Shared with you
In this film, James T. Kirk applies for promotion to Vice Admiral, which he turns down, because which he wishes to remain a Captain. This is a nod to the earlier Star Trek films. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Kirk has been promoted to Admiral following the five-year mission. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Kirk remained an Admiral, and was having a midlife crisis, McCoy believed that Kirk missed being a Captain and exploring the universe and advised Kirk to get back command of the Enterprise. Spock also told him in that film that it had been a mistake to accept promotion to the rank of admiral. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), Kirk lost the rank of Admiral and became a Captain again for his actions in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), in which Kirk disobeyed a direct order from Admiral Morrow to go to the Genesis Planet and recover Spock's body, where he hijacked and blew up the Enterprise. In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Kirk gave Captain Jean-Luc Picard advice on promotion, and informs him not to let Starfleet promote him, and not let anything take him away from the Captain's chair, because while he's there, he can make a difference.
After production on the film was completed, and a month before the release, Anton Yelchin died in a freak vehicle accident at age 27. During the ending credits, there is a dedication that reads, "For Anton." J.J. Abrams announced that Chekov would not be recast, "I would say you can't replace him. There will be no new casting. I can't imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better."
Simon Pegg revealed in a press conference that the character Jaylah was inspired by Jennifer Lawrence in the film Winter's Bone (2010). "We were trying to create this very independent character, but we didn't have a name for it," Pegg said. "So we just called it 'Jennifer-Lawrence-In-Winter's-Bone.'" "That's a long name," the writer and actor joked. "So it started getting tiring always saying, well Jennifer-Lawrence-In-Winter's-Bone is fighting here. So then we started calling her J-Law, and then she became Jaylah."
Simon Pegg identified the space station as "Starbase Yorktown" in early interviews. "Yorktown" was the original name of the starship in Gene Roddenberry's early script treatments for Star Trek (1966), before this was changed to "Enterprise".
The reference about the rumor that the U.S.S. Franklin might have been captured by "some green space hand" is a reference to the episode Who Mourns for Adonais? (1967).
When Captain James T. Kirk and crew first enter Yorktown's reception area, an announcement can be heard over the intercom referring to a starship with the registry number NCC-2893 just arriving. This is a reference to the U.S.S. Stargazer (NCC-2893), the first ship that Captain Jean-Luc Picard commanded on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
Fiona Vroom: The title guest star of Lolani (2014) appears as an Orion crew member during the Captain's Log scene near the film's beginning.
Carlo Ancelotti: The legendary football manager appears for a minor cameo in this film, he plays a scientist walking out a door on the Enterprise. In a Sky Sports interview, he explained he has a good relationship with the family of Zoe Saldana, so when he was offered the role, being a huge fan since childhood, he couldn't refuse.