Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) - 5 questions

Question: I noticed on the box set cover when I bought this movie that it said "and introducing Tom Hardy" instead of "starring Tom hardy" as normal. Any particular reason for this? Was it just because Hardy was a relatively unknown actor in the more widespread showbiz community?

Answer: That's exactly it. Hardy had only a couple of small parts before his starring role in Nemesis. Robin Wright Penn was credited the same way for The Princess Bride, her first major role.

Question: Other than maybe galactic domination, why does Shinzon want to destroy Earth? He was a human, created and enslaved by the Romulans? Why is he so bent on killing everyone on Earth?

Answer: Earth is the headquarters of Starfleet, and the de facto capital of the United Federation of Planets. As Picard says at one point in the movie, "If you destroy Earth, you cripple the Federation." Shinzon wanted to remove the biggest threat to the Romulan Empire so he could gain sympathy and support from the Romulan people, so they would support his rule.

Question: I thought I heard somewhere they cannot shoot while in warp (because nothing can go faster than the ship in warp speed which is faster than light). Why is the Scimitar able to shoot the Enterprise while in warp and take out its warp drive?

Answer: Classic Trek and Star Trek: Enterprise have both established that ships can fire at warp speed.

Question: Who becomes the Enterprise's new first officer since Data's death? I know about the deleted scene which shows a new first officer meeting Picard, but since it was deleted I assume it never actually happened. The only person I can think of is Worf but does anyone know for sure?

Answer: It's unknown, and, with no TNG films on the horizon, will most likely remain that way for some time. Without information to the contrary, it's probably reasonable to assume that, despite the scene being deleted, Commander Martin Madden (the new first officer seen in that scene) does indeed take the position.

Question: If Shinzon is Picard's clone, wouldn't it have been easier to have Patrick Stewart play both parts? Tom Hardy doesn't even look like Stewart.

Answer: Shinzon was always intended to be much younger than Picard - the whole point is that he's a Romulan project that was ultimately abandoned - he hasn't gone through the accelerated aging process. Patrick Stewart could not have convincingly played a version of his character who was that young. And Tom Hardy does bear a distinct resemblance to a young Patrick Stewart if you look properly.