling of the Emancipation Memorial , which honored Lincoln and his fight against slavery.

Douglass' speech is a strong indicator of how the activist respected Lincoln, but wouldn't look past his flaws. During the unveiling, Douglass talked frankly about Lincoln's work as president, noting that it took Lincoln quite a time to join the abolitionist cause . Though he did not agree with expanding slavery, he did not oppose it either. Douglass criticized Lincoln's slowness, but also praised Lincoln for keeping his word and doing what no other president had done before. While Lincoln's personal relationship with African Americans may not have been strong, his dedication to passing laws was something that cannot be forgotten.

How Douglass Became A Key Advisor Prior To Lincoln's Death

Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln's working relationship ultimately came to be due to Douglass' unending passion towards the abolition movement . Their initial meeting in 1863 was called because Douglass wanted to confront Lincoln about Black soldiers in the Union Army. At that time, Douglass was still critical of Lincoln and the speed at which he was taking on abolition. As previously mentioned, Douglass even went so far as to endorse a different candidate for president in 1864. However, once Lincoln became a leading candidate, Douglass supported his campaign and became an advisor .

Ultimately, Frederick Douglass' presence around Abraham Lincoln may have been a saving grace during the second half of the Civil War. With Douglass' knowledge and opinions around, Lincoln was likely able to get a better grasp on the perspective of African Americans in the United States. As shown in Manhunt , Frederick Douglass was an important figure not only in the United States, but in the final years of Abraham Lincoln's life and presidency.

Manhunt (2024)

The Next Star Trek Movie Will Be An Origin Story For The Entire Franchise

When a franchise has lasted for upwards of half a century and is still going strong, the decision-makers in charge will inevitably run into one pressing question above all others: Where do we go next? "Star Trek" became a beloved institution among the nerdiest of fans for a pretty good reason, largely because of its wholesale commitment to treading new ground and envisioning a new future. But with the franchise firing on all cylinders these days (on television, at least) and no signs of slowing down anytime soon, writers have become increasingly hard-pressed to boldly go where no others have gone before ... literally speaking, that is, since recent "Star Trek" shows like "Strange New Worlds," "Lower Decks," "Discovery," "Picard," and more have filled in all sorts of gaps in the official canon.

It's no secret that Paramount is eager to get back in the big-screen business for "Trek," however, and one of the more intriguing productions currently in the works seems to have settled on its main focus. We previously knew that "Black Mirror" and "Andor" director Toby Haynes had been tapped to lead an untitled upcoming "Star Trek" movie – one that's not  meant as a continuation of the alternate-universe (aka Kelvin Timeline) movies starring Chris Pine and the rest of those films' cast. The studio is still playing its cards close to the chest on this, but a new report has shed a little more light on what we can expect from this mysterious motion picture.

The key phrase, apparently, is "origin story."

An origin story ... 'of sorts'

Variety has the scoop on the future of "Star Trek," unveiling a flashy new cover story covering practically every corner of the (fictional) universe. One tidbit buried among the rest, however, paints a rather interesting picture of what one of the movies in development could end up focusing on. With names like Toby Haynes and writer Seth Grahame-Smith ("The LEGO Batman Movie," "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter") attached, there's clearly no shortage of creative talent looking to put their stamp on future plans for the franchise. Figuring out what exactly that direction should be, however, is another story altogether.

According to the report, fans can expect the movie to "serve as an origin story of sorts for the main timeline of the entire ['Star Trek'] franchise ." What that means, of course, is anybody's guess. In terms of the timeline, the best guess is that this will take place long before the events of the 2009 J.J. Abrams semi-reboot and that of "The Original Series" as well. Discounting time-travel adventures that placed contemporary "Trek" characters on, say, 20th Century Earth, the earliest era of the canon that we've seen was previously explored in "Star Trek: Enterprise," which is set a full century before the likes of Captain James T. Kirk or Mr. Spock ever stepped foot on the USS Enterprise.

Trekkies already know how events like First Contact between humanity and the Vulcans unfolded or how events like the Eugenics Wars ravaged the Earth and set our civilization on a course for the stars, so could this in-development movie tackle the formation of Starfleet and the Federation as a whole? At this point, your guess is as good as ours. We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on this one.