Most in Star Trek fandom can agree that Leonard Nimoy’s TOS portrayal of a half Vulcan/half Human is and will remain the singularly quintessential Spock across all mediums and timelines - Kelvin or otherwise. Given Nimoy's Spock in TOS and various Star Trek feature films, the canon continues with other actors performing the daunting task of portraying Spock in feature film reboots and TV series. Actors Zachary Quinto and Ethan Peck have both recreated the iconic Spock role in their respective Star Trek projections and each has a unique take on this enigmatic, logic-driven first officer, with mommy issues.
Zachary Quinto’s Spock takes place in the Kelvin timeline based on the rebooted Star Trek feature films, beginning with “Star Trek” (2009), to “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013), and “Star Trek Beyond” (2016). Within Star Trek canon, Spock is a half-human Vulcan struggling with suppressing his human emotions over logic, reason, and science-driven analytical thought. In childhood, Spock was bullied and treated differently, however, despite his differences and his scholastic achievements in science and technology that led to acceptance into Starfleet Academy – he served admirably as the U.S.S. Enterprise’s first officer and moved up the ranks to admiral.
Quinto's Spock is a duality of emotion, strength and action adventure
In the Kelvin timeline and his recent commission to the U.S.S. Enterprise, Quinto's Spock is younger than Nimoy’s Spock in TOS. In “Star Trek” (2009) we see the internal emotional struggle that Quinto (as Spock) must endure with the destruction of his Vulcan home world and the death of his human mother. Quinto's portrayal of Spock is at times quite poignant with intimate moments (in Star Trek 2009) with his girlfriend Lt. Uhura on a transporter pad where they share a kiss, as we learn Uhura's first name is Nyota.
Quinto's first film credit was in Star Trek (2009), and his complex logical versus emotional portrayal of Spock is well on display in an emotional scene in "Star Trek Into Darkness" when it was clear that his friend, Captain Kirk, was going to die from exposure to radiation. Quinto's struggle to hold back tears, based on his Vulcan emotion-suppression training was unsuccessful, as he cried for his dying friend, who he could not save with logic and reason.