Nurse Christine Chapel made a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in 2009 Star Trek film. The Nurse Chapel was a constant presence in Dr. Leonard McCoy’s (DeForest Kelley) ward, often ready to provide assistance (or pine after Leonard Nimoy’s Spock) in 25 episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. In Star Trek: the movieDr. Christine Chapel easily slips into her former role as McCoy’s trusted nurse. The prequel Star Trek: Strange New Worlds improves Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), turning her into a brilliant scientist with her own character arc.
Director JJ Abrams’ Kelvin Timeline Star Trek classic reinvented films Star Trek: The Original Series characters for a new chapter of cinema Star Trek. Familiar names combined with new faces: Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy and Zoe Saldaña as Nyota Uhura – now with a first name confirmed. Bruce Greenwood was there as Captain Christopher Pike, at the time a profound reference to the pre-Kirk captain of the USS Enterprise of Star Trekoriginal pilot. Nurse Chapel, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be part of this new iteration of Star Trek.
Karl Urban’s McCoy calls for nurses’ chapel in the 2009 Star Trek film
Nurse Chapel is serving on the USS Enterprise in the Kelvin timeline
In Star Trek (2009), Leonard “Bones” McCoy calls Nurse Chapel to prepare a treatment for James T. Kirk, who is having a severe allergic reaction to the Melvaran mud flea vaccine that McCoy gave Kirk. The temporary symptoms from the vaccine allowed McCoy to exploit a medical loophole that lands Cadet Kirk on the USS Enterprise with other cadets during Starfleet’s emergency mission to Vulcan. In the infirmary, there are several women on the crew who could be Nurse Chapel, including a woman who an ailing Kirk tries to flirt with, but none have actually been confirmed as McCoy’s famous nurse.
Star Trek’The Kelvin timeline still sees the same USS Enterprise crew banding together, even if some of them, like Kirk, have to force themselves into what the public considers their proper places. Commander Spock initially believes that Lieutenant Nyota Uhura should be on the USS Farragut to avoid perceptions of favoritism, but Uhura confidently tells Spock in no uncertain terms that she belongs on the Starfleet flagship. (He agrees.) There’s no reason why Nurse Christine Chapel can’t also be part of the USS Enterprise crew if everyone else isand McCoy’s call to Chapel confirms this.
The Kelvin Timeline Star Trek films made other references to the Nurse Chapel (but it never appeared)
Nurse Chapel dated Captain Kirk in the Kelvin Timeline
The Kelvin Timeline Star Trek the films made other references to Nurse Chapel, but she never appeared on screen. Among the events of Star Trek and Star Trek in the Dark, Chapel became romantically involved with Kirk and left the USS Enterprise. As Christine’s friend, Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) brings Nurse Chapel to Kirk during a conversation in Star Trek in the Darkonly to discover that Kirk doesn’t remember Chapel. As Nurse Chapel also decides to leave the Enterprise after a soured romantic relationship in the Prime Timeline, Kelvin’s romance in the Chapel Timeline with Kirk and subsequent departure may be related.
It’s probably a good thing that Nurse Chapel wasn’t more than a dropped name in the Kelvin Timeline films. Before Star Trek: Strange New WorldsChristine Chapel was defined by her closeness to men, from McCoy and Spock to Chapel’s Star Trek: The Original Series fiancé, Dr. Strange new worlds keeps Christine’s relationships intact and gives Chapel agency as a multifaceted character. If Star Trek 4 has already been done with the debut of Kelvin Timeline on the Nurse Chapel screen, being more similar to Chapel Strange new worlds treatment will be worth not seeing Chapel in Star Trek (2009).