Spock should really be Captain of the Enterprise

It's totally obvious to anyone who saw the first film, not to mind the newest offering, that Zachary Quinto’s Spock would make a far better Captain than Chris Pine's Kirk ever could. He has gravitas and intelligence, he inspires loyalty and, perhaps more importantly, respect in the crew. James Tiberius Kirk on the other hand is a hot-blooded, leap-before-you-look, all-American. Sure he's a hero, innovative under pressure, good at using people's skills to pull off harebrained schemes, but he's no leader.

When JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek hit cinemas, the sheer brilliance of how he sidestepped the legacy of the TV series and the former film franchise gave him a lot of goodwill in the bank. A different timeline, a total revision of history from a point in time before Spock and Kirk were even born gave Abrams a clean slate to do anything he wanted. He could alter characters' lives, change their achievements, their choices, their very personalities - hell, he could change entire alien races if he really wanted to employ some sort of butterfly effect scenario.

What he shouldn't have done, because it's enraging everyone, was change the core of The Federation, that interplanetary alliance based on the principles of liberty, rights and equality summed up in its Prime Directive not to interfere in the development of alien cultures. In the first few minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness, Kirk shits all over the directive. In a bid to save Spock from the inside of a volcano, the Enterprise rises out of its hiding place and appears in the sky for everyone on-planet to see. The closing shot of the scene shows the primitive species worshipping its shape etched in the dirt.

When the Enterprise gets back to Earth, Kirk is promptly relieved of command. Admiral Pike explains exasperatedly that he's violated the Prime Directive, what exactly did he think was going to happen? It's an action I couldn't agree with more (although instead of Spock getting a much-deserved promotion for a) selflessly trying to get Kirk to leave him in the volcano so as not to break the Prime Directive and b) admitting the whole thing went down, he's just transferred to another ship).

Pike tells Kirk he's not ready for command, and he's damn right. Despite its peaceful mission, the Federation is a quasi-military body in its structure for a reason, there has to be a chain of command that makes sense. People/aliens who think through their actions, plan for the good of all instead of the good of the few and don't violate the core values of the Federation should get to be Captains. In the first Star Trek movie, after Spock maroons Kirk on nearby planet for constant insubordination it's another decision that's tough to disagree with, although ultimately, Kirk is needed. Bones says to Spock, "If you're gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prize stallion in the stable". He's absolutely right. That's what Kirk is. He's the big gun, not the person wielding the big gun. Spock needs him to lead insane away missions, come up with zany plans to defeat megalomaniacs and generally be all heroic all over the shop. But these characteristics aren't good reasons to put people in charge of not just any spaceship, but the star of the whole bloody fleet. And yet, it's when Kirk displays these qualities again that he gets the Enterprise back.

Now demoted to First Officer, which is probably more than he deserves but acceptable, Kirk wins his way back to the chair by rigging a way to defeat the latest danger using a fire hose. Commendable? Definitely. But still not a reason to give someone a job that they first got shortly after a disciplinary hearing on whether or not they cheated on their exams (really, the standards for becoming Captain of a starship seem laughably low).

Added to all that, Kirk just seems way too young for the job. In fact, they all seem pretty young for their jobs. Not that young people couldn't do their jobs ever, but it does seem kind of unlikely that a lot of young people who are all good at their jobs would be put on the same ship. Experience is not a euphemism for old age. It's an actual quality one might like to have on a starship. The only one who seems a bit older is Scotty (sorry Simon Pegg), but there are no grey hairs there either. Fair enough, it's a movie, we all want to look at some nice-looking young people. But couldn't there be a mixture of some older folks, obviously still good-looking for Hollywood’s sake? Both Scotty and Chekhov have to basically be geniuses because that's the only way people of their age would actually know all the stuff they know. Other than the movies=young, beautiful people rule, the only reason to make them all so young appears to be so that Kirk won't stick out like a sore thumb. After all, he's quite childish. He’s been known to go off in a huff, relies on tantrums and violence when he doesn't get his own way, disobeys people with perfectly legitimate reasons for asking him to behave a certain way - he's a toddler.

But he is the perfect foil for Spock. We all know the Captain, of course, has to go on away missions. It's not a Federation rule, it's a narrative rule, how can the story be about the crew of a spaceship exploring the galaxy if one of the main characters never leaves the bloody thing? So switching Spock and Kirk isn't going to change the fact that they both head off the Enterprise to have adventures, it would just make a lot more sense. And it would help stop the flaws first seen in Star Trek and compounded by Into Darkness of turning a story of wonder, hope for the future and exploration into Die Hard in Space. I mean, show us how awesome it looks when the Enterprise is in trouble, give us a bad guy or two to root against, definitely have some running across alien worlds, but don't forget about meeting new civilisations, having morality defeat tyranny and logic triumph over ignorance. With Spock in charge, all these things are more possible.

The dynamic between Kirk and Spock also makes more sense if they switch places. I just don't buy that a rational, logical, highly intelligent being like Spock would want to work with Kirk, much less obey him. Even Chekhov and Sulu roll their eyes a few times at Kirk in Into Darkness, surely that must mean that Spock is cringing deep inside? Spock as Captain with Kirk occasionally defying him but eventually growing enough as a person to respect his authority and Spock coming to trust Kirk's instincts when it comes to thinking outside the box is a great story arc for a continuing franchise.

Plus, Abrams, you changed the timeline of an entire world, imposed a new history on a known and loved universe and gave yourself the power to alter the basic construction of an existing mythology and all you did was kill Kirk's father and destroy Vulcan. Don't you want to mess with things just a little bit more?