Summary
- Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 will avoid the mistake made by Star Trek Into Darkness by not hypersexualizing Carol Marcus.
- The introduction of Carol Marcus in Strange New Worlds season 3 will portray her as a younger version of the career-driven Dr. Marcus from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- The controversy surrounding Carol Marcus' scene in Star Trek Into Darkness highlighted the show's exploitation of her sex appeal, which Strange New Worlds will not replicate.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 won't repeat Star Trek Into Darkness' Carol Marcus mistake if she appears. Strange New Worlds season 2 brought Lt. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) aboard the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Kirk formed bonds with his future Enterprise crew mates Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) as well as Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). But Kirk also dropped a bombshell on La'an that curbed their possible romantic pairing: He has a pregnant girlfriend named Carol, who can only be Carol Marcus.
Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) was introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan as the inventor of the Genesis Device, which she built with David Marcus (Merritt Butrick), her son with Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Kirk and Carol were estranged for many years, and Jim wasn't involved in raising David at her request. Jim and Carol reunited after Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) stole and weaponized the terraforming power of the Genesis Device. After Khan was defeated, Kirk and Carol parted ways once more. The alternate Kelvin Timeline's version of Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) appeared in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness, but the filmmakers' controversial attempt to add Carol as a new female lead character on the USS Enterprise badly misfired.
