How Star Trek: First Contact’s True Sequel Involved Marvel’s X-Men – SlashFilm

If you concentrate on it, a crossover between the X-Men and “Star Trek” type of is sensible. Form of. Each have been invented within the Sixties, and each used sci-fi and fantasy tropes to deal with social issues of the day. When Stan Lee invented them in 1963, Marvel’s X-Men have been a logo for victims of prejudice. They have been superheroes, however society at giant hated the X-Men due to their mutant powers. They have been thought-about second-class residents. X-Men fans like to attract parallels between the X-Men’s chief, Professor X, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On this parallel, the Professor’s ideological nemesis, Magneto, may stand in for Malcolm X. 

Gene Roddenberry’s unique “Star Trek” debuted in 1966, and befell in a future the place Earth had been unified and prejudice was at an finish. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) admonished crewmates who expressed intolerance. However the galaxy at giant, Kirk discovered, was nonetheless fighting notions of bigotry, and the crew of the united statesS. Enterprise remained stalwart of their confrontation of such notions. When Roddenberry created “Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology” in 1987, he shifted his utopian beliefs into overdrive, making Starfleet much more peaceable and egalitarian than earlier than. 

So when the crew of the Enterprise met the X-Men in a 1996 Marvel Comedian referred to as “Star TreX,” it snapped collectively fairly neatly. It is nerdy AF, in fact, and exists solely to placate the very basest fanboy instincts, however conceptually, it type of is sensible. 

“Star TreX” was so profitable, it warranted a 1998 sequel whereby the X-Men quick-forwarded to the occasions of “Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology.” Particularly, the X-Men turned up on the united statesS. Enterprise-E, nearly instantly after the occasions of the 1996 movie “Star Trek: First Contact.” The comedian was aptly named “Second Contact.”

Since each the X-Men and “Star Trek” had dabbled in parallel universe tales, it appeared logical that they’d finally cross universes. In “Star TreX,” an X-Men villain named Proteus, capable of twist all of actuality to his whims, sensed {that a} godlike being from “Star Trek” would make for an excellent compatriot. The godlike being was Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood), a personality who appeared within the episode “The place No Man Has Gone Earlier than” (September 22, 1966). Gary and Proteus introduced the universes of the X-Men and “Star Trek” collectively, permitting Wolverine to fulfill Kirk, and so forth. As soon as the X-Men and the Enterprise defeated Gary and Proteus, the universes have been separated as soon as once more. 

However that wasn’t the top of it. 

Trekkies will recall that the film “Star Trek: First Contact” (which initially had a lot grander plans) was a time-journey story unto itself, one which noticed the united statesS. Enterprise-E thrown again in time to the yr 2063. On the finish of the movie, the Enterprise returned to its personal current through a time gap, and all the pieces appeared to be okay. Audiences, nonetheless, by no means noticed the Enterprise arrive again in its personal time, permitting the writers of “Second Contact” room for a bit of story loophole. 

The comedian depicts an journey that occurred throughout the return journey, when the Enterprise was unexpectedly diverted by way of time by the Marvel Comics villain, Kang the Conqueror. The ship ended up within the Marvel universe. Wolverine acknowledged the uniforms from the earlier “Trek”/X-Men comedian and requested Picard if he was one among “Kirk’s Folks.” (This may make Trekkies’ head explode.) The X-Men and the crew of the Enterprise-E should staff as much as cease Kang’s plan to mix and erase all recognized timelines from existence.

After the battle was resolved in “Second Contact,” the Enterprise-E was lastly returned to its timeline, simply in time for the 1998 film “Star Trek: Revolt” (which was launched solely seven months after “Second Contact” was printed). 

However, once more, that wasn’t the top of it. 

Instantly after the occasions of “Second Contact,” and the identical month it hit comedian retailer cabinets, Pocket Books printed Michael Jan Friedman’s novel “Planet X,” the third and remaining set up within the X-Men/”Star Trek” crossover saga. Being a novel, “Planet X” may afford to have a extra intricate story than its two comedian ebook prequels. On a distant planet within the “Star Trek” universe, the populace is spontaneously creating superpowers, very very similar to the X-Men. As a response, the X-Men are pulled into the “Star Trek” universe, and the characters can work together as soon as once more. 

Worf and Wolverine practice collectively on the holodeck. Dr. Crusher notices an uncanny resemblance between Captain Picard and Professor X. (“Planet X” got here out two years earlier than Patrick Stewart was forged as Professor X in a reside-motion X-Men film, so the jokes about their resemblance was an early type of fan casting.)

Having learn each comics and the novel, I can say with out hesitation that they’re all as dumb as they sound. It isn’t a lot an intriguing concept as a “what if” dialog that received out of hand. However it’s a hoot, and all of the concerned writers have been cautious to make the X-Men universe and the “Star Trek” universe interlock successfully. Solely essentially the most rabid followers want search it out.