Star Trek has 'officially' destroyed the Kelvin Timeline, but what does this mean?

The Kelvin Timeline is gone, or is it?

Nov. 1, STAR TREK BEYOND, 8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CBS announces the return of the CBS SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES on Oct. 4, with six fan-favorite films from the Paramount Pictures library, including three "back to school"-themed comedies, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, OLD SCHOOL and CLUELESS; a thriller just in time for Halloween, SCREAM; an out-of-this-world action adventure, STAR TREK BEYOND; and a comedy to enjoy during Thanksgiving weekend, COMING TO AMERICA. The first five movies will air on consecutive
Nov. 1, STAR TREK BEYOND, 8:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT CBS announces the return of the CBS SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES on Oct. 4, with six fan-favorite films from the Paramount Pictures library, including three "back to school"-themed comedies, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, OLD SCHOOL and CLUELESS; a thriller just in time for Halloween, SCREAM; an out-of-this-world action adventure, STAR TREK BEYOND; and a comedy to enjoy during Thanksgiving weekend, COMING TO AMERICA. The first five movies will air on consecutive

The Kelvin Universe is over. At least, that's what IDW's Star Trek comic, issue #25, claimed to happen. Using a Bajoran artifact, Data's evil twin brother Lore destroyed the Kelvin timeline. Killing Chris Pine's James Kirk and the rest of the Kelvin Timeline characters. Now, this usually isn't headline news for Star Trek fans. After all, Star Trek comics have long been uncanon, so they can do whatever they want without fear of reprisal from the studios.

This comic series, however, is in fact canon. Meaning, that everything that happens in this book is recognized in Star Trek plot history. It's as part of the main canon of storytelling as Strange New Worlds or Star Trek: First Contact. That's great when you're trying to build up rich backstories for otherwise unexplored characters.

It's a bit of an issue when you're making bold decisions to wipe out an entire timeline, which just so happens to be housing the fourth film in the universe sometime in the near future (we hope). There are so many Star Trek films in the pipeline right now that we're not sure if and when a fourth film is coming, and if the comic is as canon as it claims, it's likely never coming.

Except, that's not how these things go. Comics like Star Trek don't make universe-sweeping decisions that affect real-world profit margins. Much like a Star Trek episode from the Original Series, eventually, everything will go back as it was.

I don't know how they'll reestablish the timeline, or what consequences any of the characters may face, but I do know that you can't erase something so important to the profit line of the franchise without some plan to reestablish it soon. If this were a non-canon event, or if there was a press release announcing that the Kelvin timeline was done; then you could see this as the official end of the universe.

We didn't get that, though. So this is nothing but a plot point that'll be resolved sometime in early 2025. So no, the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline isn't actually gone. In fact, it's likely to still get at least one more movie. If not more films and shows to spin out. The Kelvin Timeline could easily have its fifth film be the first film of their Next Generation era.

That's a real possibility. Though, we'll have to wait and see if this universe has legs.