Captain Christopher Pike Role Cast

AICN is reporting that the role of Captain Christopher Pike will be played by Bruce Greenwood. Pike was the second Captain of the Enterprise (after Robert April) and before James T Kirk. Greenwood's face is one of those faces probably seen in may TV shows and movies even if may not recognize the name. A consistently good actor that doesn't get the recognition he deserves.

Of note is Bruce Greenwood is 51 years old. When Jeffrey Hunter played the role, he was 30. Spock was his science officer and 2nd in command. This was established in the Original Series first unaired pilot "The Cage". This piloted was scrapped in favor of the Kirk Enterprise but reworked into "The Menagerie". In Star Trek canon, Spock was with Pike for about 20 years, until Pike was promoted to Commodore, Spock promoted to first officer and Kirk becomes Captain. So that means that Pike was around 50 when he was promoted so one can infer he was 52 or so when his body was destroyed (as indicated in the Menagerie).

Why this background? The rumored story takes place about 5-7 years before Kirk becomes Captain of the Enterprise so Pike would have been 45 years or so during the movie events. To me this is further proof of the real effort to retain or at least acknowledge previous Star Trek canon and that those involved are apparent Star Trek geeks as the ages and time frames are matching up pretty consistently.