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Upcoming Star Trek TV Shows: What's Ahead For The Sci-Fi Franchise

Here's what's ahead for Star Trek.

It’s a golden era for Star Trek tv shows, as the franchise is churning out more content than ever before. Fans with a Paramount+ subscription can stream a plethora of old and new content from one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time.

There’s a ton of new Star Trek content coming in the future, including the debut of a new show as well as the return of all the ones fans already know well. For those who need a breakdown of what all to expect, look no further because here’s where and when all the new Trek will arrive in 2023 and beyond. There’s even some information on planned shows that aren’t quite ready yet, but hopefully, we’ll see them soon enough.

Sonequa Martin-Green in Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Premiering On April 4th 2024

Captain Michael Burnham and the crew are back, and based on what we've seen and heard about Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 so far, some changes are on the way. Season 5 will see the crew race against others in an attempt to secure an ancient power, and will apparently have a tonal shift that will skew more toward action and adventure. We also learned that this coming season will be the final adventure , as Paramount+ decided to end the series after this coming season. The final season will kick off in April and, fingers crossed, leave an avenue open for more stories with these characters in the 32nd century.

Anson Mount as Christopher Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - In Production

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is coming back for Season 3, and is currently filming for the upcoming season. It's likely the season will kick off with the second part of the adventure started in the Season 2 finale . Pike must decide whether or not he's going to listen to Starfleet and retreat to avoid further conflict with the Gorn or to stay and try to save the kidnapped crew members. I have a hunch I know what decision he'll make, but I'm also very invested in seeing if Scotty will remain with the crew and what other adventures will come as well.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 - Coming In 2024

Paramount+ originally renewed Star Trek: Prodigy for Season 2, but announced later that it had been canceled alongside other shows on the platform. While the news was a bummer to many and encouraged responses from stars like Kate Mulgrew , there is a silver lining. After some talk with other companies, Paramount managed to negotiate a deal where the series will transition over to Netflix , and Season 2 will release over there. At this time, it's unknown whether or not this will lead to more seasons of Prodigy , but fans are thankful they'll at least get to see the season that was being worked on coming up in 2024.

Section 31 Movie - Production Underway

Section 31 was one of the first Star Trek spinoffs announced after Discovery , and yet it took the longest to get off the ground. The series was supposed to Michelle Yeoh ’s Phillipa Georgiou and her efforts in the secret ops Starfleet faction that does the jobs that others in the organization would rather not know about. Other former Discovery stars, like Shazad Latif, were involved at one point, but some believed the odds of it happening aren't great after Michelle Yeoh's Oscar win .

It turns out Yeoh was interested in making it happen, and Paramount+ decided to alter the idea to a movie . Fans are excited about the project all the same, and ready to see Michelle Yeoh back in her role. Production on the film is officially underway, and it's looking like a premiere sometime in late 2024 to 2025 is likely.

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Starfleet Academy - Production Starting In 2024

Alex Kurtzman revealed not long ago that Star Trek is actively working on another new live-action series , and it’s going to be set at Starfleet Academy. Of course, we don’t know exactly what era this series is set to take place during or who is going to star in it yet. We don’t really know much of anything, though it’s worth noting that Star Trek: Discovery did write off its character Tilly when she took an offer at Starfleet Academy. The episode where that happened seemed like it could be a backdoor pilot for the show, but again, we have no idea. We do know that the writer's room is underway, but details are scant beyond that.

As shown above, there’s still a ton of Star Trek on the way in 2024, and beyond. The only way to watch these shows is with a Paramount+ subscription , which is totally worth picking up with the increasing amount of shows and movies available to watch.

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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Every Upcoming ‘Star Trek’ Show on Paramount+

The “Star Trek” universe is expanding to theatrical, with a Michelle Yeoh-led film in the works

The “Star Trek” universe continues to expand, with fan favorites returning and new shows (and worlds) to explore on the Paramount+ streaming service even as “Star Trek: Picard” comes to an end.

“Strange New Worlds” and “Lower Decks” are eyeing a summer return, with “Prodigy” slated for a winter release.

They’re also several projects in development, including a “Starfleet Academy” focusing on young cadets, and a “Section 31” movie centered around Michelle Yeoh’s deliciously evil anti-hero from “Discovery.”

Below we run down every upcoming new “Star Trek” TV series coming to Paramount+.

“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (Season 2)

Premiere Date: June 15, 2023

Cast: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock, Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga. Season 2 also features the return of special guest star Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and new addition Carol Kane in a recurring role as Pelia.

Number of Episodes: 10

Summary: The series follows Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy. The new season includes the previously announced special crossover episode featuring both live-action and animation, with “Lower Decks” stars Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner and Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler joining the U.S.S. Enterprise. The episode was directed by “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Picard” actor and director Jonathan Frakes.

Watch the teaser trailer here:

“Star Trek: Lower Decks” (Season 4)

Premiere Date: Late Summer 2023

Cast: Tawny Newsome as Ensign Beckett Mariner; Jack Quaid as Ensign Brad Boimler; Noël Wells as Ensign Tendi; Eugene Cordero as Ensign Rutherford, Dawnn Lewis as Captain Carol Freeman; Jerry O’Connell as Commander Jack Ransom; Fred Tatasciore as Lieutenant Shaxs; and Gillian Vigman as Doctor T’Ana.

Number of Episodes: TBD

Summary: An unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn’t important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and Provisional Ensign T’Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers, and getting stuck in a couple caves– all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way.

“Star Trek: Prodigy” (Season 2)

Premiere Date: Winter 2023

Cast: Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Kathryn Janeway, Brett Gray as Dal, Ella Purnell as Gwyn, Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, Angus Imrie as Zero, Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog, Dee Bradley Baker as Murf. and John Noble as The Diviner.

Summary: A motley crew of young aliens must figure out how to work together while navigating a greater galaxy, in search of a better future. These six young outcasts know nothing about the ship they have commandeered – a first in the history of the “Star Trek” franchise – but over the course of their adventures together, they will each be introduced to Starfleet and the ideals it represents

“Star Trek: Discovery” (Season 5)

Premiere Date: 2024

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Saru, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala as Cleveland “Book” Booker, Blu del Barrio as Adira, and Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner.

Summary: The fifth and final season will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

“Star Trek: Starfleet Academy”

Premiere Date: TBD (Production begins 2024)

Summary: “Starfleet Academy” will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

“Star Trek: Section 31” (Film)

Premiere Date: TBD (Production begins 2023)

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, TBD

Summary: Emperor Philippa Georgiou joins Section 31, a secret division of Starfleet tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets and faces the sins of her past.

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Star Trek: Picard

Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life. Follow-up series to Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) that centers on Jean-Luc Picard in the next chapter of his life.

Kirsten Beyer
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Patrick Stewart
Michelle Hurd
2.8K User reviews
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14 wins & 54 nominations total

Episodes 30

Burning Questions With the Cast of "Star Trek: Picard"

Jean-Luc Picard

Raffi Musiker

Seven of Nine

Dr. Agnes Jurati

Cristóbal Rios …

Adam Soong …

La Sirena Computer

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Doctor Beverly Crusher

Captain Liam Shaw

Ensign Sidney La Forge

Ensign Esmar

Titan Computer …
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Nichelle Nichols and Sonequa Martin-Green at an event for Star Trek: Discovery (2017)

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Trivia The Chateau Picard vineyard first appeared in Family (1990) . It was run by Jean-Luc Picard's brother Robert and his wife Marie, and their son René. Jean-Luc would learn in Star Trek: Generations (1994) that Robert and René had both burned to death in a fire, leaving Jean-Luc as the last in the Picard line.
Goofs Commodore Oh often wears sunglasses. Star Trek lore establishes that Vulcans have an inner eyelid to protect against harsh sunlight on their desert planet. Oh's shades are a fashion statement, not a protective measure.
The first season features a Borg cube and the planet Romulus.
The second season features a Borg ship, a wormhole and hourglass, and the Borg Queen's silhouette.
The third season does not have an opening titles sequence.
Connections Featured in Half in the Bag: Comic Con 2019, The Picard Trailer, Streaming Services, and Midsommar (2019)

User reviews 2.8K

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Feb 18, 2024

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Star Trek Release Dates: When to Expect All the New and Returning Shows

There's so much star trek here's our guide to keeping up with when everything is expected to beam in..

Trying to keep track of what’s coming in the realm of Star Trek feels like trying to stop a tribble from procreating. Before even more new series are announced, here’s our guide of when to expect all the new Star Trek shows , as well as returning familiar favorites , and what else is in the works right now. Engage!

This post was last updated 7/14/23.

Currently Airing: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

The Enterprise is back after a successful first season , and this time Captain Kirk will be along for the ride with another appearance by Paul Wesley after his surprise finale role in season one. Not much else is known about the season so far, other than one episode will see the show crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks in a live-action/animated hybrid directed by The Next Generation ’s Jonathan Frakes. The show has also been renewed for a third season .

Season two recaps:

“ The Broken Circle ”
“ Ad Astra per Aspera ”
“ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ”
“ Among the Lotus Eaters ”
“ Charades ”

Upcoming: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

Image for article titled Star Trek Release Dates: When to Expect All the New and Returning Shows

The third season of the animated series following the misfit crew of the USS Cerritos —and in particular its cadre of ensigns, Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero)—once again followed our heroic ensigns and the remaining bridge officers aboard the Cerritos. Season four will be arriving in late summer . The show has also been renewed for a fifth season .

Upcoming: Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Expected in early 2024 , Discovery ’s fifth season will be 10 episodes long, down from the 13 of prior seasons. In the wake of season four‘s climax earlier this year , Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) led her crew in a desperate attempt to save the galaxy from a mysterious anomaly created by an extra-galactic race, ensuring peace and stability for the Federation once more... for now. As her romantic partner Book (David Ajala) pays time for his own role in a campaign to surreptitiously destroy that anomaly, we’re not sure what awaits Burnham and Discovery ’s crew just yet, but given this show, we’re sure it’ll be very, very dramatic.

In Flux : Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2

The animated series aimed at younger Trek fans (and Janeway fans!) and kids at heart can be found on both Nickelodeon and Paramount+. The first season was divided into two parts, with part two wrapping up at the end of 2022; after Paramount+ announced it would not move forward with the show’s already greenlit season two , it was removed from the service . ( A home release of the complete first season is still possible ; the first 10 episodes are still available for purchase.) Fans are still waiting to hear if Prodigy season two will surface on a different outlet .

Upcoming : Starfleet Academy

It’s really happening! After a long tease, filming on this series will begin in 2024. Here’s the official announcement from co-showrunners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau:

“Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!”

Upcoming (movie) : Star Trek: Section 31

Announced as a TV series back in 2019 as a spinoff for fan-favorite Discovery guest star Michelle Yeoh, this plunge into the seediest side of Starfleet—the shadowy spy organization Section 31 first introduced in Deep Space Nine— is now planned as a Paramount+ film .

Newly minted Oscar winner Yeoh will return as former emperor of the Mirror Universe’s Terran Empire, Phillipa Georgiou, now turned into a kinder, but still kickass person by her time with Michael Burnham. “I’m beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” Yeoh said in a statement. “ Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”

Written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, Star Trek: Section 31 will start production later this year, and eventually come to Paramount+.

Where Can I Stream Classic Star Trek Shows?

That’s all the new bits of Star Trek coming. But what about the old Star Trek ? In the U.S. at least, the vast majority of classic Star Trek shows are available exclusively to stream on Paramount+ ( albeit not without issues ), although some holdouts remain on other streaming services. Here’s a full list of classic Star Trek shows and where to stream them, as well as links to our recommended episode guides for every series!

Star Trek: The Original Series (Paramount+)
Star Trek: The Animated Series (Paramount+)
Star Trek: The Next Generation (Paramount+, Netflix)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Paramount+, Netflix)
Star Trek: Voyager (Paramount+)
Star Trek: Enterprise (Paramount+)

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power .

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How to watch 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

By Danica Creahan

May 2, 2022 / 5:43 PM EDT / Essentials

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How to watch 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

Move over Kirk -- Christopher Pike is the captain now. In "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," a spinoff of " Star Trek: Discovery " and prequel to " Star Trek: The Original Series ," "Star Trek" fans are getting a glimpse of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike. "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

Essentials and Paramount+ are both subsidiaries of Paramount.

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"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," streaming May 5 on Paramount+

Catch up on "Star Trek: Discovery" now streaming on Paramount+

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"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" finds actor Anson Mount reprising his "Discovery" role as Captain Pike. In the new series, Pike retreats to his ranch back on Earth after having caught a glimpse of the grim future that fans know awaits him in "The Original Series." But when the Starfleet standout learns that one of his former crew members desperately needs him, Pike jumps back into the action.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" sees the return of other familiar faces from "Discovery," too, including Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck. Keep reading to find out more about how to watch this new "Star Trek" series, streaming exclusively on Paramount+.

When does 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' come out?

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premieres May 5, 2022, with new episodes dropping weekly.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," streaming May 5

Where to watch 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

The latest chapter in the "Star Trek" universe is available to stream exclusively on Paramount+.

How to stream 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

Paramount+ has two subscriber tiers -- the $5-per-month "Essential Plan," a budget-minded tier with ads, and the $10-per-month "Premium Plan," which is ad free. Paramount+ offers a one-week, free-trial period, so if you were thinking of trying the platform, you can watch "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and other new Paramount+ titles risk free.

The best TV deals

If you find yourself forgoing the movie theater in favor of streaming the best new TV shows and movies at home, it might be time to upgrade your TV setup. Keep reading to check out the best deals on TVs and streaming devices.

Save $200 on the Samsung 'The Frame' QLED 4K smart TV 2022

The latest edition of " The Frame " uses a matte, anti-reflection display. The one-inch-thick screen can stream all your favorite TV shows and movies in 4K resolution, and can seamlessly transition to Art Mode to display your favorite paintings and photographs.

The 65" and 75" models are each currently $200 off at Samsung.

75" Samsung 'The Frame' QLED TV 2022, $2,800 (reduced from $3,000)

65" Samsung QN900A Neo QLED TV: $3,000

A premium Samsung TV can cost a lot, especially when it's something like the Samsung QN900A Neo TV . The QN900A boasts 8K resolution, AI upscaling and a Quantum LED panel. Factor in a massive, 65-inch screen, and you're looking at a price tag of $5,000. Luckily, Samsung has a great deal on the 65-inch model that knocks a hefty $2,000 off the price.

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Best Samsung TV deal right now: 58" Samsung class 4K Crystal UHD LED smart TV with HDR: $478

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This 58-inch LED smart 4K TV from Samsung features a processor that can upscale your favorite HD shows and streams.

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Roku Streaming Stick+: $43

The Roku Streaming Stick+ has a long-range wireless receiver, and allows for Bluetooth streaming. It includes all the features of the Roku Express 4K+ in a smaller, easier-to-conceal device. Instead of connecting to a television via wires, it connects directly to an HDMI port. Please note that the Roku Streaming Stick+ still needs to be connected to a power source -- either via a TV USB input or a wall outlet.

"It doesn't have the same bells and whistles that my Roku Ultras have...but then again, I also paid nearly twice as much for those," the Amazon reviewer K. Krueger wrote on the site . "This Stick+ is much cheaper and provides basically the same user interface and playback performance."

Roku Streaming Stick+, $43

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Star Trek Release Dates: When to Expect All the New and Returning Shows

There’s quite frankly a LOT of boldly going going on.

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Currently Airing: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Season 2 Official Trailer | Paramount+

Season two recaps:

“ The Broken Circle ”

“ Ad Astra per Aspera ”

“ Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ”

“ Among the Lotus Eaters ”

“ Charades ”

Upcoming: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

Upcoming: Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

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Upcoming: Starfleet Academy

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New Star Trek shows: every future series, from Strange New Worlds to Lower Decks

From Lower Decks to Strange New Worlds, what's coming up?

It's a rich time for new Star Trek content, with streaming service CBS All Access building much of its content strategy around expanding the sci-fi franchise. If you're outside of the US, too, it's been pretty easy to keep up with it all, since Picard has released internationally on Amazon Prime Video, while Netflix has the rights to Discovery.

In April 2019, overseer Alex Kurtzman told THR that "The idea is to always have something" Star Trek-related on TV. "Two years from now, a show will end, there will be a little breath and then another show will begin."

While that ambitious plan for 2021 might be slowed down by this year's coronavirus-based TV production headaches, there's no doubt that CBS has enough content in the pipeline to back that up. Seven Star Trek shows are publicly known right now, though a couple don't have titles or even a premise yet, and this includes ongoing seasons of Picard and Discovery.

Do Star Trek fans like the shows being made? As with any franchise that has a long and complicated history, it's really hard to figure out what the consensus is on Trek as it stands. But the volume and tonal range of what's in the works surely has to excite an audience that once enjoyed 18 years of unbroken Trek shows.

We expect to learn a lot more about these series when Star Trek takes over a whole series of panels at Comic Con at Home, starting on July 23.

Below, we'll talk you through every Star Trek TV show currently confirmed to be in the works, so you can figure out if you want to watch them or skip them.

How to watch Star Trek in order
The best TV shows of 2020 so far
What we know about Star Trek: Discovery season 3

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Release date: August 6

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Getting Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan was quite a win for this first adult animated Star Trek series, which takes place on the lower decks of the Cerritos, a less important Starfleet vessel. It's the first Star Trek animated series in decades, and features a pretty big name voice cast, including The Boys ' Jack Quaid.

McMahan wrote one of the all-time best Rick and Morty episodes, Total Rickall, and co-created the recent Hulu series Solar Opposities, so hopefully the end result here will be good. Two seasons are on the way.

We're not sure where it'll be streaming outside of the US yet, though.

Star Trek Discovery season 3

Expected release date: late 2020

A third season of CBS All Access' flagship show Star Trek: Discovery finished filming a while back, and post-production has been ongoing. We're expecting this one to debut some time after Lower Decks has finished rolling out its 10 weekly episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery season 3 has a killer hook, taking viewers 1,000 years into the future of the Star Trek timeline, which will presumably give the writers a lot of scope to tell big stories without any lore-based restrictions.

Season 2 spent a little too long in the shadow of legacy characters, as well-acted as they were, so hopefully this season will shift focus back to the Discovery's own extremely likeable crew.

Star Trek: Picard season 2

Expected release date: 2021

Star Trek: Picard season 2 is officially happening, but where the story will go is something of a mystery after the series' eventful finale, as Picard survived (sort of) the Romulans' attack on the synthetic world of Coppelius. In season 2, expect the show to deal with the fact that (spoiler alert!) Picard now has a synthetic body, as he found a way to cheat death. We're expecting more TNG cameos in season 2, after season 1 gave fans all-too-brief glimpses of Riker and Troi. We also know Whoopi Goldberg will be reprising her role as Guinan from that series.

Our hope is that the writers will focus on making the crew of newer characters on the La Sirena a little easier to like; Star Trek: Picard doesn't yet have the complete-feeling ensemble that Discovery does, and that's a challenge they need to overcome.

Filming on Picard season 2 was meant to happen this June, but has been delayed for obvious reasons. We still expect to see it next year at some point, though.

Section 31 (working title)

The most intriguing spin-off in this list, and reportedly the next one in line for filming after Discovery season 3. Michelle Yeoh will reprise her memorable role as the Mirror Universe's version of Philippa Georgiou, who joined the titular mysterious Federation organization in Discovery. Section 31 operates autonomously in protection of the Federation, and is commonly known as an extreme group that works for what it perceives as the greater good. This should show a side of the Star Trek universe we haven't seen yet.

Reports suggested Section 31 was supposed to film in May of this year, but naturally that's bound to be impacted by the current global health crisis.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Expected release date: 2021 (or later)

Star Trek Discovery season 2's versions of Captain Pike, Spock and Number One were evidently popular enough that they're getting their own spin-off. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds features Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn reprising their roles in what's been described as a 'classic' Star Trek series with an angle of optimism, which should sit nicely alongside the more densely serialized likes of Discovery and Picard. As a more direct prequel to the Original Series, it'll be about the crew of the Enterprise in the pre-Kirk days.

Nickelodeon Star Trek animated series

Every ship needs a crew. Welcome aboard!We are proud to announce our very talented Writers’ Room for @Nickelodeon‘s untitled @StarTrek animated show: @TheJulieBenson @shawnabenson @DiandraWrites @QuandtumTheory @GoodAaron @Shoopeedoobydoo @nsjayaram @E_Mac777 @TheKeithSweet pic.twitter.com/LflgH34Oq2 July 30, 2019

Expected release date: 2022

Star Trek has so far lacked a counterpart to Star Wars ' Rebels and The Clone Wars animated series, but that's set to change. A so-far untitled Star Trek CG TV series is coming to Nickelodeon in the US, and as of July 2019, it had a writers' team in place. Dan and Kevin Hageman, who worked on the excellent Netflix series Trollhunters, are the key creatives behind the show, suggesting that something of a high quality that doesn't talk down to its audience is in the works here.

Little is known about the show, but it will have serialized storylines, and Kurtzman has suggested we might not even see it in action until after 2021. Like Lower Decks, two seasons of it have been ordered, which is partly motivated by the long lead times needed on animated series.

Untitled live-action show (possibly Star Trek: Starfleet Academy)

Back in January, series overseer Alex Kurtzman explained (as captured by Trek Core ) that two more live-action Star Trek series were yet to be revealed.

With Strange New Worlds' later announcement, we found out about one, but what about the other? It remains a mystery, but a younger-focused series called Starfleet Academy was reportedly in the works back in 2018, from the Gossip Girl duo of Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. An old Variety report about Kurtzman's work on Trek also suggested it was possible a series about the antagonist Khan Noonien Singh was also in the works.

We'll just have to wait and see on this last one. It might even be a different project we haven't heard about yet.

One thing's for sure, though: you'll get all the Star Trek you can handle over the next couple of years.

How to watch the Star Wars movies in order

Samuel is a PR Manager at game developer Frontier. Formerly TechRadar's Senior Entertainment Editor, he's an expert in Marvel, Star Wars, Netflix shows and general streaming stuff. Before his stint at TechRadar, he spent six years at PC Gamer. Samuel is also the co-host of the popular Back Page podcast, in which he details the trials and tribulations of being a games magazine editor – and attempts to justify his impulsive eBay games buying binges.

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The Future of ‘Star Trek’: From ‘Starfleet Academy’ to New Movies and Michelle Yeoh, How the 58-Year-Old Franchise Is Planning for the Next Generation of Fans

“I can’t believe I get to play the captain of the Enterprise.”

“Strange New Worlds” is the 12th “Star Trek” TV show since the original series debuted on NBC in 1966, introducing Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a hopeful future for humanity. In the 58 years since, the “Star Trek” galaxy has logged 900 television episodes and 13 feature films, amounting to 668 hours — nearly 28 days — of content to date. Even compared with “Star Wars” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Star Trek” stands as the only storytelling venture to deliver a single narrative experience for this long across TV and film.

In other words, “Star Trek” is not just a franchise. As Alex Kurtzman , who oversees all “Star Trek” TV production, puts it, “‘Star Trek’ is an institution.”

Without a steady infusion of new blood, though, institutions have a way of fading into oblivion (see soap operas, MySpace, Blockbuster Video). To keep “Star Trek” thriving has meant charting a precarious course to satisfy the fans who have fueled it for decades while also discovering innovative ways to get new audiences on board.

“Doing ‘Star Trek’ means that you have to deliver something that’s entirely familiar and entirely fresh at the same time,” Kurtzman says.

The franchise has certainly weathered its share of fallow periods, most recently after “Nemesis” bombed in theaters in 2002 and UPN canceled “Enterprise” in 2005. It took 12 years for “Star Trek” to return to television with the premiere of “Discovery” in 2017; since then, however, there has been more “Star Trek” on TV than ever: The adventure series “Strange New Worlds,” the animated comedy “Lower Decks” and the kids series “Prodigy” are all in various stages of production, and the serialized thriller “Picard” concluded last year, when it ranked, along with “Strange New Worlds,” among Nielsen’s 10 most-watched streaming original series for multiple weeks. Nearly one in five Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. is watching at least one “Star Trek” series, according to the company, and more than 50% of fans watching one of the new “Trek” shows also watch at least two others. The new shows air in 200 international markets and are dubbed into 35 languages. As “Discovery” launches its fifth and final season in April, “Star Trek” is in many ways stronger than it’s ever been.

“’Star Trek’s fans have kept it alive more times than seems possible,” says Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., who executive produces the TV series through Roddenberry Entertainment. “While many shows rightfully thank their fans for supporting them, we literally wouldn’t be here without them.”

But the depth of fan devotion to “Star Trek” also belies a curious paradox about its enduring success: “It’s not the largest fan base,” says Akiva Goldsman, “Strange New Worlds” executive producer and co-showrunner. “It’s not ‘Star Wars.’ It’s certainly not Marvel.”

When J.J. Abrams rebooted “Star Trek” in 2009 — with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña playing Kirk, Spock and Uhura — the movie grossed more than any previous “Star Trek” film by a comfortable margin. But neither that film nor its two sequels broke $500 million in global grosses, a hurdle every other top-tier franchise can clear without breaking a sweat.

There’s also the fact that “Star Trek” fans are aging. I ask “The Next Generation” star Jonathan Frakes, who’s acted in or directed more versions of “Star Trek” than any other person alive, how often he meets fans for whom the new “Star Trek” shows are their first. “Of the fans who come to talk to me, I would say very, very few,” he says. “‘Star Trek’ fans, as we know, are very, very, very loyal — and not very young.”

As Stapf puts it: “There’s a tried and true ‘Trek’ fan that is probably going to come to every ‘Star Trek,’ no matter what it is — and we want to expand the universe.”

Every single person I spoke to for this story talked about “Star Trek” with a joyful earnestness as rare in the industry as (nerd alert) a Klingon pacifist.

“When I’m meeting fans, sometimes they’re coming to be confirmed, like I’m kind of a priest,” Ethan Peck says during a break in filming on the “Strange New Worlds” set. He’s in full Spock regalia — pointy ears, severe eyebrows, bowl haircut — and when asked about his earliest memories of “Star Trek,” he stares off into space in what looks like Vulcan contemplation. “I remember being on the playground in second or third grade and doing the Vulcan salute, not really knowing where it came from,” he says. “When I thought of ‘Star Trek,’ I thought of Spock. And now I’m him. It’s crazy.”

To love “Star Trek” is to love abstruse science and cowboy diplomacy, complex moral dilemmas and questions about the meaning of existence. “It’s ultimately a show with the most amazing vision of optimism, I think, ever put on-screen in science fiction,” says Kurtzman, who is 50. “All you need is two minutes on the news to feel hopeless now. ‘Star Trek’ is honestly the best balm you could ever hope for.”

I’m getting a tour of the USS Enterprise from Scotty — or, rather, “Strange New World” production designer Jonathan Lee, who is gushing in his native Scottish burr as we step into the starship’s transporter room. “I got such a buzzer from doing this, I can’t tell you,” he says. “I actually designed four versions of it.”

Lee is especially proud of the walkway he created to run behind the transporter pads — an innovation that allows the production to shoot the characters from a brand-new set of angles as they beam up from a far-flung planet. It’s one of the countless ways that this show has been engineered to be as cinematic as possible, part of Kurtzman’s overall vision to make “Star Trek” on TV feel like “a movie every week.”

Kurtzman’s tenure with “Star Trek” began with co-writing the screenplay for Abrams’ 2009 movie, which was suffused with a fast-paced visual style that was new to the franchise. When CBS Studios approached Kurtzman in the mid-2010s about bringing “Star Trek” back to TV, he knew instinctively that it needed to be just as exciting as that film.

“The scope was so much different than anything we had ever done on ‘Next Gen,’” says Frakes, who’s helmed two feature films with the “Next Generation” cast and directed episodes of almost every live-action “Trek” TV series, including “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds.” “Every department has the resources to create.”

A new science lab set for Season 3, for example, boasts a transparent floor atop a four-foot pool of water that swirls underneath the central workbench, and the surrounding walls sport a half dozen viewscreens with live schematics custom designed by a six-person team. “I like being able to paint on a really big canvas,” Kurtzman says. “The biggest challenge is always making sure that no matter how big something gets, you’re never losing focus on that tiny little emotional story.”

At this point, is there a genre that “Strange New Worlds” can’t do? “As long as we’re in storytelling that is cogent and sure handed, I’m not sure there is,” Goldsman says with an impish smile. “Could it do Muppets? Sure. Could it do black and white, silent, slapstick? Maybe!”

This approach is also meant to appeal to people who might want to watch “Star Trek” but regard those 668 hours of backstory as an insurmountable burden. “You shouldn’t have to watch a ‘previously on’ to follow our show,” Myers says.

To achieve so many hairpin shifts in tone and setting while maintaining Kurtzman’s cinematic mandate, “Strange New Worlds” has embraced one of the newest innovations in visual effects: virtual production. First popularized on the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian,” the technology — called the AR wall — involves a towering circular partition of LED screens projecting a highly detailed, computer-generated backdrop. Rather than act against a greenscreen, the actors can see whatever fantastical surroundings their characters are inhabiting, lending a richer level of verisimilitude to the show.

But there is a catch. While the technology is calibrated to maintain a proper sense of three-dimensional perspective through the camera lens, it can be a bit dizzying for anyone standing on the set. “The images on the walls start to move in a way that makes no sense,” says Mount. “You end up having to focus on something that’s right in front of you so you don’t fall down.”

And yet, even as he’s talking about it, Mount can’t help but break into a boyish grin. “Sometimes we call it the holodeck,” he says. In fact, the pathway to the AR wall on the set is dotted with posters of the virtual reality room from “The Next Generation” and the words “Enter Holodeck” in a classic “Trek” font.

“I want to take one of those home with me,” Peck says. Does the AR wall also affect him? “I don’t really get disoriented by it. Spock would not get ill, so I’m Method acting.”

I’m on the set of the “Star Trek” TV movie “Section 31,” seated in an opulent nightclub with a view of a brilliant, swirling nebula, watching Yeoh rehearse with director Olatunde Osunsanmi and her castmates. Originally, the project was announced as a TV series centered on Philippa Georgiou, the semi-reformed tyrant Yeoh originated on “Discovery.” But between COVID delays and the phenomenon of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” there wasn’t room in the veteran actress’s schedule to fit a season of television. Yeoh was undaunted.

“We’d never let go of her,” she says of her character. “I was just blown away by all the different things I could do with her. Honestly, it was like, ‘Let’s just get it done, because I believe in this.’”

If that means nothing to you, don’t worry: The enormity of the revelation that Garrett is being brought back is meant only for fans. If you don’t know who the character is, you’re not missing anything.

“It was always my goal to deliver an entertaining experience that is true to the universe but appeals to newcomers,” says screenwriter Craig Sweeny. “I wanted a low barrier of entry so that anybody could enjoy it.”

Nevertheless, including Garrett on the show is exactly the kind of gasp-worthy detail meant to flood “Star Trek” fans with geeky good feeling.

“You cannot create new fans to the exclusion of old fans,” Kurtzman says. “You must serve your primary fan base first and you must keep them happy. That is one of the most important steps to building new fans.”

On its face, that maxim would make “Section 31” a genuine risk. The titular black-ops organization has been controversial with “Star Trek” fans since it was introduced in the 1990s. “The concept is almost antagonistic to some of the values of ‘Star Trek,’” Sweeny says. But he still saw “Section 31” as an opportunity to broaden what a “Star Trek” project could be while embracing the radical inclusivity at the heart of the franchise’s appeal.

“Famously, there’s a spot for everybody in Roddenberry’s utopia, so I was like, ‘Well, who would be the people who don’t quite fit in?’” he says. “I didn’t want to make the John le Carré version, where you’re in the headquarters and it’s backbiting and shades of gray. I wanted to do the people who were at the edges, out in the field. These are not people who necessarily work together the way you would see on a ‘Star Trek’ bridge.”

For Osunsanmi, who grew up watching “The Next Generation” with his father, it boils down to a simple question: “Is it putting good into the world?” he asks. “Are these characters ultimately putting good into the world? And, taking a step back, are we putting good into the world? Are we inspiring humans watching this to be good? That’s for me what I’ve always admired about ‘Star Trek.’”

Should “Section 31” prove successful, Yeoh says she’s game for a sequel. And Kurtzman is already eyeing more opportunities for TV movies, including a possible follow-up to “Picard.” The franchise’s gung-ho sojourn into streaming movies, however, stands in awkward contrast to the persistent difficulty Paramount Pictures and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot have had making a feature film following 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond” — the longest theaters have gone without a “Star Trek” movie since Paramount started making them.

First, a movie reuniting Pine’s Capt. Kirk with his late father — played in the 2009 “Star Trek” by Chris Hemsworth — fell apart in 2018. Around the same time, Quentin Tarantino publicly flirted with, then walked away from, directing a “Star Trek” movie with a 1930s gangster backdrop. Noah Hawley was well into preproduction on a “Star Trek” movie with a brand-new cast, until then-studio chief Emma Watts abruptly shelved it in 2020. And four months after Abrams announced at Paramount’s 2022 shareholders meeting that his 2009 cast would return for a movie directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”), Shakman left the project to make “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel. (It probably didn’t help that none of the cast had been approached before Abrams made his announcement.)

The studio still intends to make what it’s dubbed the “final chapter” for the Pine-Quinto-Saldaña cast, and Steve Yockey (“The Flight Attendant”) is writing a new draft of the script. Even further along is another prospective “Star Trek” film written by Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and to be directed by Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) that studio insiders say is on track to start preproduction by the end of the year. That project will serve as an origin story of sorts for the main timeline of the entire franchise. In both cases, the studio is said to be focused on rightsizing the budgets to fit within the clear box office ceiling for “Star Trek” feature films.

Far from complaining, everyone seems to relish the challenge. Visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman says that “working with Alex, the references are always at least $100 million movies, if not more, so we just kind of reverse engineer how do we do that without having to spend the same amount of money and time.”

The workload doesn’t seem to faze him either. “Visual effects people are a big, big ‘Star Trek’ fandom,” he says. “You naturally just get all these people who go a little bit above and beyond, and you can’t trade that for anything.”

In one of Kurtzman’s several production offices in Toronto, he and production designer Matthew Davies are scrutinizing a series of concept drawings for the newest “Star Trek” show, “Starfleet Academy.” A bit earlier, they showed me their plans for the series’ central academic atrium, a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space. To fit it all, they plan to use every inch of Pinewood Toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage, the largest in Canada.

But this is a “Star Trek” show, so there do need to be starships, and Kurtzman is discussing with Davies about how one of them should look. The issue is that “Starfleet Academy” is set in the 32nd century, an era so far into the future Kurtzman and his team need to invent much of its design language.

“For me, this design is almost too Klingon,” Kurtzman says. “I want to see the outline and instinctively, on a blink, recognize it as a Federation ship.”

The time period was first introduced on Season 3 of “Discovery,” when the lead character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), transported the namesake starship and its crew there from the 23rd century. “It was exciting, because every time we would make a decision, we would say, ‘And now that’s canon,’” says Martin-Green.

“We listened to a lot of it,” Kurtzman says. “I think I’ve been able to separate the toxic fandom from really true fans who love ‘Star Trek’ and want you to hear what they have to say about what they would like to see.”

By Season 2, the “Discovery” writers pivoted from its dour, war-torn first season and sent the show on its trajectory 900-plus years into the future. “We had to be very aware of making sure that Spock was in the right place and that Burnham’s existence was explained properly, because she was never mentioned in the original series,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise. “What was fun about jumping into the future is that it was very much fresh snow.”

That freedom affords “Starfleet Academy” far more creative latitude while also dramatically reducing how much the show’s target audience of tweens and teens needs to know about “Star Trek” before watching — which puts them on the same footing as the students depicted in the show. “These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before,” Noga Landau, executive producer and co-showrunner, says. “They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”

In the “Starfleet Academy” writers’ room in Secret Hideout’s Santa Monica offices, Kurtzman tells the staff — a mix of “Star Trek” die-hards, part-time fans and total newbies — that he wants to take a 30,000-foot view for a moment. “I think we need to ground in science more throughout the show,” he says, a giant framed photograph of Spock ears just over his shoulder. “The kids need to use science more to solve problems.”

Immediately, one of the writers brightens. “Are you saying we can amp up the techno-babble?” she says. “I’m just excited I get to use my computer science degree.”

After they break for lunch, Kurtzman is asked how much longer he plans to keep making “Star Trek.”

“The minute I fall out of love with it is the minute that it’s not for me anymore. I’m not there yet,” he says. “To be able to build in this universe to tell stories that are fundamentally about optimism and a better future at a time when the world seems to be falling apart — it’s a really powerful place to live every day.”

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Why 'Star Trek: Discovery' deserves more credit as a barrier-breaking series

Starship Discovery will soon be ending its mission, and what a journey it's been.

“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premiered in 2017, is entering its fifth and final season Thursday on Paramount+. And you’ll need the Captain’s Log to remember all the twists, turns and transformations the show has gone through since it began.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the hate the series has received from some Trek fans. (“Discovery” has an overall audience score of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark difference from the 87% critic rating.)

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While the show is far from free of legitimate criticism, many of the complaints seem unfairly – though perhaps tellingly – placed on the show’s focus on a Black woman commander, its LGBTQ+ stars and allies and its inclusive storylines. “Woke agenda” and other dog whistles frequently surface on Reddit and social media posts about the series.

That so much of the negativity is rooted in a backlash against inclusivity raises questions. After all, the "Star Trek" franchise has long emphasized and celebrated culture, diversity and humanity coming together and preserving the integrity of beings they meet across the galaxy.

"It doesn't make any sense, because (these fans) say they love this franchise," series star Sonequa Martin-Green says in an interview. The show “has always been about breaking those boundaries. It's always been about diversity and equality. And our world has changed since the last iteration of 'Trek.' We have a responsibility to push that needle forward and to stay true to that."

More: Issa Rae says Hollywood needs to be accountable. Here's why diverse shows are so important

The series is originally set before the events of NBC's original “Star Trek: The Original Series” (later jumping to the future) and follows Michael Burnham (Martin-Green), who became the starship’s captain, and the rest of the crew of the USS Discovery: first officer Saru (Doug Jones), chief engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), lieutenant and now Starfleet Academy teacher Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), medical officer Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), courier and Burnham’s love interest Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) and ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio).

Many more characters have stood on the bridge, battled with Burnham, or otherwise make up the world of "Discovery." The series had some trouble finding the right footing, but it’s always had heart, especially in its recurring theme of redemption. And it deserves more support for what it has meant for the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Here’s why “Star Trek: Discovery” deserves more credit:

Prioritizing diversity and inclusivity

A Vulcan philosophy (and one espoused by “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry) is IDIC, or “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” and many of the related series, movies and books underscore this belief. “Discovery” also has diversity at its core: the show focuses on a Black woman who becomes captain. Stamets and Culber are an openly gay couple, and engineer Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) is a lesbian. And the show introduced a few franchise firsts: Adira Tal as the first nonbinary character in "Star Trek ," and their boyfriend, Gray ( Ian Alexander ), is the first transgender character , both introduced in Season 3.

More: 'Star Trek' documentary unveils star Nichelle Nichols' impactful NASA connection

Starting a new age of Star Trek

“Discovery” helped launch the CBS All Access streaming platform, a CBS subscription service that would eventually become Paramount+, as well as a new era of "Star Trek" series including “Lower Decks” and “Picard.” Before “Discovery,” the last Trek series was “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which ended in 2005.

Exploring strange new worlds

The second season of “Discovery” also served as a launching pad for the well-received spinoff, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which resurfaced popular characters from the original series including Spock (Ethan Peck), Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn).

Finding time for the simple things

In a few scenes scattered throughout "Discovery," we see characters like Culber and Stamets sharing a meal or talking about their day while brushing their teeth. It’s almost mundane, but there’s also something so lovely about watching LGBTQ+ characters who rarely are the focus in movies or television simply living their lives, being their whole selves. Burnham rocking braids at the beginning of Season 3 speaks cultural volumes. The subtle amid the big battles and overarching plots do have meaning, especially for those whose voices often go unheard.

Going boldly

The first season of “Discovery” went out of its way to highlight its connections to the original series: Burnham is Spock’s adopted sister, and there's a brief appearance by Spock’s father, Sarek. But it wasn’t always so neatly woven, sometimes seeming more like it was using franchise lore as a crutch. But “Discovery” wasn’t afraid to try new things, turning itself around after an overcomplicated first season and again after a very “TOS”-inspired second, slowly building up its own universe without relying too heavily on the old.

The first episodes of Season 5 are a little rocky before it settles into a comfortable speed.

"This time around, we wanted to bring in some levity," Martin-Green says. "But there's a grand sort of epicness to Season 5, even though we didn't know it was our last season when we were shooting it. I think looking back on it, and when we share it with the world, it'll seem that way because the season is so big. So people can expect a lot of fun. They can expect it to go really fast."

It will be interesting to see if “Discovery” sticks the landing through the remainder of the season.

“The good outweighs the bad,” Burnham says in an upcoming episode about a mission, and that’s also true of “Discovery."

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" (two episodes now streaming, then weekly on Thursdays) streams on Paramount+.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why 'Star Trek: Discovery' deserves more credit as a barrier-breaking series

From left, David Ajala as Book, Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham and Wilson Cruz as Culber in a scene from season five of "Star Trek: Discovery," streaming on Paramount+.

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‘Star Trek: Picard’ Series Finale Sets the Stage for a Big Spinoff

By Alan Sepinwall

Alan Sepinwall

This post contains spoilers for the Picard series finale, “The Last Generation.”

When this third and final season of Picard debuted earlier this year, I wrote that while on the one hand it was shameless fan service , on the other this was exactly what Star Trek fans wanted and needed after the show’s first two years were so disappointing. Simply bringing back the entire crew of The Next Generation — and giving most of them much better and richer material than what they got to play back in the Eighties and Nineties — felt like more than enough, even if the season’s conspiracy plot was largely gibberish.

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On the whole, though, this is exactly what most Trekkies would have wanted from this season, and from Picard as a whole: one last chance to see these characters at their best, and to let the actors dig deeper into roles that were often much thinner than they should have been in the Eighties and Nineties.

Some more thoughts on the finale, and the season:

The season used the Changelings from Deep Space Nine as red herring villains, finally roping the Borg back in for the last couple of episodes. This was a mixed bag, not only because it conflicted with what had happened previously on this very show, but because it feels like it is somehow always going to be the Borg with Jean-Luc. The Changelings were at least surprising, and also a small way for this season to pay homage to the wildly underrated Deep Space Nine , when otherwise it was made up of pieces of TNG and Voyager . (Heck, there was even an original series cameo of sorts, as Walter Koenig provided the voice of Pavel Chekov’s son, Anton — not a nod to playwright Anton Chekhov, but to the late Anton Yelchin , who played Pavel in the Chris Pine films.) Réne Auberjonois (whose Odo was the cleanest connection to the Changelings) has passed away, and Avery Brooks’ Ben Sisko is trapped in the wormhole, but couldn’t Nana Visitor have stopped by? (Colm Meaney who, like Michael Dorn, appeared on both TNG and DS9 , but was much more integral to the latter?) Plus, the nature of the Borg takeover of Starfleet made everyone — particularly Borg expert Elizabeth Shelby from the classic “Best of Both Worlds” two-parter — look very, very stupid.
The relentless nostalgia did go over the line a bit at the end of the season’s penultimate episode, when Geordi brought his friends onto a rebuilt version of their old ship. Exciting as it was to see them back on the familiar Enterprise-D bridge, it didn’t feel like a time for gawking while the Borg had taken complete control of Starfleet and were preparing to destroy Earth.
Boy, were Stewart and Michelle Forbes great together in the episode where Jean-Luc’s rebellious Bajoran protege Ro Laren returned. Ro was one of the better TNG recurring characters, and was meant to be the female lead on Deep Space Nine , but Forbes wasn’t crazy about committing years of her life to Star Trek . But she was very invested in the character here, and her argument with Jean-Luc about their former relationship was among the more complex pieces of old business the season did.
Finally, before we see the Enterprise-D crew play one last round of cards together, we get set-up for a potential spinoff, where Seven of Nine is the captain of the newly-rechristened Enterprise-G, Raffi is her first officer, Geordi’s daughter Sidney remains at the helm, and the multi-talented but reckless Jack is, for now, the ship’s counselor. And later, he’s visited by his father’s old nemesis Q. (Q died at the end of Season Two, but Matalas picked and chose which aspects of the first two seasons he wanted to use and which he wanted to ignore.) On the whole, this feels like a mixed bag. Jeri Ryan can certainly carry a new series as the lead, and Ed Speelers had his moments as Jack, but Raffi has been a dud for three seasons now. If we do get a Seven-centric show, though, the good news is that it would keep pushing the timeline forward, where the otherwise-excellent Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks take place in the franchise’s past.

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Upcoming Star Trek: From Discovery to Strange New Worlds, Section 31 and more

If you're a Star Trek fan, you have a lot to look forward to on the TV and movie horizons

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Space may be the final frontier, but there's no end to it in sight. In fact, judging by the amount of Star Trek fans that show up in theaters, tune in to network TV, and sign up for multiple streaming services, the franchise may very well last up to the time that humanity really is exploring the stars.

Whether it’s William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, Avery Brooks’ Benjamin Sisko, or any of the subsequent commanders and captains of the many starships of Starfleet, generations of viewers have found themselves in good hands when it comes to navigating the outer limits of reality on a regular basis… and, these days, there are more opportunities than ever to transport into space for a trek of your own.

Even with 2023’s final season of Picard, there are no fewer than four ongoing Star Trek series right now — with even more on the way, and the return of the franchise to the big screen, with multiple movies in the works. There’s so much happening, in fact, that it’s easy to lose track… which is why you should keep reading and find out what to expect from Star Trek across the next few years. (Spoilers: the final frontier is getting a lot bigger.)

Upcoming Star Trek movies and TV show schedule

There’s no shortage of Star Trek in the pipeline for the next few years, but no official dates have been announced by CBS or Paramount for anything outside of Star Trek: Discovery season five coming in April. That doesn’t mean that we have no idea when some projects should be dropping, based on how far along they are in terms of production, or simply teases given by those involved.

Here’s a quick rundown of the projects that have been announced from Star Trek that exist on some form of schedule, however vague. (There are many unscheduled projects, which we’ll get to at warp speed, don’t worry.)

What Star Trek TV series are planned?

Star trek: discovery, season five.

The series that re-launched the franchise in 2017 will be concluding with its upcoming fifth season, although that wasn’t the original plan during production , as it turns out. How will things end up for Michael Burnham, Sara, and the rest of the crew of the time traveling Starfleet flagship? We’ve only got a few months to wait before we’ll find out — the fifth and final season is scheduled for arrival in April 2024, although the exact date for the debut of the season remains unknown for now.

Release Date: April 4, 2024

Platform: Paramount+

Star Trek: Prodigy, season two

While Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 was originally announced to debut on Paramount+ in the winter of 2023, Paramount+ has nixed those plans — but the show was picked up by Netflix, with new episodes already announced for some point in 2024. (The first season was added to the platform in December 2023.)

Release Date: TBD 2024

Platform: Netflix

Star Trek: Lower Decks, season five

A fifth season for the animated comedy set in the period between Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard was announced in April 2023, but no premiere date is known. Judging by the period between order and broadcast for the fourth season, however, it’s relatively safe to assume that a new season might be ready by the end of 2024, unless the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes of 2023 threw everything entirely off schedule.

Release Date: TBD 2024?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season three

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 art

As if the second season cliffhanger wasn't enough of a clue that the popular spin-off of Discovery - which is also a prequel to the original Star Trek series from the 1960s - would return, the show's third season renewal was announced back in April 2023 . But after a second season that included a half-animated crossover episode and a musical, how can they top what they've already achieved? No premiere date for the third season has been announced, but production is expected to run into summer 2024, meaning that we might have to wait until 2025 before seeing new episodes.

Release Date: TBD 2025?

Movies & TV Shows with No Approximate Schedule Yet

Star trek: section 31.

Even before the character of Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) left the Discovery narrative, rumors of a Section 31 spinoff starring the Oscar Award-winning actress have swirled. In mid-April 2023, it was officially announced that a Star Trek: Section 31 “special movie event” starring Yeoh had been greenlit by Paramount+ .

Yeoh, who originated the idea for a Section 31 spinoff herself, will serve as executive producer with Alex Kurtzman. Additional details from the announcement include the fact that Section 31 will be written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi (director of many episodes of Discovery ). However, it remains to be seen what other familiar Trek characters may appear in the show, if any.

Release Date: TBD

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

In late March 2023, it was announced that Starfleet Academy season 1 had been ordered. Very few details have been revealed about the series, including confirmation that it will be live-action. However, the fact that the announcement refers to it being “the first time in over a century” that individuals will be admitted to the Academy implies the series will be set around the same time period as Discovery seasons 3, 4 and 5 : the 31st century.

However, we do know some of those behind the scenes who will be involved with Starfleet Academy. Serving as showrunners and executive producers will be Kurtzman and Noga Landau. Furthermore, in a Tweet sent shortly after the series order was announced, Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome revealed that she has joined the show’s writers room.

Star Trek 4

In April 2021, a new Star Trek movie was announced for release on June 9, 2023. It was subsequently revealed to be a fourth movie in the Kelvin Timeline. WandaVision alum Matt Shakman was attached to the project before he accepted the directorial role for the upcoming Fantastic Four MCU adaptation; he subsequently left the project, which placed it in turnaround.

Long believed to be quietly dead, sources inside Paramount have recently said that it’s still active and in development. And yet, it's not all good news - according to Variety , the fourth entry into the Chris Pine-starring Star Trek saga will be "the final chapter."

Platform: Theatrical

Untitled Star Trek prequel

Having wowed fans with his work on Lucasfilm’s Andor series, director Toby Haynes is reportedly developing a new Star Trek movie set decades before J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise , with writer Seth Grahame-Smith onboard to write. Little is known about the project beyond the fact that it would be a prequel set in the Kelvin Timeline, raising the question of just how much Nero’s interruption of the timeline actually impacted things… and whether said interruption went back in time, as well as forward.

Untitled Picard movie

The open question over what, if anything, Paramount would do to follow up on the success of the third and final season of Picard might have an answer. While Picard showrunner Terry Malalas had teased a new series called Legacy — see below — Patrick Stewart revealed in a recent interview that he’s heard of a movie script written specifically for Picard, although he hadn’t read it and couldn’t give any further details. Will this feature more of the reunited TNG cast, or is it something entirely different? And is it meant as a Paramount+ project a la Section 31, or a theatrical release? Time will tell…

Platform: TBD

Potentially Abandoned Projects

Quentin tarantino’s trek.

At one point, legendary director Quentin Tarantino was talking about directing an R-rated movie set in the Star Trek universe, with another writer working from an idea he had that was reportedly a time travel movie that would take inspiration from the original series episode ‘A Piece of the Action.’ Things progressed to a small degree with writer Mark L. Smith before Tarantino decided that he didn’t want to direct it, but the screenplay exists and Tarantino has said that he’d be willing to offer notes for any new director . We can but hope this oddity one day happens.

Star Trek: Legacy

One unannounced project remains at the forefront of Trekkie agendas everywhere: the proposed Picard semi-sequel, Star Trek: Legacy. The title was revealed by Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas on Twitter in March 2023, while Picard’s wildly popular third season was being released. Matalas stated the proposed series would be set in the 25th century, following up on storylines and characters from “the Last Generation and the Next.”

While the series has yet to be officially commented upon by Paramount or CBS, fans have signed online petitions in support of the idea, and at least one Trek executive seems in favor; In interviews in support of Strange New Worlds season 2, Akiva Goldsman voiced his continued advocacy for a continuation of the vision Matalas has for the Franchise. “Let me put it this way,” Goldsman said during an interview with CinemaBlend. “I signed the petition too.”

It’s unclear whether or not the Picard movie project mentioned above is a variation on the Legacy idea, or an entirely separate project.

Is Star Trek 4 confirmed?

As we mentioned earlier, a fourth Star Trek movie set in the Kelvin Timeline — the alternate timeline created with J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban as Kirk, Spock, and Bones, respectively — is in development, although it’s unclear at what stage at time of writing. It’s certainly stalled more than once with announced directors leaving the project, but both the studio and the stars have expressed their continued interest in making it happen, so… we’ll see.

What is the most current Star Trek?

The last new Star Trek to debut was the fourth season of the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks series on Paramount+. The last live-action Star Trek to arrive was the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, also on Paramount+.

What’s the next Star Trek series?

Unless the second season of Star Trek: Prodigy makes a surprise drop on Netflix in the next couple of months, the next anticipated Star Trek series will be the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery, on Paramount+. The question of what the next Star Trek movie will be is somewhat open; logic would dictate that it would be the Section 31 movie on Paramount+, and we all know that Star Trek fans would rather pay attention to logic than anything else, right…?

Will there be another Star Trek with Jack Crusher?

One of the breakout stars of Picard, season 3, Ed Speleere portrays Jack Crusher, a new addition to the Star Trek universe with ties that go back generations (or at least, to the new one). After the third season fo the Patrick Stewart-starring spinoff wrapped, fans were very curious about whether we'd see Crusher again.

Unfortunately, there's no confirmed answer to this question. However, that hasn't stopped folks like Susana Polo at Polygon from speculating about Crusher's future, particularly how it could connect to the rumors of Star Trek: Legacy. Be warned before you read that speculation, though; it contains major spoilers for Picard season 3.

Space may be the final frontier, but there's no end to Popverse's love of the Star Trek universe. Hop aboard the starship Enterprise with our Star Trek watch order , explore strange new worlds with our upcoming Star Trek TV shows and movies list , seek out the new life of the franchise , and boldly go where no Star TRek film has ever gone before - with Quentin Tarantino ?

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Published Apr 2, 2024

What to Expect from The Final Season of Star Trek: Discovery

The cast details everything you need to know to get ready for the Season 5 premiere this week!

The cast of Star Trek: Discovery (David Ajala, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, Mary Wiseman, Sonequa Martin-Green, and Doug Jones)

Getty Images / StarTrek.com

The highly anticipated fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery arrives this week!

This season finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.

Ahead of the premiere, StarTrek.com had the opportunity to speak with series cast Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland "Book" Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira), along with this season's recurring guest star Eve Harlow (Moll) and executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise . With their help, here's what you can expect from their characters this season!

In case you need a quick refresher before we dive forward, we've got a handy Where We Left Off guide !

Now let's fly!

Sonequa Martin-Green on Season 5 Stakes and Captain Michael Burnham's Relationship Status

"Red Directive"

StarTrek.com

"This season, we can expect a wild ride," teases Sonequa Martin-Green. "One of the things that they wanted to do was that they wanted to have a tonal shift. They wanted it to be adventurous, they wanted it to be fun, they wanted it to be kind of like the Indiana Jones season. And so we really did that. We really did that. The artistry is on another level."

"In every department, you will see some really incredible things coming to life," continues Martin-Green. "In Season 5, we did some stuff we should not have been able to do; we did some stuff that we've never done before. I'm really proud of every department, of every cast member, of every crew member, every writer, every producer, every post-production coordinator, and supervisor, and worker. We took it to the next level without even knowing that it was our last season. When everyone sees it, I think that they'll see what I'm talking about. It's culminating because of that; it is just on another level. It's a huge, huge season. People have a lot to look forward to."

Addressing where Michael Burnham and Book find themselves at the start of this season, Martin-Green explains, "Book and Burnham, they are the classic, old Facebook status of 'It's complicated.' They've got a lot to work through. That's where we pick up with them, having not been speaking as regularly as they normally do. Of course, we see that he was sent off at the end of Season 4. Now they are back in each other's midst, and they have got a lot to talk about and a lot to wade through. It's very complicated between them. There's obviously still that love, that deep love, that bond, that respect, but they've got a lot to work through."

Doug Jones on Saru's Next Step

"Under the Twin Moons"

Reflecting on Saru's journey across the entire series, Doug Jones reveals, "Saru had been captain of the ship for Season 3. And Season 4, he then kind of took a step to First Officer again, because of his loyalty to Michael Burnham, and the special task we were on throughout the season."

"Well, now he’s [re-evaluating] his purpose there," adds Jones. "Has it run its course? His relationship with President T’Rina, played by the lovely Tara Rosling. She does come into the equation with how he makes his decision."

Anthony Rapp on Paul Stamets' Legacy and Season 5 Baddies

In engineering, Statmets grins while looking over his shoulder in a first look for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Episode 506

"This season, you can expect a new level of inquiry for Paul about what's next for him in terms of the work that he wants to do," hints Anthony Rapp. "He's an incredibly driven and brilliant human being with this mind, that's some level of genius. You get to see him like stretch himself in new ways."

What does the Discovery crew make of arrival of this season's antagonists — Moll (played by Eve Harlow) and L'ak (played by Elias Toufexis)?

"I really love the description of this kind of Bonnie and Clyde," shares Rapp. "It was fun for us, or for me, I could speak for myself, to have these kind of iconic touchstone archetypes brought into our show. Their energy as people; [Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis] brought a beautiful energy to the company to being a part of our show and being a part of our story. And then their work was exceptional. To have this, this idea of this kind of like maverick couple that's on the run is a cool one. And there's a reason it's iconic. And I think that the way that our writers threaded it through our story was really well done."

Mary Wiseman on Sylvia Tilly's Career Focus

"Tilly's in a great place," notes Mary Wiseman. "She's found a certain kind of assurance from going off to teach at Starfleet Academy, and coming back feels like coming home. You're a little cooler and a little more adult. And people call you 'Miss.'"

However, that's not without some challenges. "But she kind of also feels stuck with the problem about how to get through to these kids that have grown up in this era where there isn't the sort of interconnectedness, galaxy-wide communication, and transportation possibilities that there were when she was growing up," highlights Wiseman. "And she's kind of noticing it in the kids' behavior, and inability to interact or team build. And so that's something that she kind of wants to work on and figure out how to help them out with that."

Wilson Cruz on Dr. Hugh Culber's New Experiences

Culber connects with Tilly as they lean over a counter in a first look at Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Episode 505

"Where we first find Culber in Season 5, he's in a really good place," notes Wilson Cruz. "He's really embodied this new version of himself, and is ready and willing to take on whatever he's confronted with."

Cruz continues, "This season, he is confronted with an experience that forces him to ask even more existential questions that kind of blows his mind. It starts him on knowing about all of the mysteries of the universe. This whole mission really makes him question a lot of things. We see him process a lot of that throughout the season."

David Ajala on Cleveland "Book" Booker's Love for Burnham and Season 5 Action Sequences

Book and Burnham stand defensively with phasers locked facing ahead as Culber stands by them in a first look for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Episode 503

Following the events of Season 4, Book must walk away from Burnham. Reflecting on his actions and headspace at the start of this season, David Ajala states, "It's interesting, because, if we're talking about the gift of grace, Book has definitely received grace from Michael Burnham. Even though Book made the decision that he thought was right, it was not even honorable, but he felt duty bound to do what he did. He was still afforded grace by Michael Burnham, to be welcomed back with open arms. The journey of someone like Cleveland Booker, who was very driven by keeping his autonomy, and also serving his purpose on the planet, which was to help endangered species, to be a part of Starfleet, it was never something that was within his remit. But then to come full circle in Season 5, and to see him, organically incorporate himself within that team is a wonderful story."

"Where we left off in Season 4, revisiting and coming back for Season 5, it's a different territory for both of them," explains Ajala. "And yet, they both have to acknowledge that they're in different spaces, but then still show a level of care for one another. This grey area is new territory."

As for the Indiana Jones -level of excitement the series explores this season, Ajala details, "I love action, I love being able to be physical, to express myself. Having said that, I love the way action is used in the right way. And because this is the final season, we could have taken like one to potentially three episodes to kind of warm into it. But with the first episode, we were straight in with high octane, big action sequences, and just a real spectacle to observe."

Blu del Barrio on Adira's Growing Confidence

"Adira starts out in a pretty solid looking place," reveals Blu del Barrio.

"On the outside, they look and seem really good," adds del Barrio. "They have a lot more responsibilities on the ship. And they're taking their work very seriously, and just very happy to be like more integrated. But underneath the surface, they're struggling a little bit more with some emotional stuff and some major personal stuff."

Eve Harlow on the Arrival of Star-Crossed Lovers and Joining the Cast of Discovery

During NYCC 2022 , audiences got to learn about this season's baddies. Moll and L'ak are former couriers turned outlaws. Moll is highly intelligent and dangerous, with an impressive strategic mind and a sharp wit. She goes into every situation with a clear plan and stays focused and clear-headed on her goal, even when things go awry. She’s not easy to intimidate, and will face down anyone who stands in her way in order to get what she wants. Whereas L'ak is tough, impulsive, and fiercely protective of his beloved partner, Moll. So long as he knows she’s safe, he doesn’t care about collateral damage or its consequences — a perspective that makes him very dangerous at times and will put him on the opposite side of Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery when they come into conflict.

Speaking directly to StarTrek.com on Star Trek: The Cruise VII, Eve Harlow divulges, "Moll is badass, and she and L’ak are an interspecies couple. It’s kind of breaking all the rules, which is why they’re on the run. It’s very much like Romeo and Juliet or Bonnie and Clyde because they’re star-crossed lovers."

On her experience of joining this series for its fifth season, Harlow offers tons of praises, "These are some of the kindest, just most welcoming people I've ever met. I feel like I just talk about how much I love Sonequa a lot, but I will keep talking about how much I love her. She is the best leader I've ever experienced on set."

"[When I reflected on] who on-set is most like their character in real life. Without skipping a beat, Elias and I, at the same time, were Sonequa. She is that captain, and she treats everyone like an equal. I've just never been on a set where everyone, the crew is so appreciated. She knows everybody's names. She knows what they do. She knows their family life, what's going on with them. She genuinely cares, and being around that, that spirit is infectious. Every single time I was on set. I was so high energy; I was just so happy to be here. And it's because of the people who were working on that show."

Michelle Paradise on Season 5's New Faces

"Elias [Toufexis] and Eve [Harlow] play L’ak and Moll who are our two new bad guys this season," states Michelle Paradise. "We talked about them as kind of a Bonnie and Clyde unit. We hadn't had a couple before as our antagonist. In turn, they're obviously formidable foes for our heroes. But we also really wanted to make sure that they felt well-rounded, and that they weren't just one note, bad guys. We understood the why of what they were doing the depth of their love for one another. People will be surprised that they may start rooting for these bad guys, actually. But they'll never want them to win more than our heroes, of course. It’s a lot of fun to have them."

L'ak and Moll aren't the only new faces this season. Rayner, also previously announced at NYCC 2022, is a gruff, smart Starfleet captain who holds a clear line between commander and crew — he leads, they follow. Rayner’s all about the mission, whatever it may be, and he doesn’t do niceties along the way; his feeling is, you get the job done and apologize later. He has a storied track record of wartime success, but in times of peace, he struggles. Collaboration is not his strong suit. That said, if it serves the greater good he’s willing to learn... but it won’t be easy.

"And then Callum Keith Rennie plays Captain Rayner," elaborates Paradise. "What's interesting about him is that he is going to be a bit of an antagonist, but not in a bad guy way. He's going to push Burnham, and we'll get to see new sides of Burnham and new growth in Burnham because of her interactions with him. It's a really interesting dynamic there. That's one of the things that we always look at, if we're going to bring in any new guest characters, is how can they impact our regulars? And how can they help our regulars grow over the course of the season or change or help us see new sides of them, and these three do that beautifully."

Get ready for Discovery 's final adventure when Season 5 premieres with the first two episodes later this week!

Get updates by email.

Christine Dinh (she/her) is the managing editor for StarTrek.com. She’s traded the Multiverse for helming this Federation Starship.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1 through 4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe. In Canada, the series airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Discovery is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Graphic illustration of a tender moment between friends where Michael Burnham and Saru tap their foreheads in 'Under the Twin Moons'

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Invincible season 2 finale, Netflix’s Ripley, and more new TV this week

Plus: American Horror Story: Delicate, Star Trek: Discovery, and Elsbeth return

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Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham and Doug Jones as Saru, holding each others arms and looking at each other in a still from Star Trek: Discovery

It’s April Fools’ Day, but this post is no joke: There is a lot of new TV to watch this week. In a lot of ways it’s a showdown of tense situations — “tense,” here, being used to cover things like Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott, in the new adaptation) trying to con his way into high society, American Horror Story: Delicate ’s Anna (Emma Roberts) attempting to figure what’s a real haunting and what’s in her head, Mark (Steven Yeun) trying to live up to the title of Invincible while he protects his family, or Larry David (Larry David) just trying to make it through the end of Curb Your Enthusiasm alive.

Lots to unpack in those stories, and beyond. Here’s the best new TV premieres and finales this week.

New shows on Netflix

Genre: Con-artist class warfare Release date: April 4, with all episodes Showrunner/creator: Steven Zaillian Cast: Andrew Scott, Johnny Flynn, Dakota Fanning, and more

Tom Ripley is always slippery, whether you’re encountering him in the original Patricia Highsmith novels or adapted to the screen. While he was last portrayed by Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley , here it’s Andrew Scott, rendered in stark black and white, as Ripley undertakes the same story as the film, and the tragicomic story of Ripley and Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn).

New shows on Hulu

American horror story: delicate part 2.

Genre: Rosemary’s Baby Release date: April 3 on FX at 10 p.m. EDT, next day on Hulu Showrunner/creator: Ryan Murphy and Halley Feiffer Cast: Emma Roberts, Kim Kardashian, Matt Czuchry, and more

Anna (Emma Roberts) should be enjoying having it all, in the running for the Oscar and with child. Unfortunately, things keep going mysteriously wrong, and she’s quickly losing time and sanity. Season 12b will pick up with where we left her last year before the season break — as the mystery mounts and the pregnancy progresses.

New shows on Max

Curb your enthusiasm season 12 finale.

Genre: Cringe comedy Release date: April 7 Showrunner/creator: Larry David Cast: Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Susie Essman, and more

Larry David is going out on top — or his version of it, anyway. This is the guy who co-created Seinfeld , as he is oft reminded, and left in the final season, but did come back for the final episode, as he is also often reminded about. Probably nothing to read into for this finale.

Genre: Drama Release date: April 7 Showrunner/creator: Will Tracy Cast: Kate Winslet, Matthias Schoenaerts, and more

The Chancellor is losing it — and now it’s time to see how everything really shakes out for her.

New shows on Prime Video

Invincible season 2.

Seventeen-year-old Mark Grayson as the superhero Invincible

Genre: Coming of age (as a superhero) Release date: April 4 Showrunner/creator: Robert Kirkman Cast: Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh, Sterling K. Brown, and more

Mark (Steven Yeun) is still trying to figure his shit out, especially as he comes to terms with a breakup and a complete confusion of his sense of purpose. And now Angstrom Levy (Sterling K. Brown) is back and threatening his family. Fuck, dude.

New shows on Paramount Plus

Genre: (Still a) Columbo-esque procedural Release date: April 4 Showrunner/creator: Robert and Michelle King Cast: Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce, and more

That’s right, we’re doing it again! Elsbeth , the Good Wife spinoff centered around the best Good Wife side character, Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston), is back with the rest of the season. While it technically appeared in these very pages announcing its premiere earlier in February, the season now starts in earnest. Join us!

Star Trek: Discovery season 5

Genre: Science fiction Release date: April 4, with one episode Showrunner/creator: Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, David Ajala, and more

Star Trek: Discovery is returning for its fifth and final season. It’s the show that’s been driving the Star Trek TV renaissance (or, at least, the show all the other shows are building off of). And, as Susana Polo put it in her preview , “ Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show,” with the opportunity not seen in a quarter of a century.

New shows on Apple TV Plus

Loot season 2.

Genre: Comedy Release date: April 3, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard Cast: Maya Rudolph, Joel Kim Booster, Nat Faxon, and more

Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph) is still trying to reconnect to the real world through her philanthropic efforts. In the process, she’s learning to be a little more human herself — often to, well, humorous effect. With Rudolph and Loot coming back for season 2, we can trust Molly is going to really, finally figure it out this time.

Genre: Contemporary noir Release date: April 5, with two episodes Showrunner/creator: Mark Protosevich Cast: Colin Farrell, Kirby, James Cromwell, and more

Sugar (Colin Farrell) is a world-weary private eye who needs a break, but is now booked for one more case. This modern noir — told vibrantly, both in palette and tone — follows that case, which, as these things do, turns out to be more complicated than meets the eye. (That is his real name, though.)

New shows on Crunchyroll

Wind breaker.

Genre: Shonen anime Release date: April 4 Based on the manga by: Satoru Nii

Haruka Sakura is lonely in his first year of Furin High School, recognized in town as the school with a bad academic rep that’s basically just for delinquents. Or at least he was bored, until he meets the members of Bofurin, a school organization comprised of said delinquents, who he learns are actually the sole protectors of the town.

The next level of puzzles.

Take a break from your day by playing a puzzle or two! We’ve got SpellTower, Typeshift, crosswords, and more.

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How to Watch Star Trek in Order: The Complete Series Timeline

The full star trek timeline, explained..

Ever since 1966’s premiere of the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the entertainment world has never been the same. This franchise that has boldly gone where no property has gone before has captured the hearts and minds of millions around the world and has grown into a space-faring empire of sorts filled with multiple shows, feature length films, comics, merchandise, and so much more. That being said, the amount of Star Trek out in the world can make it tough to know exactly how to watch everything it offers in either chronological or release order so you don’t miss a thing. To help make things easier for you, we’ve created this guide to break down everything you need to know about engaging with this Star Trek journey.

It used to be a bit trickier to track down all the Star Trek shows and movies you’d need to watch to catch up, but Paramount+ has made it a whole lot easier as it has become the home of nearly all the past, present and future Star Trek entries.

So, without further ado, come with us into the final frontier and learn how you can become all caught up with the adventures of Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Sisko, Spock, Pike, Archer, Burnham, and all the others that have made Star Trek so special over the past 56 years.

And, in case you're worried, everything below is a mostly spoiler-free chronological timeline that will not ruin any of any major plot points of anything further on in the timeline. So, you can use this guide as a handy way to catch up without ruining much of the surprise of what’s to come on your adventure! If you’d prefer to watch everything Star Trek as it was released, you’ll find that list below as well!

How to Watch Star Trek in Chronological Order

How to Watch Star Trek by Release Order

1. Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2155)

Star Trek: Enterprise is the earliest entry on our list as it takes place a hundred years before the adventures of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series. The show aired from 2001 to 2005 and starred Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer, the captain of the Enterprise NX-01. This version of the Enterprise was actually Earth’s first starship that was able to reach warp five.

While the show had its ups and downs, it included a fascinating look at a crew without some of the advanced tech we see in other Star Trek shows, the first contact with various alien species we know and love from the Star Trek universe, and more.

2. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 1 and 2 (2256-2258)

This is where things get a little bit tricky, as the first two seasons of Star Trek: Discovery take place before Star Trek: The Original Series but Seasons 3 and 4 take us boldly to a place we’ve not gone before. We won’t spoil why that’s the case here, but it’s important to note if you want to watch Star Trek in order, you’ll have to do a bit of jumping around from series to movie to series.

As for what Star Trek: Discovery is, it's set the decade before the original and stars Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham, a Starfleet Commander who accidentally helps start a war between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. She gets court-martialed and stripped of her rank following these events and is reassigned to the U.S.S Discovery.

3. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2259-TBD)

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also begins before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series and is set up by Star Trek: Discovery as its captain, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, makes an appearance in its second season. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Pike first appeared in the original failed pilot episode “The Cage” of Star Trek: The Original Series and would later become James T. Kirk’s predecessor after the original actor, Jefferey Hunter, backed out of the show.

Fast forward all these years later and now we get to learn more about the story of Christopher Pike and many other familiar faces from The Original Series alongside new characters. It’s made even more special as the ship the crew uses is the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701, the very same that would soon call Kirk its captain.

4. Star Trek: The Original Series (2265-2269)

The fourth Star Trek series or movie you should watch in the order is the one that started it all - Star Trek: The Original Series . Created by Gene Roddenberry, this first Star Trek entry would kick off a chain reaction that would end up creating one of the most beloved IPs of all time. However, it almost never made it to that legendary status as its low ratings led to a cancellation order after just three seasons that aired from 1966 to 1969. Luckily, it found great popularity after that and built the foundation for all the Star Trek stories we have today.

Star Trek: The Original Series starred William Shatner as James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock, but the rest of the crew would go on to become nearly as iconic as they were. As for what the show was about? Well, we think Kirk said it best during each episode’s opening credits;

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

5. Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

While Star Trek: The Original Series may have been canceled after just three seasons, its popularity only grew, especially with the help of syndication. Following this welcome development, Gene Roddenberry decided he wanted to continue the adventures of the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 in animated form, and he brought back many of the original characters and the actors behind them for another go.

Star Trek: The Animated Series lasted for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and told even more stories of the Enterprise and its adventures throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2270s)

The first Star Trek film was a very big deal as it brought back the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series after the show was canceled in 1969 after just three seasons. However, even it had a rough road to theaters as Roddenberry initially failed to convince Paramount Pictures it was worth it in 1975. Luckily, the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and other factors helped finally convince those in power to make the movie and abandon the plans for a new television series called Star Trek: Phase II, which also would have continued the original story.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, James T. Kirk was now an Admiral in Starfleet, and certain events involving a mysterious alien cloud of energy called V’Ger cause him to retake control of a refitted version of the U.S.S. Enterprise with many familiar faces in tow.

7. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture written, but Paramount turned it down after the reception to that first film was not what the studio had hoped for. In turn, Paramount removed him from the production and brought in Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards to write the script and Nicholas Meyer to direct the film.

The studio’s decision proved to be a successful one as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered by many, including IGN, to be the best Star Trek film. As for the story, it followed the battle between Admiral James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise vs. Ricardo Montalban’ Khan Noonien Singh. Khan is a genetically engineered superhuman and he and his people were exiled by Kirk on a remote planet in the episode ‘Space Seed’ from the original series. In this second film, after being stranded for 15 years, Khan wants revenge.

8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (2285)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock continues the story that began in Wrath of Khan and deals with the aftermath of Spock’s death. While many on the U.S.S. Enterprise thought that was the end for their science officer, Kirk learns that Spock’s spirit/katra is actually living inside the mind of DeForest Kelley’s Dr. McCoy, who has been acting strange ever since the death of his friend. What follows is an adventure that includes a stolen U.S.S. Enterprise, a visit from Spock’s father Sarek, a run-in with Klingons, and so much more.

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (2286 and 1986)

While it is undoubtedly great that Kirk and his crew saved Spock, it apparently wasn’t great enough to avoid the consequences that follow stealing and then losing the Enterprise. On their way to answer for their charges, the former crew of the Enterprise discover a threat to Earth that, without spoiling anything, causes them to go back in time to save everything they love. The Voyage Home is a big departure from the previous films as, instead of space, we spend most of our time in 1986’s San Francisco.

10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2287)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier once again brings back our favorite heroes from Star Trek: The Original Series, but it’s often regarded as one of the weakest films starring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc. In this adventure, our crew’s shore leave gets interrupted as they are tasked with going up against the Vulcan Sybok, who himself is on the hunt for God in the middle of the galaxy.

11. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the final movie starring the entire cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, and it puts the Klingons front and center. After a mining catastrophe destroys the Klingon moon of Praxis and threatens the Klingon’s homeworld, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon is forced to abandon his species' love of war in an effort to seek peace with the Federation. What follows is an adventure that calls back to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall and serves as a wonderful send-off to characters we’ve come to know and love since 1966, even though some will thankfully appear in future installments.

12. Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

After you make it through all six of the Star Trek: The Original Series movies, it’s time to start what many consider the best Star Trek series of all time - Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series, which starred Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, ran from 1987 through 1994 with 178 episodes over seven seasons.

There are so many iconic characters and moments in The Next Generation, including William Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, and Dr. Beverly Crusher, and many of these beloved faces would return for Star Trek: Picard, which served as a continuation of this story.

While we are once again on the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this story takes place a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. However, there may just be a few familiar faces that pop up from time to time.

13. Star Trek Generations (2293)

While Star Trek Generations is the first film featuring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, it also features a team-up that many had dreamed of for years and years between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Captain James T. Kirk.

Our heroes are facing off against an El-Aurian named Dr. Tolian Soran, who will do whatever is necessary to return to an extra-dimensional realm known as the Nexus. Without spoiling anything, these events lead to a meeting with these two legendary captains and a heartfelt-at-times send-off to The Original Series, even though not every character returned that we wished could have.

14. Star Trek: First Contact (2373)

Star Trek: First Contact was not only the second film featuring the crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but it also served as the motion picture directorial debut for William Riker actor Jonathan Frakes. In this film, the terrifying Borg take center stage and force our heroes to travel back in time to stop them from conquering Earth and assimilating the entire human race.

This movie picks up on the continuing trauma caused by Jean-Luc Picard getting assimilated in the series and becoming Locutus of Borg, and we are also treated to the first warp flight in Star Trek’s history, a shout-out to Deep Space Nine, and more.

15. Star Trek: Insurrection (2375)

Star Trek: Insurrection, which unfortunately ranked last on our list of the best Star Trek movies, is the third film starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew and followed a story involving an alien race that lives on a planet with more-or-less makes them invincible due to its rejuvenating properties. This alien race, known as the Ba’Ku, are being threatened by not only another alien race called the Son’a, but also the Federation. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew disobey Federation orders in hopes to save the peaceful Ba’Ku, and while it sounds like an interesting premise, many said it felt too much like an extended episode of the series instead of a big blockbuster film.

16. Star Trek: Nemesis (2379)

The final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie is Star Trek: Nemesis , and it also isn’t looked at as one of the best. There are bright parts in the film, including Tom Hardy’s Shinzon who is first thought to be a Romulan praetor before it’s revealed he is a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but it also features a lot of retreaded ground. There are some great moments between our favorite TNG characters, but it’s not quite the goodbye many had hoped for. Luckily, this won’t be the last we’ll see of them.

17. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the fourth Star Trek series and it ran from 1993 to 1999 with 176 episodes over seven seasons. Deep Space Nine was also the first Star Trek series to be created without the direct involvement of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but instead with Rick Berman and Michael Piller. Furthermore, it was the first series to begin when another Star Trek Series - The Next Generation - was still on the air.

The connections between The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine don’t end there, as there were a ton of callbacks to TNG in Deep Space Nine, and characters like Worf and Miles O’Brien played a big part in the series. Other TNG characters popped up from time to time, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and certain Deep Space Nine characters also showed their faces in TNG.

Deep Space Nine was a big departure from the Star Trek series that came before, as it not only took place mostly on a space station - the titular Deep Space Nine - but it was the first to star an African American as its central character in Avery Brooks’ Captain Benjamin Sisko.

Deep Space Nine was located in a very interesting part of the Milky Way Galaxy as it was right next to a wormhole, and the series was also filled with conflict between the Cardassians and Bajorans, the war between the Federation and the Dominion, and much more.

18. Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Star Trek: Voyager is the fifth Star Trek series and it ran from 1995 to 2001 with 172 episodes over seven seasons. Star Trek: Voyager begins its journey at Deep Space Nine, and then it follows the tale of Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Kathryn Janeway (the first female leading character in Star Trek history!) and her crew getting lost and stranded in the faraway Delta Quadrant.

The episodes and adventures that follow all see the team fighting for one goal: getting home. Being so far away from the Alpha Quadrant we were so used to letting Star Trek be very creative in its storytelling and give us situations and alien races we’d never encountered before.

That doesn’t mean it was all unfamiliar, however, as the Borg became a huge threat in the later seasons. It’s a good thing too, as that led to the introduction of Jeri Ryan’s Seven of Nine, a character who would continue on to appear in Star Trek: Picard and become a fan favorite.

19. Star Trek: Lower Decks (2380-TBD)

Star Trek: Lower Decks debuted in 2020 and was the first animated series to make it to air since 1973’s Star Trek: The Animated Series. Alongside having that feather in its cap, it also sets itself apart by choosing to focus more on the lower lever crew instead of the captain and senior staff.

This leads to many fun adventures that may not be as high stakes as the other stories, but are no less entertaining. There have already been three seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and the fourth season is set to arrive later this summer.

The series is also worth a watch as it is having a crossover with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that will mix the worlds of live-action and animation.

20. Star Trek: Prodigy (2383-TBD)

Star Trek: Prodigy was the first fully 3D animated Star Trek series ever and told a story that began five years after the U.S.S. Voyager found its way back home to Earth. In this series, which was aimed for kids, a group of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship called the U.S.S. Protostar and attempt to make it to Starfleet and the Alpha Quadrant from the Delta Quadrant.

Voyager fans will be delighted to know that Kate Mulgrew returns as Kathryn Janeway in this animated series, but not only as herself. She is also an Emergency Training Holographic Advisor that was based on the likeness of the former captain of the U.S.S. Voyager.

The second season of Star Trek: Prodigy was set to arrive later this year, but it was not only canceled in June, but also removed from Paramount+. There is still hope this show may find a second life on another streaming service or network.

21. Star Trek: Picard (2399-2402)

Star Trek: Picard is the… well… next generation of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it brings back not only Partick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, but also many of his former crew members from the beloved series. The story is set 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis and we find Picard retired from Starfleet and living at his family’s vineyard in France.

Without spoiling anything, certain events get one of our favorite captains back to work and take him on an adventure through space and time over three seasons and 30 episodes.

The show had its ups and downs, but the third season, in our opinion, stuck the landing and gave us an “emotional, exciting, and ultimately fun journey for Jean-Luc and his family - both old and new - that gives the character the send-off that he has long deserved.”

22. Star Trek: Discovery: Seasons 3 and 4 (3188-TBD)

While Star Trek: Discovery begins around 10 years before Star Trek: The Original Series, the show jumps more than 900 years into the future into the 32nd Century following the events of the second season. The Federation is not in great shape and Captain Michael Burnham and her crew work to bring it back to what it once was.

Star Trek: Discovery is set to end after the upcoming fifth season, which will debut on Paramount+ in 2024.

For more, check out our look at the hidden meaning behind Star Trek’s great captains, why Star Trek doesn’t get credit as the first shared universe, if this may be the end of Star Trek’s golden age of streaming, and our favorite classic Star Trek episodes and movies.

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Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery free — Final season starts today

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The newest season of Star Trek: Discovery is officially underway. Season 5 marks the final season of the Star Trek spin-off, and it's shaping up to be an action-packed swang song. Whether you're looking to stream the new episodes or get caught up on the past four seasons, we've got everything you need to know about the show, including where to watch Star Trek: Discovery free via a TV channel abroad.

Star Trek: Discovery premiered in 2017 and follows in the decades-long tradition of Star Trek stories. The series is set about five years before the original Star Trek, which chronicled Captain Kirk's five-year journey. In Star Trek: Discovery, the U.S.S. Discovery travels through space on a mission of exploration. Season 5 sees Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the U.S.S. Discovery crew on the hunt for an ancient power that others are also seeking.

The first two premiere episodes are currently streaming. Keep reading to learn how to watch the series no matter where you are in the world.

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Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in the US

New Season 5 episodes of Star Trek: Discovery land on Paramount+ on Thursdays. The premiere week includes two episodes, and then one new episode will drop weekly after that. Episodes should be available starting at about 3 a.m. ET. All four past seasons are available to stream through the service. Subscriptions start at $5.99 a month and come with a one-week free trial.

Paramount Plus' Essential tier is a steal at this price and only has limited ads. It features tons of on-demand content from Paramount, CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, and MTV. And you get NFL and Champions League soccer live streaming. There's a 7-day free trial, then it's $6 a month or $60 a year. The only way to ditch the ads is by opting for the Showtime bundle.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in Canada

Paramount+ is also the home to Star Trek: Discovery in Canada. Plans start at CAD$6.99 and come with a one-week free trial. All episodes are available to stream here.

Where to watch Star Trek: Discovery in New Zealand

Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream for free on TVNZ+ . You'll need to create a free account to start streaming. In addition to new season 5 episodes, Seasons 1-4 are also streaming on the site. New episodes are available on Thursdays.

How to watch Star Trek: Discovery from anywhere

If you're not in New Zealand at the moment, you can access streams with a VPN (virtual private network). VPNs alter your electronic device's location so you can use websites that might not be available in certain regions. They're also solid ways to boost your online privacy. We recommend ExpressVPN , a user-friendly option with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out our ExpressVPN review for additional details and see below to learn how to use a VPN.

With its consistent performance, reliable security, and expansive global streaming features, ExpressVPN is the best VPN out there, excelling in every spec and offering many advanced features that makes it exceptional. Better yet, you can save up to 49% and get an extra three months for free today.

How to watch Star Trek: Discovery with a VPN

Sign up for a VPN if you don't have one.
Install it on the device you're using to watch Star Trek: Discovery.
Turn it on and set it to New Zealand.
Go to TVNZ+ and create a log-in profile.
Watch Star Trek: Discovery.

Note: The use of VPNs is illegal in certain countries, and using VPNs to access region-locked streaming content might constitute a breach of the terms of use for certain services. Insider does not endorse or condone the illegal use of VPNs.

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Main content

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery proves starfleet academy show doesn’t make sense without tilly.

The cast of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has yet to be announced, but Mary Wiseman's Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly should definitely be a part of it.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Tilly's rise from eager cadet to First Officer makes her a perfect fit for the face of Starfleet Academy in the 32nd century.
As a key player in the Starfleet Academy's future, Tilly's absence from the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy would be striking.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will feature a massive set and new cadets facing a mysterious threat, and Tilly's experience on Discovery would be needed.

Star Trek: Discovery has set up Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) as the face of Starfleet Academy in the 32nd century, and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy would feel incomplete without her. Introduced in Discovery season 1 as an overeager Starfleet cadet, Tilly has come a long way since her earliest days on the show. Her friendship with Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) helped both characters grow, as Tilly gained confidence and Michael let her guard down. Although Tilly initially wanted to be a Starfleet Captain one day, she began exploring other interests when the USS Discovery traveled 930 years into the future.

In the 32nd century of Star Trek: Discovery , Lt. Sylvia Tilly's past in theoretical engineering has proven useful on multiple occasions, and she briefly served as First Officer under Captain Saru (Doug Jones) . As Tilly began to step outside of her comfort zone, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) recommended her as a potential consultant for Starfleet Academy. Tilly then led a team of cadets, along with Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio), in a team-building exercise that turned dangerous. After Tilly ensured that the cadets survived by working together , Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) offered her a teaching position at Starfleet Academy, which she accepted.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Starfleet academy series has to include star trek: discovery’s tilly, tilly is the perfect character to carry on star trek: discovery's legacy..

Over Star Trek: Discovery's four seasons so far, Tilly remains one of Star Trek's most relatable characters . Her positive energy is infectious, which has often proved useful as the USS Discovery crew has faced multiple extinction-level threats. In leading the cadet team-building exercise, Tilly proved herself as a teacher and a leader. In her most recent appearances on Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Tilly has shared how much she loves teaching at Starfleet Academy, and it would be a shame if fans never got to see her in action as an instructor.

Tilly has become a crucial player in the Starfleet Academy of the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is meant to appeal to both new viewers and dedicated Trekkies, and a familiar face might help bridge the gap between Star Trek: Discovery and the newest Star Trek show. Plus, Tilly's appearance on Starfleet Academy would also open up the possibilities for more Discovery characters to appear. Tilly could ask her fellow Discovery crewmembers to help with cadet training exercises, for example, or Michael Burnham could require Tilly's expertise. Tilly has become a crucial player in the Starfleet Academy of the 32nd century, so her absence from the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy show would feel particularly glaring.

What We Know About Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Very little has been revealed about the star trek: discovery spin-off..

In their Star Trek cover story , Variety revealed more information about the franchise's upcoming projects, including Star Trek: Starfleet Academy . It had been long suspected that Starfleet Academy would serve as a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery , and take place in the 32nd century. This was confirmed to be the case, and more hints were revealed about the show's setting and set pieces. Following young cadets embarking on their Starfleet journey for the first time, Starfleet Academy will be set in San Francisco, but executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirms there will still be starships.

The cadets in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will face an unknown new adversary that threatens the entire Federation.

The main set for the Academy itself is reportedly Star Trek's biggest set ever , described as "a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, [and] multiple classrooms." Star Trek: Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome (who voices Lt. Beckett Mariner) serves as a writer on Starfleet Academy, and she has shared her excitement for the new show in multiple interviews. With its cast of cadets, Starfleet Academy is meant to appeal to young adults in a way no other Star Trek show has, and Star Trek: Discovery's Lt. Sylvia Tilly simply must be a part of it.

Souce: Variety

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery air Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Star trek: discovery.

Star Trek Is Facing A Fanbase Challenge – But There's A Hopeful Future Ahead

One of the more persistent conversations that has buoyed several decades worth of nerd conversations is the old "Star Trek" vs. "Star Wars" saw . Do you, dear reader, prefer stern diplomacy, mechanically inclined stories, ethical dilemmas, and constant reference to classic literature of the Western Canon? Then "Star Trek" is for you. You may, however, prefer fable-like tales of derring-do, heroic space-bound violence, and archetypal myths of good vs. evil. If you like your sci-fi to have an ancient flavor and fantastical elements out of King Arthur, then you may prefer "Star Wars."

Which one is better? The answer, of course, is "Star Trek." But which one is more successful and widespread? Frustratingly, the answer is "Star Wars." "Star Trek" has long been more successful on TV, telling hour-long morality tales and pushing up against low budgets. It was about multiculturalism and equality. "Star Wars," meanwhile, got its mileage from simple tales of violent victory, massive budgets, and enormous event films that make billions. "Star Trek" may contain enormous ideas, but "Star Wars" is merely enormous.

In an interview with Variety , the makers of "Star Trek" also admitted they find themselves facing a new problem. Not only did they have to acknowledge that they'll never be as huge as their sci-fi cousin, but their fan base is aging out. One can indeed haul old actors out of mothballs and use them to appeal to the 40-to-70-year-old fans who watched "Star Trek" for decades — see: most of "Star Trek: Picard" — but that, it seems, isn't gathering a new generation of Trekkies. Younger viewers, it seems, aren't constantly jumping on board with new "Star Trek" shows, no matter how hip or expensive they are.

The Deadly Years

"Star Trek," despite its cultural ubiquity, has always been something of a niche interest. It is a cerebral, technical, philosophical, and intellectual series. Sure, it had more than its share of ridiculous stories (Allamariane, "Spock's Brain," so much pain), but at its heart, it appealed to engineers and lit enthusiasts. "It's not the largest fan base," executive producer Akiva Goldsman told Variety. "It's not 'Star Wars.' It's certainly not Marvel." It never has been, however much Paramount would like it to be.

"Star Trek" had a taste of a younger audience in 2009 when J.J. Abrams rebooted the franchise to feature a younger, sexier cast. Abrams' 2009 film was the most successful movie "Star Trek" had ever seen up to that point, and it seemed for a moment that high-octane action was the future; gone were the nerdier days of diplomatic contemplation. That high-octane mode of thinking bled into subsequent "Trek" TV shows, leading to programs like "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek: Picard." However, as modern as these shows were, they weren't scooping up a newer audience; it was old-school Trekkies who were tuning in out of curiosity.

This was confirmed by "Star Trek: The Next Generation" actor and prolific franchise director Jonathan Frakes . Variety asked Frakes how many people have approached him about the new "Star Trek" shows that've released since 2017. His reply was bleak:

"Of the fans who come to talk to me, I would say very, very few. 'Star Trek' fans, as we know, are very, very, very loyal — and not very young."

"Star Trek" needs the youth vote, and that is key to the franchise's future.

Courting the youth vote

CBS President David Stapf backed up Frakes' statement, saying:

"There's a tried and true 'Trek' fan that is probably going to come to every 'Star Trek,' no matter what it is — and we want to expand the universe."

But how is the franchise going to do that? Its first attempt will be to extend the Kelvin timeline films into a fourth chapter. When "Star Trek Beyond" — the thirteenth "Star Trek" movie and the third in the rebooted Kelvin-Verse — disappointed at the box office, Paramount seemingly put that corner of the franchise to bed.

It appears, however, that the subsequent "Star Trek" TV shows haven't been giant hits either, so, in apparent desperation, more movies are in the works. Steve Yockey ("The Flight Attendant") is currently writing a "final chapter" movie for the Kelvin timeline . Meanwhile, Toby Haynes is attached to direct a separate film that's described as an origin story for the entire "Star Trek" franchise . Haynes might be known to some readers as the director of the "Star Trek" spoof episode of "Black Mirror" titled "USS Callister." Will another Kelvin timeline film draw in a fresh audience? Will either of these films make over $500 million the way the 2009 "Star Trek" movie did (assuming they come to pass)? Only time will tell.

The franchise's primary creatives are also developing a "Star Trek: Discovery" spinoff called "Starfleet Academy," set at the titular sci-fi college where all starship officers graduate. "Academy" will follow a new cast of youthful characters in the 32nd century, and the series has ordered an enormous set to be built, the largest in "Star Trek" history. It will be the second show in "Trek" history to feature a mostly under-20 cast, the first being the animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy."

Shows about young people, for young people

Both of the above ideas, however, are based on a fallacy commonly made by showrunners: that kids only want to see shows about their peers. If "Star Trek" was about younger people, the thinking goes, then younger people will tune in, right? "Star Trek," however, has always been about older characters. Here's my personal (and yes, very specific and opinionated) pitch: The central appeal is that the main characters are mature and well-formed, some of them with unbreakable codes of ethics or command styles they formed many years ago. The franchise is about thoughtful professionals who are good at their jobs, and Trekkies like to see them ply their skills with aplomb. Youthfulness is antithetical to "Star Trek." We don't want to see someone grow up. We want to see them already grown up. This is one thing (among others) that "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" does so well.

The exception to this is "Prodigy," a series about a group of teens in a distant part of the galaxy unfamiliar with Starfleet. When they find an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar, they are introduced to Starfleet ideals for the first time and learn to grow up with principles. Someone needs to tell the franchise's creatives that they already have their "youth" program ... Oh, wait. It was canceled. (Although Netflix tossed it a lifeline .)

I will hereby offer them the solution, free of charge: don't make more "Star Trek," and don't make younger "Star Trek." Make good, serious, cerebral, thoughtful, slow-moving "Star Trek" that appeals to nerdy kids. The ratings will be lower than you want, but I assure you, you'll be creating a new fanbase that will stick around for decades.

And there will always be nerdy kids. Which means there will always be "Star Trek."

IMAGES

Paramount+ releases new trailer latest for 'Star Trek'
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 DVD Release Date
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Trailer Welcomes Back The Best
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
Paramount Press Express
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

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COMMENTS

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (TV Series 2022- )
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet. With Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Christina Chong, Melissa Navia. A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike.
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an American science fiction television series created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet for the streaming service Paramount+.It is the 11th Star Trek series and debuted in 2022 as part of Kurtzman's expanded Star Trek Universe.A spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery, it follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the starship Enterprise in the ...
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, South Korea, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In addition, the series airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Central and Eastern Europe.
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I can't say if Trek: Strange New Worlds is a series I'm going to want to pay close attention to every week, but that feels almost like what the new series is designed for. Through the five ...
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The series follows Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy. Venture into the unknown with Captain Pike, Spock, Number One and the U.S.S. Enterprise crew a decade before Captain Kirk's legendary five-year mission.
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Every New Star Trek Series In 2023 & How To Watch
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Star Trek Release Dates: When to Expect All the New and Returning Shows

Currently Airing: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

Upcoming: Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

Upcoming: Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

In Flux : Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2

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Upcoming (movie) : Star Trek: Section 31

Where Can I Stream Classic Star Trek Shows?

How to watch 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

When does 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' come out?

Where to watch 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

How to stream 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds'

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