The Unfulfilled Promise of Jaylah in Star Trek Beyond and the Rise of Kora in Rebel Moon

Introduction

Star Trek fans may not see Jaylah again. Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon proves Star Trek blew it with Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), the best new character introduced by J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Beyond. Billed as a more 'mature' Star Wars and inspired by Akira Kurasawa's films and Heavy Metal Magazine, Rebel Moon is Snyder's bold new space fantasy on Netflix. Starring Sofia Boutella as Kora, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire premiered in December and became the #1 most viewed movie on Netflix, with an even longer director's cut on the way. The conclusion of the saga, Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver, premieres on Netflix in 2024.

Poster for Rebel Moon with characters like Kora, Gunnar, Tutus, and Nemesis

The Unfulfilled Promise of Jaylah

Star Trek Beyond premiered in 2016, with Sofia Boutella donning elaborate makeup to play a heroic new alien named Jaylah. After the USS Enterprise was destroyed by Krall (Idris Elba) and his swarm, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew were stranded and scattered on the planet Altamid. Scotty (Simon Pegg) and Kirk encountered Jaylah, who was also a prisoner on Altamid. Jaylah's knowledge of the planet, ingenuity, and courage were crucial to Kirk rescuing his crew and launching the derelict Starfleet ship, the USS Franklin. After Kirk and his crew defeated Krall and saved the USS Yorktown space station, Jaylah joined Starfleet.

Star Trek Beyond Poster

The tragic death of Anton Yelchin in 2016 tacitly made Jaylah the logical replacement for Ensign Pavel Chekov in the next Star Trek movie - which has yet to happen.

Sofia Boutella in Star Trek Beyond

Boutella is so compelling as Kora, it's a sad reminder of how Star Trek's movie inactivity bungled Jaylah since her debut in Star Trek Beyond. Jaylah achieved the difficult task of sliding into the already established cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek but immediately fitting in and becoming an indispensable member of the ensemble. Jaylah showed pluck and resourcefulness, while her alien nature led to an influx of wry humor as she tried to understand her new human friends and called Captain Kirk 'James T.' Jaylah also had surprising taste in Earth music, which created a funny callback to Kirk's favorite song from his youth, The Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage,' helping to defeat Krall's swarm. Any Star Trek Beyond fan who wanted to see more of Jaylah can enjoy Kora's full-blown action hero turn in Rebel Moon.

star trek beyond debuted sofia boutella as jaylah

The Rise of Kora in Rebel Moon

Sofia Boutella's Kora is the main protagonist of Rebel Moon, which fulfills the potential Jaylah showed in Star Trek Beyond. As Kora, Boutella is a fierce action heroine, lethal in battle, but also a character of great emotional depth. As Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire continues, Kora reveals her tragic backstory as a survivor who was adopted into the Imperium and turned into a soldier and the bodyguard of Princess Issa (Stella Grace Fitzgerald). Rebel Moon's world building is intriguingly expansive, with multiple characters and planets, and an elaborate history unfolding, but Kora is a riveting lead character who holds the audience's empathy as she assembles a ragtag team of rebels to face the Imperium.

Sofia Boutella as Kora points a gun in Rebel Moon.

Boutella is so compelling as Kora, it's a sad reminder of how Star Trek's movie inactivity bungled Jaylah since her debut in Star Trek Beyond. Jaylah achieved the difficult task of sliding into the already established cast of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek but immediately fitting in and becoming an indispensable member of the ensemble. Jaylah showed pluck and resourcefulness, while her alien nature led to an influx of wry humor as she tried to understand her new human friends and called Captain Kirk 'James T.' Jaylah also had surprising taste in Earth music, which created a funny callback to Kirk's favorite song from his youth, The Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage,' helping to defeat Krall's swarm. Any Star Trek Beyond fan who wanted to see more of Jaylah can enjoy Kora's full-blown action hero turn in Rebel Moon.

Sofia Boutella as Kora shooting a blaster over an Imperium soldier's head in Rebel Moon 2.