Because it's difficult to write things that mesh with things that already exist.

We already see, time after time, some storyline that requires some new and novel solution that we never ever hear from ever again.

If I might go to Star Wars for an analogy - there's different opinions out there, but for me, Rogue One was pretty good. Andor was jsut about the best series of any genre I've seen. Watching Rogue One after Andor was....... weird.

Trying to see them back-fill stuff into Strange New Worlds is weird. It's mostly fun, but it's better when they sort of ignore that part of the storyline. (Although they get a bit silly, which is also annoying to me, but whatever)

Also, it's hard to build more and more tech as things supposedly advance more and more and more - and then when they do go back in time they want those fun toys so the figure out how to get them in but somehow they magically disappear again until needed later.

I'd settle for just hearing about a Star Trek film that isn't dark and edgy.

it actually starts filming

Now you're dreaming.

I think whether or not the writers know what the word "timeline" means is the ambiguous part.

Edit/P.S.: Especially in a SF context where they're not being clear if "timeline" means "somewhere else on the established timeline" or "a new alternate one". Especially if they're going to also name drop the Kelvin timeline in the same breath.

TrekMovie playing the clickbait game with the best of 'em.

The guys being interviewed didn't even say they wanted to make a darker Trek, just that the story they're working on is darker than what they've done before, for whatever value that has.

Yeah, they only said it’s “sort of a different timeline” in reference to the Kelvin films. Fact is, for a good portion of the movie going public the prime timeline is a different timeline than the one they’re used to.

That movie is indeed fantastic, but I don't think it has quite the tone I would want from a Star Trek movie.

I think their "Crimson Tide" comparison is pretty darned compelling. That's a serious movie with a lot of tension, but it's hardly a heavy slog.