Highlights
- Star Trek embraces its weird and wonderful easter eggs, like the secret cameo of R2-D2 in the 2009 reboot, which adds a fun twist for fans of both Star Trek and Star Wars .
- The body of James T. Kirk, the iconic Enterprise captain, is preserved and studied at the Daystrom Institute, hinting that he may still have a future in the series.
- Star Trek Beyond pays homage to the original series with a reference to the cosmic green hand in space, capturing the nostalgia and history of the franchise in one easter egg.
To boldly go where no one has gone before, Star Trek reinvented sci-fi for a televised audience back in the 1960s and has continued to do so. Star Trek has been revitalized over the last decade, with plenty more shows and movies well on the way in the ever-growing library of Star Trek content. With over 6 decades of legacy and continuing missions, Star Trek has harbored some weird easter eggs, from its own series and others.
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Star Trek isn’t shy about referencing its past, and many of the best easter eggs in the series embrace the weird and wonderful, allowing audiences to enjoy its past and embrace its future. Star Trek isn’t afraid to get strange, whether it’s including a robot from another rival franchise, or featuring cosmic hands from decades prior.
6 R2-D2 In Space
Star Trek (2009)
There’s a secret cameo in the Star Trek reboot, one that competing fans of Star Trek and Star Wars may be rather confused about. Star Wars' cinematic venture concluded with Revenge of the Sith, and that would be the last time audiences saw R2-D2 in live-action. That was, until 2009’s Star Trek, which featured the adorable and sassy droid flying out into space as part of some debris.
The R2-D2 cameo is definitely a “blink and miss it” moment, and features within the space debris. R2 can be found on the left of the screen as the Enterprise comes to see the wreckage of another ship. It’s weird, and wonderful, considering J.J. Abrams went on to direct R2-D2 in The Force Awakens.
5 James T. Kirk’s Remains
Star Trek Picard (Season 3, Episode 6)
Featuring in the final season of Star Trek Picard, and the crew enter the Daystrom Institute, where they discover some amazing secrets from across the Star Trek series, such as genetically modified Tribbles, and the Genesis machine that brought Spock back to life. However, the most famous possession within the Daystrom Institute, is the body of James T. Kirk, perhaps the most famous Enterprise captain to ever live.
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Kirk tragically died in Star Trek Generations, and many fans were disappointed and confused by this death. However, it seems that the Starfleet Admiral may have life in him, as his body has been kept preserved and under study within the Daystrom Institute. There’s hope yet that Kirk may one day return.
4 Apollo’s Green Hand
Star Trek Beyond
Star Trek Beyond features a weird easter egg that some audiences might not understand. Scotty references the fate of the U.S.S. Franklin and how it was snatched by a “green space hand” this alone is reference enough to the past of Star Trek, but the end credits solidify it by actually showing the cosmic green hand in all its glory.
In The Star Trek Original Series episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?”, the Enterprise is plucked off course and snatched by a floating green hand in space, which brings the fleet to a planet that is seemingly paradise. It’s great to see this green hand return in both mention and physical appearance within the end credits of Star Trek Beyond.
3 Green Starfleet Uniform
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 1, Episode 5)
It seems rather strange that Captain Kirk wears a green tunic in a random episode of Star Trek The Original Series, but there’s actually a good reason for that. Star Trek was released in 1966 when color wasn’t exactly a priority for televised series. Kirk was mostly seen wearing a yellow uniform, but it turns out that this was the error, and this yellow outfit was due to poor lighting. Therefore, some of Kirk’s attire, seemed lime green, when in fact it always was.
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This is referenced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a new Star Trek show that embraces everything weird about Star Trek. Captain Pike can be seen in a green uniform in the Season 1 episode “Spock Amok”, a hilarious reference to the old 60s show.
2 Jeff Bezos Plays An Alien
Star Trek Beyond
Many might know Jeff Bezos as the former CEO of Amazon, perhaps the most famous company of all time. Jeff Bezos is worth a fortune, and more, and he made a cameo in Star Trek Beyond, even if many audience members might not have known it due to the incredible prosthetic work of Star Trek Beyond’s makeup team, which turned Bezos into an alien.
Bezos is a huge Star Trek fan. So much so, that he invited William Shatner on board a Blue Origin spaceflight. Bezos features as an unnamed alien Starfleet officer in heavy makeup, and it’s weird to know that beneath all that green is one of the richest men in the world.
1 Trouble With Tribbles
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Doctor McCoy has a Tribble of his own that he uses for testing in his sickbay in Star Trek: Into Darkness. It’s always great to see a Tribble, especially when they caused so much trouble in their first Star Trek appearance way back in The Original Series “The Trouble With Tribbles”, Season 2, Episode 15. Tribbles are known to multiply, continuously, but luckily that’s not the case in Star Trek: Into Darkness.
Instead, McCoy experiments with the Tribble in his sickbay, and he even uses it to save some lives. Tribbles are a weird addition to Star Trek, and show the endless and creative potential of their many alien creatures. Star Trek is ever-opportunistic, and Tribbles showcases just that thanks to their simple and furry design.
