Why A Small Town In Iowa Was Mad At J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Reboot

In J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot film “Star Trek,” the ordinary flow of the franchise’s history is interrupted and completely changed by a time-traveling Romulan ship called the Narada. The Narada has come back in time from the year 2387 (a little after the time of “Star Trek: Lower Decks”) and arrived in the year 2233 (the year Captain Kirk was born) on a mission of revenge. Appearing through its time vortex, the Narada immediately attacks a nearby starship called the U.S.S. Kelvin, damaging it and causing Winona Kirk (Jennifer Morrison), heavily pregnant, to go into early labor. Her son, James Tiberius Kirk, is born in deep space. 

The function of Abrams’ film was, of course, to re-envision the 1966 “Star Trek” series with all-new, Abrams-invented parameters. It would follow the same characters as Roddenberry’s show, but they would now be younger, hotter, more impulsive versions of the ones we were used to. Kirk grew up to look like Chris Pine, and a lot of the extant details of his life, as established by 37 years of Trek lore, were now being re-written. This new “Star Trek” universe was more action-packed and exciting than the slow-moving diplomacy-forward universe Trekkies previously knew. 

While “Star Trek” delved into parallel universes and alternate timelines a lot in its history, some of the changes made in Abrams’ film still rubbed fans the wrong way. The fact that the 2009 version of the U.S.S. Enterprise was built on the ground, for instance, instead of in orbit at Utopia Planitia was a big nitpick among Trekkies.

No one, however, was more peeved with the 2009 “Star Trek” as the city of Riverside, Iowa. Since 1985, Riverside — following what “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry wrote in the book “The Making of ‘Star Trek'” – has happily declared itself to be the future birthplace of James T. Kirk. 

Thanks to Winona Kirk’s early labor in Abrams’ film, however, Riverside was suddenly removed from the equation. 

Most Trekkies likely recall the scene in Leonard Nimoy’s 1986 film “Star Trek IV: The Voyager Home” when Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), having traveled back in time to the present, was confronted by one Dr. Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks). She was perceptive enough to notice something strange about him, and finally states outright that he’s from outer space. Kirk reports glibly that, no, he’s “from Iowa.” He just works in outer space. This was official confirmation of what Roddenberry had previously written about Riverside, making the denizens of the Iowa city very happy. Curiously, the name of Riverside wasn’t mentioned aloud in Trek canon until a 2023 episode of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” 

Riverside has experienced a great deal of tourism thanks to its association with “Star Trek,” and the city hosts an annual Trek Fest for visiting sci-fi fans who travel from across the country to see a plaque emblazoned with the “The Future Birthplace of Captain Kirk, March 22, 2228.” Officials even embellished Kirk’s origin somewhat by adding that he was actually conceived underneath the pool table at Murphy’s Bar and Grill, a detail provided by a 2009 report by Radio Iowa. Sadly, Murphy’s has since closed permanently.

According to a report in Cracked, the city of Riverside actually reached out and received Roddenberry’s blessing over their declaration. Riverside, however, has signed no contracts with Paramount, and is not commercially affiliated with “Star Trek” in any direct way. Indeed, back in 1985, Paramount reportedly warned Riverside that they couldn’t say they were Captain Kirk’s birthplace. Riverside did anyway, and they’ve celebrated Kirk’s birthday every year since. 

But with the rewriting of history with Abrams’ film, everything was suddenly thrown into question.

Tim Geerlings, the vice president of an organization called the Riverside Club, went on record with Radio Iowa to register his disgust with Abrams’ new version of Kirk’s origins. He even began to doubt the physics of the matter. Geerlings said:

“If Captain Kirk will be born in Riverside, which Captain Kirk? Which parallel universe? […] I’m not sure about time travel. Even Stephen Hawking doesn’t believe in time travel. The scenario being, if you go back in time and kill your grandmother, you would not be here in order to go back in time and kill your grandmother. It’s an impossible loop.”

Geerlings said that he liked the 2009 film, but wished that Kirk’s Iowan origins had been left intact. 

Of course, even if Riverside did lose its right to call itself the birthplace of Captain Kirk, it did gain a new right from Abrams’ film. As mentioned, Abrams dramatized the building of the U.S.S. Enterprise on the surface of the Earth. Starships are usually built in space in “Star Trek,” but a relocation to Earth may patch up some issues.

As it so happens, in Abrams’ film, Kirk was able to ride a motorcycle out to the Enterprise’s construction site, implying that it was relatively close to his Iowa home. If the members of the Riverside Club wanted to, they could select a site in their city and note that it will be the future construction location of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Voilà, Riverside still has “Star Trek”-related bragging rites, and they can still fit into whatever “Star Trek” canon they like. 

Riverside still holds annual Trek Fests.