a big difference

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

Nobody has mentioned the biggest difference yet.

 

When Kirk was a Cadet, he was described as a stack of books with legs. That was the Kirk that allowed Finnegan to beat the crap out of him on a daily basis. Clearly that was not the Kirk we saw in this movie.

 

It would have been funny if we saw Finnegan as a short little runt.

[ScuzzBuster 0]

I was curious if they were going to throw that Irish bastard in there. I almost thought he might end up being one of the cadets in the bar scene. I just sat and watched Shore Leave with my son off the season 1 Blueray last week. I think if they had anymore fanwanky references it would have been too much. I'm just thrilled we got Kirks Kobayashi Maru scene.

[Jack_Bauer 1]

Click for Spoiler:

Since Kirk entered the Academy later than he did than in the prime timeline, he likely never encountered Finnegan. Or several other characters for that matter. Ruth, Gary Mitchell, Carol Marcus, who knows?