The pending and very uncertain CBS/Viacom merger can potentially bring some exciting changes to the Star Trek franchise. Lets break down some possible scenarios.
CBS and Viacom(the parent company of Paramount studios) are currently in talks to remerge. This would mean that the Star Trek franchise would no longer be separated between the two companies. Currently, CBS has the rights to make Star Trek tv series, the rights to all the previous Star Trek tv series, and all the rights to most things Star Trek(Merchandise etc). Paramount however, has all the rights to the existing movies and the rights to produce more movies.
Once upon a time(before 2006) CBS and Viacom were one company. During TNG’s and DS9’s simultaneous run in the 90’s there were character cross overs and event references. Then when the TNG movies started, some of the events of these movies were mentioned in DS9 and later in Voyager. There are numerous other examples as well. The bottom line is, the Star Trek universe flowed harmoniously.
So if a merger were to take place, what could possibly happen in the Star Trek universe?
Firstly, we could possibly see some of the “Kelvin timeline” actors and actresses (Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho) reprise their roles as their “Kelvin Timeline” selves or “prime Timeline” counterparts in Star Trek Discovery.
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Another possibility is “Star Trek 4’s” story could wind up being very different from what is currently being considered. “Star Trek 4” and any subsequent film would not be restricted to the “Kelvin Timeline”. The movie could be set in any universe and take place at any time. It could hypothetically be a movie set in the “Prime Timeline” focused on the Enterprise crew during their five year mission with Captain Kirk in command. Or it could be a movie that is based on any Star Trek series. The possibilities are endless.
CBS and Viacom potentially merging gives the Star Trek franchise a great opportunity to grow and begin to flow harmoniously once more.
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