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Spoilers Strange New Worlds General Discussion Thread

Rest assured, no backstory is changed where April is concerned

He's younger, that changes his birth year, which counts as backstory.

Let me ask you: if the next Bond was black, would that change anything about the character, to say nothing about changing it "completely"?

It's not a great fit with the old money/large Scottish family estate background.
 
Yes, Race is the problem, as in it was changed from Caucasian to Black.
TAS was/is/could be Canon, in that series, he was drawn as a white male age 75. So the character was established as a white male.
Them changing the character to a black man for SNW is a problem, as they already established he was white in TAS.

Yes, just like we've established that Christopher Pike looks like Jeff Hunter and NOT like Anson Mount. That's an unacceptable change to the -- JUST STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT TRIVIAL STUFF.

Does that mean I'm raycist because a black man was cast?

Look at the things you're complaing about, and think about what it looks like from outside.
 
Yes, Race is the problem, as in it was changed from Caucasian to Black.
TAS was/is/could be Canon, in that series, he was drawn as a white male age 75. So the character was established as a white male.
Them changing the character to a black man for SNW is a problem, as they already established he was white in TAS.
It would be like, Hey this is Commodore Stocker, but played by an Filipino. Hey he was a minor character, so we can recast him to whomever we like. Nope. Invent another character or chose a old character that was the race you want.

Does that mean I'm raycist because a black man was cast? Nope, if they wanted a person of color, they could have gotten any number of already established black admirals/commodores, or invented an new out out of whole cloth. Honestly it would have been more refreshing if they cast someone from Turkey, or Greece, or Iran for the diversity hire. Would it have still been wrong? Yep, but i would have applauded them a bit for not going the black route for POC.
They didn't NEED to change his color, but for diversity sake? it was changed.. Why? there's no point to it. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of 60 ish white Canadien actors at the time.

Owell, its done, I can't change it, but I can point it out and be disappointed in them.
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Well, let's look at the known datapoints for April from TAS. He's 75 in that episode, placing his birth year in 2195. The first season of SNW happens in 2259 or thereabouts, making April roughly 64 if they more or less adhere to the fact he's older than Pike and enough so to pull the seniority card on him. Now, I don't know about you but a lot of black men look pretty middle-aged in their sixties. April in the new series could well be born before the start of the 23rd century.

This April could definitely be a man in his sixties. His beard is pretty white.
 
When it is a completely different character than the one that has already been established, how is that not changing backstory?

How is it "a completely different character?" I've seen the character's first appearance on SNW. If he is married to "Sarah," she is not with him on duty. Is he younger than Cartoon April? Maybe, maybe not - this series takes place as many as ten years before "The Counter-Clock Incident."

So he's not a different character in any particular definite way, and he's certainly not "a completely different character." So you can just get off that tack right now.

STOP SAYING ITS PRIME. JUST ADMIT THAT IT IS A REBOOT AND NO ONE WOULD HAVE ANY OF THIS TO BICKER ABOUT.

No. This is the 23rd century, about five or six years before Kirk takes command of Enterprise. This is Enterprise. This is Pike, Number One, Spock, M'Benga, etc.

"Why do things look different?"

Because 1965 cannot be the 23rd century any more.

Period.
 
He's younger, that changes his birth year, which counts as backstory.

Is he, now?

  1. Exactly how old is April in the cartoon?
  2. Exactly how old is April in SNW?
  3. What year does that cartoon take place in?
  4. Exactly what year does SNW take place?
Don't throw the actor's age at me. That does not necessarily mean a thing.

The character of April may be anywhere between his mid-fifties to sometime in his sixties, in SNW. He is said to be 75 years old in a cartoon that takes place as much as ten years later. You can argue that there's an age disparity here, but you can't establish it as in-universe fact.

April was the first Captain of the Enterprise. Apparently, he still is. At 75, he will be married to Sarah. That is the extent of April's backstory.

And it doesn't matter, anyway. Adrian Holmes plays the same Robert April who has been referenced in previous Trek.
 
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Is he, now?

  1. Exactly how old is April in the cartoon?
  2. Exactly how old is April in SNW?
  3. What year does that cartoon take place in?
  4. Exactly what year does SNW take place?
Don't throw the actor's age at me. That does not necessarily mean a thing.

He's 75 in TAS so, minus say 10 years, that would be 65. Its a minor thing, just like how the actor for Kirk they cast is 10 years To Old, Kirk should be under 30 at this time. Details can be smoothed over, but details do matter.
 
If he's about sixtysomething with a white beard and he's old enough to be Pike's father or older brother then those are all the details that matter. Because then it lines up with TAS.
 
[Captain America] I understood that reference. [/Captain America]
I did not
Please burn this for me.
f8vZ9Tr.png
 
Because 1965 cannot be the 23rd century any more.

Fans really, really need to understand that. The series will not and cannot be made solely for fans who live in the past. It has to aim for pleasing _most_ fans (who are not that nitpicky) while snatching as large a general audience as possible.

It isn't made for the nitpickers, and I include myself in that group. One can either refuse to adapt and hate everything about the new series, or just accept that this is part of long-running franchises and enjoy the show.
 
Does that mean I'm raycist because a black man was cast? Nope, if they wanted a person of color, they could have gotten any number of already established black admirals/commodores, or invented an new out out of whole cloth. Honestly it would have been more refreshing if they cast someone from Turkey, or Greece, or Iran for the diversity hire. Would it have still been wrong? Yep, but i would have applauded them a bit for not going the black route for POC.

No, you’re open to being perceived as racist because you use expressions like “diversity hire”.
 
Don't throw the actor's age at me. That does not necessarily mean a thing.

That's a fair point. He could pass for 64.

What are you talking about?

You asked about if making James Bond black changed his character. I said it's not a great fit for the history of his family we have been given. Moneyed Scottish landowners being a notoriously white group.
 
He's younger, that changes his birth year, which counts as backstory.
Actor age doesn't mean anything, Patrick Stewart was 20 years younger than Picard.

Plus the preview photos we got of him, he looks older than Pike, old enough to be an Admiral.

just like how the actor for Kirk they cast is 10 years To Old, Kirk should be under 30 at this time
Actor's age means squat. Makeup can make people look younger or older.

Does the actor playing Kirk look older than TOS era Shatner in the one picture we got? No he doesn't.
 
You asked about if making James Bond black changed his character. I said it's not a great fit for the history of his family we have been given. Moneyed Scottish landowners being a notoriously white group.
Sorry, my bad. With all the back-and-forths I lost track of that subplot! :P

Anyway I think it'd be a minor issue to circumvent.
 
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