Ayel

[T J]

Nero's first officer. In the countdown comics this character was a female. Other than the trench coats there was no discernible difference between them.

Any ideas on why the character was made male in the movie? I liked the female version the the countdown, seemed a nice counterpoint to Nero.

Thoughts?

 

[Michael]

In the countdown comics this character was a female.

Really? I hadn't heard about that. Seems weird.

Any ideas on why the character was made male in the movie?

Because Clifton Collins is awesome! Obviously.

 

[BorgPhil]

not quite sure how you came to this conclusion, but you are utterly wrong

Ayel is very much a male in the comic. There is a female on his crew as well.

 

[Rackon]

Haven't read Countdown yet, although I plan to. I like the idea of a female Ayel. But the images I've seen from Countdown, if those were of Ayel, looked like a man to me. Are you sure?

If Ayel was female in the comic, I'm guessing it was a visual choice by the filmmakers. Perhaps the screenwriters/Abrams didn't think a female Ayel would make as good of physical opponent for Kirk in the scripted fight scene on the Narada. The dialogue certainly is written for a man to be speaking the lines.

I thought I saw female Romulans among the extras among the Narada's crew.

 

[T J]

not quite sure how you came to this conclusion, but you are utterly wrong

Ayel is very much a male in the comic. There is a female on his crew as well.

I have it in front of me right now... I'm afraid you are wrong.

 

[Peter the Younger]

In a deleted scene from the Klingon prison planet, we learn that Ayel was the victim of a strange transporter accident.

 

[Michael]

The dialogue certainly is written for a man to be speaking the lines.

Huh? What exactly does he say that could not have been said by a woman?

 

[BorgPhil]

not quite sure how you came to this conclusion, but you are utterly wrong

Ayel is very much a male in the comic. There is a female on his crew as well.

I have it in front of me right now... I'm afraid you are wrong.

you are reading a different comic then.

try Countdown 3, p20-21, Ayel and Nero chatting at the top. top right is Ayel, definitely male

 

[USS Triumphant]

Ael is a Romulan name from the novels. A female one. Maybe we never saw her onscreen? I don't know why, but I just assumed she was on the bridge of the ship, rather than in Nero's "throne room".

(Side note about his throne: Do you think he had declared himself Praetor/Emperor of the Romulan Empire for his own time period? It would make a kind of sense.)

 

[Nerys Myk]

KIRK: I got your gun

AYEL: Thats not my gun.

KIRK:

 

[T J]

not quite sure how you came to this conclusion, but you are utterly wrong

Ayel is very much a male in the comic. There is a female on his crew as well.

I have it in front of me right now... I'm afraid you are wrong.

you are reading a different comic then.

try Countdown 3, p20-21, Ayel and Nero chatting at the top. top right is Ayel, definitely male

Hummm... well, as always whenever I attempt to make a definitive statement here I end up being wrong... pitty. My apologies to BorgPhil. I'm usually sharper in real life, sorry everyone...

 

[BorgPhil]

heh np, tbf if you look at him on p5 of issue 2, he does look pretty feminine

and had they included the female from p3 of the same issue, the film would only have benefitted from it

 

[USS Triumphant]

try Countdown 3, p20-21, Ayel and Nero chatting at the top. top right is Ayel, definitely male

I see. "Ayel", with a 'y'. Hrm. I haven't read Countdown, I just have a general knowledge of what was in it from Ain't It Cool News.