Summary
- Alice Eve's Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness reimagines the Prime Timeline character with a twist.
- Dr. Carol Marcus is portrayed as a weapons scientist with an interest in experimental photon torpedoes.
- Controversy surrounds Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness due to her hypersexualized portrayal.
In Star Trek Into Darkness, English actress Alice Eve plays a controversial version of Dr. Carol Marcus in the Kelvin Timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies. Star Trek Into Darkness'Dr. Carol Marcus is a Starfleet physicist who specializes in weaponry, and a potential love interest for Chris Pine's Captain James T. Kirk. To hide the connection between herself and Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller), who released Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) from stasis, Alice Eve's Carol Marcus goes by Carol Wallace when boarding the USS Enterprise.
Star Trek Into Darkness isn't a direct remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but instead reinterprets the Prime Timeline version of Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) with a twist on her original concept. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Bibi Besch's Dr. Carol Marcus is a civilian scientist who works on developing the Genesis Device to solve hunger and overpopulation in the United Federation of Planets. Carol is also the mother of David Marcus Merritt Butrick), her son with Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner). There are few similarities between the two versions of Carol Marcus in Star Trek, but that is only the start of Star Trek Into Darkness' controversy.
Alice Eve Played Carol Marcus In Star Trek Into Darkness
Carol Marcus Makes One Appearance In Star Trek's Kelvin Timeline Films
In Star Trek Into Darkness, Alice Eve played Dr. Carol Marcus, the daughter of Admiral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller). Carol is a weapons scientist with an interest in a cache of experimental photon torpedoes that went missing from official Starfleet records. After tracing the torpedoes to the USS Enterprise, Dr. Marcus finds the bodies of Khan's Augment followers stowed in the torpedoes. By the end of Star Trek Into Darkness, Carol joins the crew of the USS Enterprise, but Carol Marcus isn't in Star Trek Beyond, suggesting Dr. Marcus transferred off of the Enterprise in the intervening years.
Rather than hide the identity of her son's father, as Bibi Besch's Carol Marcus did in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Alice Eve's Carol Marcus hid the identity of her own father. This preserves the deception from the original film, but loses the original motive of protecting Kirk's emotions.
Alice Eve is no stranger to sci-fi roles, having also played a younger Agent O in Men In Black 3 prior to playing Dr. Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness. Alice Eve's notable turns as romantic leads include Molly in 2010's She's Out of My League, as the love interest to another character named Kirk (Jay Baruchel), and 2014's Before We Go, opposite Chris Evans. Alice Eve continues to work in film and television, with recent leading roles including Anne Calder in Haunting of the Queen Mary (2023), and Cassie Holt in Cult Killer (2024).
Why Alice Eve’s Carol Marcus Was So Controversial
Dr. Carol Marcus Did Not Need To Be So Sexualized In Star Trek Into Darkness
Alice Eve's Carol Marcus was controversial because of the hypersexualized way that Dr. Marcus is portrayed in Star Trek Into Darkness. Rather than focusing on Dr. Marcus as an accomplished scientist, Star Trek Into Darkness views Carol Marcus through the lens of Chris Pine's more immature Captain Kirk, who is quick to objectify Carol. When Carol has to change out of her uniform, Carol asks Kirk not to peek. Instead of obliging her request, Kirk ogles Carol — and the camera pulls the audience along for the lingering looks at Dr. Marcus in her underwear.
Alice Eve had no qualms about appearing in her underwear for Star Trek Into Darkness, and has gone on record saying, "I don't have any aversion to flesh or showing it. I think if you've got flesh, then it should be shown." The character of Carol Marcus, however, doesn't share that sentiment.
Star Trek has never really shied away from sexuality, so the bigger problem with Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness is with Carol's lack of agency. Carol Marcus is not defined as her own person, but who Carol is to men: Admiral Marcus' daughter, Khan's victim, or Jim Kirk's love interest. Encountering Kirk earlier in the Star Trek timeline means the bond between Carol and Jim isn't there, so the stakes aren't that high. Dr. Marcus doesn't have much to do in Star Trek Into Darkness, compared to the men in her company, but Alice Eve does the best she can with the material given.
