Star Trek

think about a mighty river flowing from east to west..............now think about errecting a small damn to devert some of the river in a new direction while allowing the rest to continue on its original flow.

Thats what this film did to the trek timeline.

The creation of the alternate timeline in the 2009 movie would cause an entirely different set of events for every character - two alternate universes, running parallel to each other, A confusing, but plausible concept. 

This could possibly create an alternate set of events for Voyager? Yes, though I'm not entirely sure how, as I think an alternate universe would affect more than Tuvok alone. Surely it would affect the alliances and advances of the Federation itself if Vulcan was destroyed in the alternate universe?? 

Sweet

u didn't watch the 2009 Star Trek film did you? or were u just not paying attention when the older version of Spock told his younger self that he's found another planet where he can help the Vulcan race to rebuilt itself?

If you really think about it, there is no genuine cannical explanation. They wanted to take a fresh start with ST and have the creative freedom that would not exsist if they hadn't changed things. The whiney Trekkers couldn't just enjoy it for what it is so the studio had to placate them some how. Suddenly it was a well thought out alternate reality, leaving the prime time line intact and all that other mumbo-jumbo.

It's all make believe so stop trying to rationalize it, it will drive you nutz. It is the new Star Trek, they won't be returning to the prime timeline. It is what it is.

Live long with it and prosper.

Wait a second. I just realized something. Every single crew went back in time to before the timelines split. You want to say that the timeline will basically be the same by TNG, fine. But what about "Assignment: Earth" where the crew goes back in time and causes an event to happen that is the reason for the journey back in time? How do we know that they'll even discover the slingshot method in this timeline? And if Kirk and co. from an alternate timeline end up in 1968, won't they meet their prime counterparts, who can't go home to their own timeline?

"Assignment Earth" was a predestination paradox. So if a similar escapade took place in the Abramsverse, the crew would go into the alternate reality version of 1968.

Of course, since the timeline diverged in 2233 it's possible that the Abramsverse version of 1968 would have prime Kirk and company...but if prime Kirk and company don't exist in the Abramsverse...

Ugh, I hate temporal mechanics.

yeah, not to steal your thunder, but I brought this up about 2 years ago.So far, it stands as the only significal evidence that the JJ universer may have been a pre-exsisting parallel universe.

althou The "many worlds theory" presents a possible answer for this issue.