Those creatures may have been feeding on each other. They may have been much more common. Also, I'll bet that there were other lifeforms that either the Reliant's sensors or the Khan brood never came across.. I wouldn't take Khan's word on it... Yeah, they should have noticed that a planet was missing...
Confused. I've read other posts through the years that Kirk's love interest in the nexus should have been Carol Marcus, but why? Kirk and Carol weren't invested enough to have stayed together during their initial love affair. From his exchange with McCoy in TWOK the affair ended badly. There's no evidence that their meeting during TWOK in any way results in a romantic reunion. So decades after their relationship with the bad break-up, Kirk is supposed to think of Carol when in the nexus? Yes. Kirk's death was without purpose, and the idea that it was necessary in order to "pass the torch" is absurd. We'd had seven years of Picard as captain of the Enterprise, any torch had been pass long before Generations. Even if we never saw him (Shatner/Kirk) again, it would have been pleasant to know he cheated death one more time. I would have preferred no Hardy and no Stewart in the role, but some other actor. Although admittedly none come to mind, but I don't know the actors of that year.
I think the thought is more about family than Carol in particular; The loss of David was referenced in the previous movie, so a fantasy where the 3 of them have a happy little family life together, rather then an estranged relationship where David is murdered by Klingons, can be workable in context of the Nexus. I think it would have been nice in terms of drawing the arc of II-VII together. I also think Valeris absolutely needed to be Saavik.
Unpopular Opinion: The sight of Picard laughing like an idiot while driving fast on the planet where they found B4 parts, really bothers me!
I suppose one could argue that Carol was the closest thing to a love interest Kirk had in the movies, as opposed to the original TV series, so that might be who movie audiences would expect to see, but, yeah, one doesn't get the impression even from KHAN that Carol is the One Who Got Away. Kirk has regrets with regards to David, but he doesn't seem to regret breaking up with Carol ages ago. She's not his great lost love.
Doubly unpopular opinion: I am OK with Bridge sets that don't make sense as a work space to modern viewers.
Right. Because the bridge is too big. It's too small. It's too populated. There's too many turbolifts. Not enough turbolifts. The screen shouldn't be a window. Too many people standing. Where's the bathroom?
Unpopular Opinion: Plasma conduits running behind consoles make no sense!!! It would be like the fuel line of your car running under your seat and behind your wheel at the same time! Who would design a car like that?
Prior to Discovery, I never thought my opinions of Star Trek were that unpopular. They were pretty standard for my particular "side of the aisle". Anyway, my unpopular opinion: I think the aesthetic of DSC, despite being modern, somehow matches the design aesthetic of the concept sketches from the '70s. Including the ship docking inside the asteroid. It has an industrial look. I want to see an episode of DSC where Discovery actually is docked inside of a "space dock" that was tunneled out.
Unpopular Opinion: We've seen all sorts of couples in ST but only unmarried couples ate allowed to split, to fight, to become estranged, once they are married though... only death can part them. More than 700 episodes and not one divorce!!! Odd, and so unnatural.