^^ The outline above looks deceptively like it is the story of the movie. It is part of the story, but it is all more like a backdrop for the more important aspects of the story. It enables the more important aspects to take place. The interaction of the characters and the progress of the arcs of the indivdual characters torwards the sort of personalities they became in TOS or variations there from. This is why moving through the opening sequences as quickly as possible while remaining engaging and without becomeing confusing meaningless to the audience is critical. The decks have to be cleared for the characters to develope. Many hints have to be revealed in the beginning sequences as well. Why does Marcus become such a bastard and how bad is he? What sort of torpedo was dac Marcus working on? Does it rearrange matter in a destructive way? How does she fell about doing that? How does she feel about meeting Kirk? How does she feel about encountering a fellow super-engineer? How does he feel about her? is there a quick little moment where they make an emotional connection or do they mess with each other's heads? Both? There's all the problems of two hot chicks and how the guys react. Jealousies? How do Scotty and little buddy develope the bromance of the 23rd century? Spock, Kirk and Bones for that matter. Above all Kirk as he is the central figure. In ST09, He was obviously struggling with the manner of his father's death. How is that internal struggle progressing? He was born at the beginning of a timeline that would not, and maybe should not, have been. That must do a number on his head. TOS Kirk was a bit like a 007 man's man. When he had pleasure he usually mixed it with business. ST09 Kirk was a skirt chasing frat boy. Does this next film show a Kirk struggling to look away from every passing short skirt? Something in between TOS and ST09?... The original touched briefly on many of these things but more, without grinding down, enriches. Understanding motivation is good too. Marcus could be threatening to destroy the Klingon ship and devestate the Klingon city before leaving to fight the war elsewhere. Engineer could be taken as a boy to allow for family in both timelines. Some expo about how they are living in a timeline that perhaps "should not be" might increase the tension and sell the loss.