First off, i loved this movie, even better was learning that the hitchhiker young James T. waves to in his opening scene joyride with his step dad's corvette was non other than his older brother, Johnny.....Johnny????. We know that this is a blood brother and not a step brother because Johnny says something to the effect of not being able to live under his step dad's roof any longer and that's why he's leaving.Since Trekkie's are by definition or default some of the most anal and detail oriented fans in existence, this is one forum i feel i can fly my geek flag proudly (i hope). So here's the thing, In season 1 of TOS, in fact i believe it was the season finale of that inaugural season, was the episode called Operation - Annihilate! (aired in April of '67) which featured the famous flying pancakes that made you insane (to me, they looked like the fake, plastic vomit you could get in joke stores). Anyway, one key point of Star Trek mythology that is revealed as season one winds down, is we learn that Capt Kirk's brother, Sam (full name George Samuel Kirk , only Capt calls him Sam ) died while serving as a biologist on Deneva, the planet featured in Operation - Annihilate! (i always wondered then, if these creatures were the famous Denevian Slime Devils mentioned by the Klingon (Korax?) that goaded Scotty into a fight in the David Gerrold's second season's seminal episode The Trouble with Tribbles which aired later that year?).My point, finally, is that JJ Abrams proclaimed many times his desire, dedication and devotion to the TOS timeline (as long as it made sense). So why couldn't this brother that young James sees on the road in Iowa be George Samuel Kirk, Jr ? That makes sense! What was the impetus to create Johnny? I think we all agree that one of the best (and most brilliantly innovative devices) of this movie was the way it revealed the origins of many things that the die hard fans recognized as comfort food (ex. the iconic nickname Bones coming from the only thing left to Leonard after his divorce..awesome! I had always heard it came from the word Sawbones which was an old military term of endearment for Doctors. Personally, i like the divorce take better, because it makes it more intimate and something uniquely theirs.So that's it...since all TOS fans would know Kirk's brother, Sam, was eventually killed in the original timeline and since this new timeline offered infinite new opportunities, second chances being key among them, I think it would have made alot of us smile knowing that maybe, in some flash of karmic parity, with Kirk having to lose his father prematurely in the Abram's timeline, maybe Capt James T didn't have to lose Sam this time around (at least not right away). Obviously, from all the blu-ray extras, the writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman gave these characters incredibly deep, tightly woven, back stories, so i tend to think Johnny was not chosen randomly or on a whim (like George and Winona Kirk just loved the letter J ). So if anyone can enlighten me as to the significance of big brothers name, i'd really appreciate it. Like i said, this movie is about as close to perfect as Hollywood gets (imo) and i don't like having this one little detail sticking out like a hang nail when everything else fit with such precision and grace. Thank you Mr Roddenberry and Mr Abrams for the foundation and continued growth of a true American treasure. Show less «