Therin of Andor wrote:
I was rather upset at the way they dismissed the character so casually, especially since Majel had died between the two movies.
And yet, if they'd cast someone in the role after Majel's death you can bet
that people would be now accusing the writers of tainting Majel's legacy.
Shadowcat had two cameos in the X-men movies by two different actresses before the awesome Ellen Page was cast in a main role in the third movie. There is always the inevitability of upsetting someone when you recasdt, and they had that with every character in NuTrek, so I'm not sure what would have been different with Chapel.
In fairness, with the possible exception of Scotty (and that is more of a characterisation issue for me) the casting has been excellent. I'd still rather see Chapel is a third tier role than have her be an afterthought or throw away line.