The writer's constant need to reiterate Kirk's rank in this article comes across a a deliberate attempt to detract from the character.

That aside, this is why hack writers need to stop making prequels. Not only do you stir up controversy (STD retcon of available tech and the Klingons in general), but you constrain yourself to the surrounding material. The fact that they placed SNW between "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" gave them a finite window to work with, and since the in-universe available technology and information is consistent between those two episodes (more or less) there's no room for deviation. Likewise, they have cheapened events like Kirk's engagement with the Gorn (previously unknown species) and written a plot hole regarding Khan (why do Spock, Chapel, Uhura and any other junior officers/duty officers never mentioned having served with his descendant?) They have also rewritten some of Trek's in-universe history (the Augment wars previously being a 1990s conflict, now a 2020s conflict), and continue to throw contemporary speech and behaviour into a universe where we're supposed to have overcome most of that, in a setting where the characters are SUPPOSED TO BE PROFESSIONALS.

Not to mention how they butchered the Mirror Universe, the Klingons, Starfleet ettiquete, Section 31, the Enterprise, and the entire concept of the bloody invisible mushroom drive that requires a direct interface with a living organism to operate.

They did my man Lorca a disservice with what they did to his character. The writers of modern Trek need to know what shame feels like, the pack of hacks.

My understanding was that save for Gandalf, the Maiar were to guide and watch over the mortals, not aid them in their struggles. Clearly the writer of this article doesn't know what they're talking about.

They should have cast Wayne Pygram for the role. He cameod as a younger Tarkin at the end of Revenge of the Sith in a non-speaking role and the actor definitely has the chops to play Tarkin in Cushing's place, if Disney was so set on using the character.