The USS Enterprise briefly got a new captain Star Trek: the moviebut Will Decker (Stephen Collins) never got the chance to embark on his planned five-year mission. Picking up about years after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Movie finds Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) returning to the refurbished starship Enterprise for a vital new mission. A strange alien entity (later called V'ger) surrounded by a huge cloud of energy is on its way to Earth and has the power to destroy the entire planet.
Starfleet assigns Admiral Kirk to lead the mission and take command of the USS Enterprise, much to Captain Willard Decker's frustration. Kirk personally chose Decker to take over as captain, and Decker has spent the last year and a half overseeing the Enterprise's renovation and familiarizing himself with the ship. Because of this, Kirk keeps Decker as his first officer, temporarily reducing him from captain to commander. Kirk clearly loves sitting in the captain's chair again, and Decker proves vital in the mission to stop the unconventional villain called V'ger.
What Star Trek: The Movie Revealed About Captain Will Decker
Decker never actually got to command a mission on the Enterprise
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Will Decker is a talented and ambitious Starfleet officer who takes his job very seriously. When Kirk arrives and takes command, Decker immediately protests, saying he knows the new Enterprise better than anyone. Decker also feels that Kirk is just trying to get his old job as captain back, but he still follows Kirk's orders. When the new Deltan navigator, Lieutenant Ilia (Persis Khambatta), arrives on board, Decker greets her warmly, as the two had a previous romantic relationship.
The character Will Decker was originally conceived for Star Trek: Phase II, which would be a spin-off series of Star Trek: The Original Series. After the resurgence of popularity Star Trek In the 1970s, Paramount Studios began planning a spin-off covering another five-year mission for the Enterprise. In the series, Will Decker served as the Enterprise's first officer under the command of Captain Kirk, and Ilia served as the ship's navigator. Both characters and many elements from the pilot script titled “In Thy Image” were used in Star Trek: The film.
Why Captain Will Decker Was Never Seen on Star Trek Again
TNG's Will Riker and Deanna Troi share many characteristics with Decker and Ilia
As the Enterprise approaches the cloud surrounding V'ger, the entity sends a probe to the ship's bridge that kills Ilia. V'ger then sends back a robotic version of Ilia to gather information and act as her voice aboard the Enterprise. As Decker shows Ilia/V'ger the Enterprise, he realizes that V'ger has assimilated Ilia's memories and emotions as well. At the end of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Decker merges with Ilia and V'ger, creating a new life form that then disappears into space. This permanently nullified Decker and Ilia's characters.
With the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, several concepts of Star Trek: Phase II were, again, incorporated into the series. Many elements of Will Decker and Ilia's story became part of the initial characterization of Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Like Decker, Riker served as a first officer on the USS Enterprise-D and also had a previous romantic relationship with counselor Troi (who had empathic abilities like Ilia). Ultimately, Riker and Troi proved to be a more successful and popular duo than Decker and Ilia, whose story came to a satisfying conclusion in Star Trek: the movie.