does star trek still exist

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Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

The  U.S.S. Enterprise  explores the far corners of the universe in the television show  Star Trek: The Next Generation . One engineer today thinks we could build an actual  Enterprise  in the next 20 or 30 years.

‘Star Trek’ Is Right About Almost Everything

The epic series—celebrating its 50th anniversary this year—bases its science fiction on scientific fact.

Resistance is futile.

For half a century now the Star Trek franchise has been winning new fans and inspiring real-world innovators. Over the course of 12 feature films (the 13th will be released next month) and six TV series—plus an ever-growing constellation of books, games, comics, magazines, and documentaries—it has boldly gone where no science fiction has gone before.

The secret to its success, says Andrew Fazekas , is its allegiance to science fact. Fazekas—a National Geographic writer and astronomy blogger known as the Night Sky Guy—is the author of a new book on the series’ reality-based astronomy and prescient technology. In Star Trek: The Official Guide to our Universe , he explains that unlike most sci-fi, the franchise has always rooted the innate human urge to explore in plausible science, providing “a hopeful pathway to a possible human future that’s not too distant.”

With Star Trek celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, National Geographic recently spoke with Fazekas about the real science and enduring appeal of the series.

You’re a science writer, amateur astronomer, and lifelong fan of Star Trek . This book, you say, represents a sort of Vulcan mind-meld of those passions. Tell me a bit about how and why it came together.

I’ve been an amateur astronomer—a backyard stargazer—since I was 10 years old. At the same time, I’ve always been a Star Trek fan. So I knew that I wanted to mix these two very different worlds together. But I wasn’t sure how.

Then I began to realize that in Star Trek , most of the astronomical objects and destinations have real-life counterparts. Watching the TV shows and movies, you hear names like Andromeda galaxy and Alpha Centauri —real things I’ve come across in my own travels across the night sky.

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I soon began to find many instances where I could reference the series in terms of an astronomical object. Like, if I would show someone a supernova through my telescope, I could quote the Star Trek episode in which it appeared. And I could say, “Remember in ‘All Our Yesterdays’ when the Enterprise had to rush away because the impending explosion of the star would destroy the planet?”

About 10 years ago, I began to make a casual list of all the astronomical objects that have appeared in Star Trek . And as I went through the episodes, I saw, again and again, that the writers were always talking about real-life stuff. They were always taking real science seriously.

Tell me about your methodology. I imagine it involved a lot of research and collaboration with scientists. How did you decide what to focus on and explicate?

Star Trek is a fire hose of information and trivia. It’s overwhelming. So I decided that I needed to focus on a few things. Coming from an astronomy-education background, I knew I needed to make it easy for the reader. To make it something that they’d be familiar with: a guidebook about the night sky.

So we’d start off with things in the solar system. Then we’d move on to planets outside the solar system—the exoplanets. Then I’d explain the stars—where they’re born, how they live, where they die. And finally I’d get to the grandest structures of the galaxy.

The cornerstone of this book is looking at the destinations and the true science of Star Trek . Scores of today’s scientists and engineers and physicists—as well as mathematicians, chemists, even astronauts—were inspired as children by Star Trek to pursue these fields professionally. The show captured their imaginations.

And that’s what’s so cool about Star Trek . I mean, I’m not dissing Star Wars —I like that too—but I find it to be much more fantasy-based. I liken Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings . Star Trek is more of a realistic vision.

What were the biggest surprises you encountered in the course of writing this book?

One thing is just how accurate the science really is, throughout all the different incarnations. The foundation that Star Trek is built on is scientifically sturdy. You can tell that the writers and producers took the time to get the science right.

They did that by involving real scientific consultants, whose professional opinions were incorporated into the plotlines, the filming of the scenes. And over the decades—as our technology has gotten better, as we’ve pushed the boundaries of exploration, as we’ve learned more about our universe—new knowledge has made its way into Star Trek plots and story lines.

Nowadays the canvas that all these adventures play out on is almost hyperreal. With the computer simulations we have these days, Hollywood has the ability to re-create any kind of object in space, based on whatever knowledge we have, and give us the ringside seats to the cosmos that all we space geeks wish we had.

In an episode of the original TV series, crew members find themselves encircled by a force field at the O.K. Corral. Since it first aired 50 years ago,  Star Trek  has relied heavily on input from actual scientists, including physicists, astrophysicists, mathematicians, and chemists.

For instance, let’s say the Enterprise is hiding out in a nebula. Well, as earthbound stargazers we’re never going to be able to see what it would be like. We have only an outside view of these beautiful, colorful star clusters. But Hollywood can now place us within that nebula. And it’s based on computer simulations that real scientists are using to understand what these clouds are, how they form, how they evolve. It’s amazing! It’s like you’re there.

Of course, there has to be artistic license taken. The whole idea of warp drive or teleportation —those were plot devices that were included by [ Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry . He came up with those devices 50 years ago, to move the storyline along. You can’t have your characters taking 300 or 400 years to get to one star system.

The technology in Star Trek has often proved prescient in terms of real-world innovations. Specifically, what are some of those things?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that device that they called the PADD (Personal Access Display Device). It had no keypad; you just used your finger. Today we call it an iPad, or a tablet. Really eerie. The dream has come true! Life is imitating art.

Of course, it’s not a coincidence that an iPad and a smartphone and wrist-worn medical devices look like they do. They harken back to what we saw in Star Trek in 1966.

Then there’s voice recognition—talking to your device. It reminds me of a scene in Star Trek IV —the one with the whales—where Scotty goes to this engineering firm, and wants to talk to the computer. So he goes, “Hello, computer.” Then Bones says to him, “You’re supposed to use the mouse!” And Scotty says, “Oh, how quaint.” And then he speaks into the mouse.

Scores of today’s scientists and engineers and physicists—as well as mathematicians, chemists, even astronauts—were inspired as children by Star Trek to pursue these fields professionally. Andrew Fazekas , author, Star Trek: The Official Guide to Our Universe

We’re already there. We can dictate. We have voice recognition. We can type a letter or an email without even touching a keyboard now.

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In the first Star Trek series, they had a quadriplegic character sitting in a big, burly machine. All you saw was his head. And he could communicate only by using this flashing light—two flashes for yes, one flash for no.

Look what we have now. Stephen Hawking is able to communicate through his computer. He can speak full sentences. He can write books! It’s not just a flashing light. So technology there has far surpassed Star Trek . And that’s supposed to be 300 years in the future! We’ve gone much farther, much faster than they envisioned back in 1966.

Conversely, which visions of the future haven’t come to pass? Are there any things—in terms of astronomy, technology, or general science—that Star Trek has really gotten wrong?

The biggie is warp drive. That may very well remain science fiction. It depends on which scientists you talk to. But right now there are scientists doing experiments in the laboratory, on very small scales, to see if this is something we might one day be able to do. Equations exist that show that this might be possible.

Still, warp drive may very well never materialize. The same thing with teleportation. Quantum teleportation—moving a particle from one system to another—does exist. And one day we may, perhaps, be able to move inanimate objects. But teleporting humans—I mean, would we ever really want to do that? You would have to literally deconstruct a living being onto a molecular level, then reconstruct it. Its DNA would be pulled apart.

I was recently asked: Are we molding our future the way we are because we’re trying to mirror and mimic Star Trek ? Or is it just happening on its own? I think it’s the former. We’re being influenced by this very popular science-fiction franchise.

I think one of the things that distinguishes Star Trek from other sci-fi is its philosophical bent—its thoughtful consideration of life, the universe, and everything. Do you think that approach is the reason why it has endured and thrived for so long, finding new audiences across half a century?

There’s definitely something there for everyone, for different kinds of fans and generations. And that thoughtfulness you mention is what touches so many people. Even folks who aren’t science geeks, per se. They like the message that Star Trek has of a hopeful future for humankind. That we’ve passed through these petty problems and difficulties we have now amongst nations and cultures and races. In the Star Trek future of humankind, we’ve gone beyond all that.

Also, this yearning and passion for exploring the unknown—for pushing the frontier. I think that’s very deeply rooted in the DNA of humans. The desire to go where no one has gone before. North America would not have been explored if we didn’t push beyond the European continent. In Star Trek , the stage is not one continent or planet; it’s the entire Milky Way galaxy—and beyond.

On an episode of  Star Trek: The Next Generation , the crew modifies a photon torpedo, which they'll use to mine a nebula for subatomic particles known as vertions. The astronomical objects we see in  Star Trek  often overlap with those in our own universe. 

These are the things that really speak to people. And I think what also captures their attention, through all the incarnations of Star Trek , is how the series has always incorporated social issues of the times. The civil rights movement, for instance, was very big in the original series. Remember that iconic kiss between Uhura and Captain Kirk ? That made a lot of waves at the time. It was one of the first interracial kisses on TV.

William Shatner wrote the foreword to this book. Did you meet him or any other Star Trek stars during your research? Were you ever, um, starstruck ?

I knew right from the start that I wanted to have Shatner involved—to have him launch the book from the beginning and introduce it. Because it’s a grand, sweeping cosmic adventure that’s very much like the stories that take place in Star Trek . And who better than Captain Kirk to set the scene?

So I begged my editors: “Please get Shatner! If we need to, appeal to his roots and let him know that the author is also from Montreal, and that we went to the same university.” It seemed to work. They made it happen, the stars aligned, and Shatner was part of the book.

You can see from the intro that he wrote that he’s very much into science and science fiction. And you can tell that he wrote it. I’m very keen to thank him personally.

But no—unfortunately I haven’t yet met anyone from Star Trek in person. I’m hoping to rectify that during my book tour. I’ll have opportunities to meet up with most of the cast members of the different series at the major Star Trek convention in New York—the grand 50th anniversary gala—in early September. My dream is to have the cast members all sign my book.

Star clusters like these are perfect laboratories for examining the evolutionary path of stars. But while earthbound astronomers can only observe them from afar, Starfleet crews get to conduct their studies up close. 

What effect do you want this book to have on readers? What’s the desired takeaway?

As an astronomy educator and communicator, I hope that people who aren’t familiar with the night sky but love Star Trek will take this book and understand what they’ve actually seen—the true science behind an exploding supernova, for instance.

The sky is a natural resource that we’ve really become disconnected from. People sit at their computers, in front of their devices. And that part of the future that Star Trek has shown us is coming true. But it’s detached us from nature—from the grandness of nature that is the night sky above us. And that’s the canvas that Star Trek plays out on: the heavens above.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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How Star Trek: Discovery Fits Into The Star Trek Timeline

Star Trek: Discovery is one of CBS All Access' most popular shows , but it caused some drama amongst Star Trek fans very early in its run thanks to what it did to the Star Trek timeline. With Michael Burnham introduced as a foster child of Sarek and Amanda in addition to various other changes, some fans were vocal about believing the showrunners were blatantly ignoring Star Trek canon for the sake of entertainment.

Many have since learned that's not the case, and for those still curious as to where Star Trek: Discovery falls in the Star Trek timeline, I've broken down the entire Star Trek timeline (barring some outlier episodes that fall elsewhere in the timeline), where Discovery falls within it, and how it may impact it going forward. Dive in, and get ready to binge your favorite Star Trek series all over again.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Until another prequel series comes along, Star Trek: Enterprise is the start of the Star Trek timeline. Set between the years 2151 and 2161, Star Trek: Enterprise followed the adventures of Scott Bakula 's Jonathan Archer and his Starfleet crew who roamed space a full century before the original Star Trek . For those unfamiliar with Trek, this is one of the more recent shows to air, with its first season premiere happening in the year 2001.

The series itself chronicled the early moments in Star Trek canon, such as early relations with species like the Vulcans and Klingons. Episodes at first primarily focused on Jonathan Archer, his Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III (Connor Trinneer), and Sub-commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), but branched out into other stories in later seasons. Its cancellation in 2005 marked the first time in 18 years a Star Trek series was not in production, which continued up until Star Trek: Discovery .

Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1 and 2)

Sonequa Martin-Green led the 2017 Star Trek 's series that doesn't revolve around a captain, and played the daughter of famous Star Trek figures Sarek and Amanda. The decision seemed controversial considering neither figure nor their son Spock mentioned Michael, and the Discovery ship featured a lot of tech that seemed out of place. It led some to wonder if the series was really set in 2255, or if something else was happening.

Thankfully, all became clear in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, which was set in the Star Trek timeline between the original series' pilot and the Star Trek episode "The Menagerie." At the season's end, it was revealed the Discovery crew jumped into the future to thwart a time-traveling threat capable of destroying all life. Now, they're thought dead by Starfleet's most elite and their names have been expunged from records and forbidden to be mentioned by survivors to protect humanity.

Though it's the series that got this whole franchise started, Star Trek is now officially the third series entry in the Star Trek timeline. William Shatner 's Captain Kirk took control of the Enterprise after Captain Christopher Pike, and went on adventures with a ship full of capable crew members. Among them was Leonard Nimoy's Spock, George Takei's Sulu, and Nichelle Nichols' Uhura, who were just some of the standouts in a talented cast.

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Star Trek takes place between 2265-2269, which is not long at all after Star Trek: Discovery . In the real world, however, Star Trek is several decades the elder of Discovery and first began back in 1966 before it ended in 1969. That's quite a long stretch of time to gather fans, which may be why so many were up in arms when they saw all the supposed changes happening with Discovery .

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Creator Gene Roddenberry could've hung it all up after Star Trek 's cancellation, but he persisted upon learning the series was very successful in syndication. In fact, he was back with another series in 1973. Star Trek: The Animated Series was a continuation of the original series, with more stories and a series that made it the first series in the Star Trek timeline to gain an Emmy.

Star Trek: The Animated Series was set in the Star Trek timeline between 2269-2270, which was the year following the original series. Now, there has been some debate regarding whether the series was actually canon, with official word at one point that it was not. Despite that, successive Star Trek series and films have referenced it in one way or another, so it's seemingly up to the viewer how they decide to acknowledge it.

The Original Star Trek Movies And Generations

From 2273 to 2293 The Star Trek crew appeared not on television, but in a variety of movies. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Search for Spock (1984), The Voyage Home (1986), The Final Frontier (1989), and The Undiscovered Country (1991). All of these movies revolved around William Shatner's Kirk and Leonard Nimoy 's Spock and, like the animated series, continued to profit on the success of Star Trek .

This brings us to 1994, which was the year the last film centered on the original Star Trek crew aired. Generations started in 2293 but then jumped to 2371 in a movie that mashed together some of the original Star Trek crew with the wildly successful crew from Star Trek: The Next Generation . The movie wasn't as well received as the concept would imply, but the movie did give us a conclusion to Captain Kirk's arc , which was worth seeing.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Rewinding back from 1994 to 1987, when Star Trek launched a series that would revamp the franchise and make it as popular as its ever been. This was thanks in no small part to Patrick Stewart 's Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who took command of the Enterprise in 2364. Together with his crew, they ventured across the galaxy in search of people they could help and conflicts they could resolve.

Star Trek: The Next Generation ended in 1994, but its impact on the Star Trek franchise continues. Jonathan Frakes , who played Riker, became a frequent presence in front and behind the camera following the series' end, and movies like First Contact , Insurrection , and Nemesis kept the franchise in the minds of fans up until 2002. Now, it's set to become as relevant as Star Trek: Discovery is now with a sequel series called Picard which premieres later this year.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine kicked off in 1993, when Star Trek: The Next Generation was approaching the end of its run. Set from 2369 to 2375, it centered on a space station strategically placed next to a big wormhole connected to the Gamma quadrant. Avery Brooks starred as the series' commanding officer Benjamin Sisko, who led the crew while also navigating wife as a single father after losing his wife to the Borg.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine strayed a bit from the traditional Star Trek formula, in that it began to sneak in arcs that lasted episodes on end and defied the traditional episodic format. It paved the way for others like Star Trek: Discovery to do so, and led to a seven season run that came to an end in 1999.

Star Trek: Voyager

Much like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine interwined with Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Voyager popped up on the scene in 1995 right as DS9 would start Season 3. At this point change was the only constant in the Star Trek timeline, so the series kicked things off by introducing Kate Mulgrew as the Star Trek timeline's first female series lead.

Captain Janeaway and her crew were positioned in another part of the galaxy, so while the series ran alongside Deep Space Nine for a good majority of its run, new species could be created for the show. At a timeline date of 2371 to 2378, it's one of the latter entries in the timeline, and was the latest up until Star Trek: Discovery changed the game.

Star Trek (Kelvin Timeline Movies)

Technically, the Chris Pine -led Star Trek films are a part of an entirely new timeline that was created following the events of the movie Nemesis in 2002. These movies started in 2009, and run from the alternate timeline years of 2233 to 2263. This would technically put these films higher up in the Star Trek timeline, but at the risk of confusing folks, I feel it's best to leave it here where the timeline was originally split.

For now, the Kelvin timeline Star Trek films aren't imperative to understanding the Prime timeline, although Star Trek: Discovery and Picard may change that . We still haven't seen a lot about how the destruction of Romulus affected the prime timeline, and with each series set to occur at or after that time, it remains to be seen how impactful these movies will ultimately be.

Star Trek: Discovery (Season 3)

So here we are, back at Star Trek: Discovery , which is set to take place 950 years into the future. That puts it at around 3205, well beyond where any Star Trek series has gone to date. Talk about boldly going where no one has gone before!

What's most interesting about Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 , is that there's really no idea of what's on the horizon. The Discovery crew already changed the future with their actions, so they could be popping into a brave new world where Control is the least of their problems. Wouldn't it be a real kick in the teeth to learn last season's enemy was actually trying to do the galaxy a favor in wiping out mankind?

So, this is where Star Trek: Discovery stands in the Star Trek timeline, although there's a chance that could change with the ship's time-traveling capabilities, and more spinoffs headed to CBS All Access. Stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest on the Star Trek franchise, as well as for the latest in movies and television.

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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Why Star Trek: The Next Generation Meant More Than You Thought

Star Trek: The Next Generation went off the air in 1994, but even though it's been more than two decades since the show ended its voyage, it remains just as relevant today—and its messages are arguably timelier than ever. Here's a look back at a seemingly silly sci-fi show that was really much deeper than many viewers originally thought, and proved shockingly prophetic in a number of surprising ways.

Early looks at cyborg rights

As artificial intelligence becomes more complex, theorists predict it will eventually reach the point where machines are as smart as humans. Then what do we do with them legally? When we have smart machines, do we grant them the same basic rights as humans? The implications are staggering—and The Next Generation had a full episode focused on these issues in the '90s, long before we were really even thinking about AI rights.

In " The Measure of a Man ," a Federation scientist wants to dismantle Data to create replicas of him. Of course, Data isn't cool with this because the procedure will kill him, and his resistance sparks a debate. Data is technically Federation property, and is as much a machine as a starship or a replicator—but Picard is able (with an awesome Shakespearean monologue, of course) to successfully argue that Data's consciousness makes him more than just property. The courts decide that even though Data's brain is different from a human brain, he still has the same rights.

It's an amazingly forward-thinking episode, and still ahead of its time today. We're just hoping our real-life AI is ultimately more Data, less Skynet.

Predicted tablet computers

Since there are so many iterations of Star Trek , it's easy to forget that some of the key elements of the universe appeared first in The Next Generation, not the original series—including the ridiculously correct prediction of tablet computers.

The original series had "electronic clipboards," but in The Next Generation , the idea was fully developed into the PADD, a handheld computer tablet. Everybody in the crew used them to interface with one another, send messages, and connect with the ship computer. Early PADDs were a little clunky, but by the time Deep Space Nine came around, they looked like any tablet we'd find in Best Buy—mostly a big touchscreen. They probably had space Clash of Clans .

Gene Roddenberry basically came up with the Apple aesthetic when using an "advanced doesn't mean clunkier" aesthetic while giving the production crew guidance on designing tech like the PADD. Advances in technology meant sleeker technology, simpler interfaces and fewer buttons. Although Apple has never made a public statement admitting a Star Trek influence, it is a little suspicious that they ended up calling their tablet the iPad.

Gave us a good look at a post-scarcity society

In a post-scarcity society, resources are no longer restricted by supply and demand; there's enough for everybody. Food, technology, medicine; all of these things are in abundance. Clearly we aren't there yet, but The Next Generation predicts that it's right around the corner, thanks to innovations in automation and technology .

The show gives us a really good look at that type of society—to an extent reached by few other science fiction shows. Money would no longer be an issue; in fact, money wouldn't exist. People would find the motivation to improve themselves not to pay the rent, but because of intrinsic human desire. The Next Generation offers a blueprint for the economy of the future.

Of course, Star Trek doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but it gives us something to work towards, and an optimistic view of the future. In hindsight, maybe we'll one day see that The Next Generation inspired the people who created a post-scarcity society. (Hopefully it doesn't take a nuclear war, like it did in the Star Trek universe.)

Had a really positive outlook on disability rights

Although La Forge has to use his visor to see, he's given the same dignity and respect as everybody else on the crew. Sometimes, La Forge's disability even makes him more suited for tasks—during "Encounter At Farpoint," for example, he uses his visor to pick out details in a tunnel that his other crew members can't see.

La Forge is absolutely groundbreaking in disability theory , showing that we shouldn't look at disability only as a problem that needs solving. A better approach is to make our society more open to disabled people. Instead of trying to force the disabled into non-disabled molds, we should work to integrate their differences into our society. Even today that's a pretty radical idea to put on TV, but The Next Generation did it decades ago. It isn't surprising at all that La Forge has become a favorite television character among disabled groups. He's an inspiration to us all.

Early look at LGBT rights on TV

For younger viewers, it might be hard to imagine a time when network TV was afraid to feature LGBT characters. But in the early '90s, it was still a groundbreaking concept —one the Next Generation writers embraced.

In the season five episode "The Outcast," the crew finds a civilization with unusual beliefs, learns a bit about them, has a conflict with their culture, and learns to resolve their differences—all pretty standard Star Trek stuff. Only this time, the alien species is the J'naii, an androgynous culture in which gender identity is illegal. Of course, Riker falls in love with one of them.

Not wanting to go too far with the episode, Riker's love interest Soren identifies as female, but the episode was pretty progressive for the time, exploring the idea that a person's gender identity is something they should be able to choose. Even today, that's a bold statement to make.

The episode actually ends up being a pretty big downer; in the poignant final act, Soren undergoes therapy to force her to accept an androgynous gender. Riker is sad... but moves on to another love interest in the next episode. All it's missing is an epic Picard speech.

TNG offered excellent life lessons

Even more than the original series, The Next Generation was well-known for diving into the murky waters of ethics and philosophy—and in the process, demonstrating how a sometimes silly space show could make profound statements about the meaning of life.

For example, check out season six's "Tapestry." The episode starts with Picard getting his space-pacemaker blown up, stopping his heart. He dies and goes to the afterlife, where Q shows up. (Worst Heaven ever.) Q gives Picard the chance to go back in time and undo the fight from his early 20s that messed up his heart in the first place—but when he does, Q shows Picard what his life would have looked like if he hadn't gotten into the fight. Instead of the awesome starship captain we know and love, he would have ended up being just some low-ranking schlub on the Enterprise. The moral of the story? Our mistakes make us who we are, and the best part of life is taking risks, even if it means being beaten up in the process.

Another example is the series finale, during which Picard realizes that after all his years of space exploration, his real adventure was one of self-discovery. Visiting far-flung corners of the galaxy is great, but learning more about ourselves—our strengths, weakness, limits, and deepest-held beliefs—can be even more valuable in the long run. Even if we don't get to hop around the galaxy on the Enterprise, we can still be explorers just like Picard. Thanks, Star Trek !

Created modern nerd culture

It's hard to imagine a time when Star Trek wasn't incredibly popular, but the franchise was in a very different place during the '80s. The movies did fine at the box office, but the original TV series—while definitely a syndicated mainstay—wasn't really a mainstream phenomenon. There really was a time when it wasn't cool to openly like things like Star Trek.

The Next Generation was the catalyst that changed nerd culture forever. Suddenly it became clear that not only could science fiction TV shows do well, but they could become pop culture sensations on their own. Not only that, but it showed studios that reboots worked, which for better or worse has become a staple of modern movies and TV.

Basically every modern science fiction show owes a debt to The Next Generation for making more room for the genre on TV. Modern popular nerd culture does too . The Next Generation remained consistently popular for seven years, and by the time it ended, other science fiction shows were ready to take up the reins. Small-screen sci-fi was here to stay.

Had excellent leadership lessons

Picard was so effective that people have actually studied his character to get insight into real-life leadership. One of the most important lessons? The importance of speaking to people in their own language and culture . Unlike Kirk, who would beam down to a planet to teach aliens about the United States Constitution, Picard always made sure to respect the cultural values of the civilizations he was working with. To him, communication meant talking to people on their terms, not just shoving Federation ideology down their throats.

Picard also taught us to never be too proud to ask for help from people you don't like, to value the ethical choice even when it's the difficult one, to never let your team become complacent, and to seize the opportunities that life presents. Over the course of the show, Picard was the boss we all wish we had. Well, maybe not the time he was turned into a Borg and tried to make the crew mindless cybernetic drones. We could do without that.

Taught us the value of life

In most science fiction, the bad guys are clearly evil, and anybody who threatens the main characters faces a maelstrom of laser blasts. Sometimes it's easy to fall back on a black and white view of the world, where everything is clearly delineated between good and evil.

The Next Generation was completely different, and showed us that even creatures or civilizations that are dangerous don't automatically deserve to die just because they threaten us. For example, when Picard ran into the Crystalline Entity, he didn't just blow it up right away, despite the fact that it had killed people—he studied it and tried to understand it, seeking a way to respect its right to live while protecting innocent civilians. A Federation scientist ended up destroying it anyway... but at least Picard tried.

An even cooler example is the episode "I, Borg," in which the crew finds an injured Borg drone and tries to bring it back to normal life. The Federation wants Picard to implant it with a computer virus and send it back into the Collective—essentially committing genocide. The Borg have assimilated millions of innocent lives, including Picard himself. If anybody has a right to be pissed off at them, it's Picard. But what does he do? He comes to his senses and refuses the order because the Borg have just as much right to live as the Federation. Just because their society is different and they're enemies, it doesn't justify genocide.

That's a profound lesson, especially today. Unfortunately, the writers totally forgot about it when they made the movie First Contact , but we'll just pretend Picard's out of character rantings don't exist.

Taught us the evils of political witch hunts

Out of the entire series, the most prophetic Next Generation episode was arguably "The Drumhead," which starts with an explosion and turns into a full-blown prophesy about the dangers of political witch hunts.

When the engine of the Enterprise is bombed, the Federation sends a special investigator to root out who did it. Crew member of the week Tarses gets blamed, simply because he's part Romulan. When Picard tries to stop the nonsense, he's threatened for even daring to defend someone considered an enemy of the Federation—and once Picard is accused, we know things have gone too far.

In the end, the case gets thrown out and everybody has a happy ending, but it's an effective example of how quickly things can get out of control when we start suspecting people just because of visual or cultural differences. It also demonstrates that once xenophobia starts, nobody's safe, including someone as clearly moral and patriotic as Picard. As he puts it, "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured... the first thought forbidden... the first freedom denied – chains us all irrevocably." It's a lesson well worth remembering.

Only 3 Star Trek Shows Exist In For All Mankind’s Alternate History - But What Are They?

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for For All Mankind season 4, episode 9, "Brazil."

• For All Mankind depicts an alternate history where the space race never ended and is influenced by Star Trek.
• Commander Danielle Poole in For All Mankind is loosely based on Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space.
• In the show, Dani plans to introduce her granddaughter to Star Trek, but it's unclear which three Trek shows exist in the For All Mankind timeline.

Star Trek veteran and For All Mankind co-creator Ronald D. Moore has confirmed that only three Trek shows exist in the AppleTV+ alternative history show's timeline . For All Mankind depicts a parallel world in which the space race never ended. Star Trek was notably a huge influence on the real-life NASA, with Uhura actress Nichele Nichols accepting a job with the organization to help increase the diversity of their astronauts. One of those astronauts was Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, who would later have a cameo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Second Chances."

For All Mankind character Commander Danielle Poole (Krys Marshall) is loosely based on Mae Jemison . Like Jemison, For All Mankind 's Dani is the first African-American woman in space and a big Star Trek fan. In For All Mankind season 4, episode 9 , which is set in the year 2003, Dani sends a video message back to her stepson Isaiah, to congratulate him on the pending birth of his daughter. Dani warns Isaiah that she's going to turn her granddaughter into a " full-blown Trekkie. That’s right, we’re gonna watch all the series, all three of them." When asked about this revelation by Inverse , Ronald D. Moore had the following response:

The original Star Trek went off the air before the Apollo II landing. [...] In my version of history, Paramount does make the Phase II show in the mid-seventies. And then they transitioned into Wrath of Khan and not Star Trek: The Motion Picture , because of the run of the lengthy and glorious, and critically acclaimed run of Phase II, it’s a year later that The Wrath of Khan comes out. But it’s still The Wrath of Khan that we know and it was essentially the same story. I love The Wrath of Khan and I couldn’t bear to change that. So it’s the same thing.”

Every Star Trek TV & Movie Era Ranked

Does star trek: the next generation exist in for all mankind, for all mankind's 3rd star trek series isn't clear..

By reinstating Star Trek: Phase II , Ronald D. Moore's alternative Star Trek timeline leaves the question of what the third show is that Danielle refers to in For All Mankind. Danielle refers to three shows in 2003, so it's unlikely that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager exist in the For All Mankind timeline . Voyager premiered in 1995, the same year that humanity landed on Mars in For All Mankind , so it makes sense that audiences would be more interested in real-life space adventure than the fiction of Star Trek . That leaves Star Trek: The Next Generation as the most likely third " series " for Danielle to show her granddaughter.

Another possibility for the third Star Trek show in For All Mankind 's alternate history is Star Trek: The Animated Series.

It would likely be a different take on Star Trek: The Next Generation , responding to the different culture of For All Mankind 's alternate history . It would also seemingly be a far less successful TNG , as it failed to generate the Star Trek spinoffs that "our" version did. In the real world, Star Trek: The Original Series was canceled before the Moon landing. It would be a neat bit of symmetry, therefore, if, in For All Mankind ' s alternate timeline, TNG came to an end just as NASA was setting its sights on landing a human on Mars by 1995.

For All Mankind is available to stream on Apple TV+.

Source: Inverse

For All Mankind

Imagine a world where the global space race never ended - For All Mankind is a thrilling "what if" take on history that explores what would have happened in the race to the moon between the Soviet Union and the United States, as well as the space programs and the race's effects on the astronauts and their families in the aftermath. The Apple TV+ series hails from Ronald D. Moore and stars Joel Kinnaman as a NASA astronaut. For All Mankind also features historical astronauts like Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

• View history

A Ferengi coin

Money or currency , sometimes called legal tender , was a medium of exchange used to facilitate transactions for goods or services. ( TNG : " Time's Arrow ") Societies that used money were described as practicing currency-based economics . ( DS9 : " In the Cards ")

• 1.1 The New World Economy
• 2.1 Other mentions
• 3 Money as a figure of speech
• 4 Monetary units
• 5.1 See also
• 5.2 Background information
• 5.3 Apocrypha
• 5.4 External links

Money on Earth [ ]

Money was a common feature of life on Earth from the 16th century onward throughout the 19th , 20th , and 21st centuries .

According to Tom Paris , " nice clothes , [a] fast car , and lots of money " would be required in the Los Angeles of 1996 . ( VOY : " Future's End ")

The colloquialism "bucks" was still in use by 2032 to refer to money, specifically the American dollar . ( VOY : " One Small Step ")

Another 20th century slang term for money was "dough". ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ", DS9 : " Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang ")

In 2063 , Zefram Cochrane explained to Commander Riker that his motivation for inventing the warp drive had been to get rich, describing "dollar signs" and money as his vision. ( Star Trek: First Contact )

The New World Economy [ ]

In the late 22nd century , the formation of the New World Economy on Earth led to the disappearance of money in the traditional sense on the planet. 23rd and 24th century Humans regularly referred to their species having developed a philosophy without the need for accumulation of wealth , instead focusing on self-enhancement and advancement of the Human race. ( VOY : " Dark Frontier "; DS9 : " In the Cards "; Star Trek: First Contact )

During an excursion to 1986 -era San Francisco , James T. Kirk told Spock about 20th century Earth, saying, " They're still using money. We need to get some. " He then pawned eyeglasses that Leonard McCoy had given him for $100, which he doled out among his crew with an admonishment not to splurge (spend it recklessly). Later on, while Kirk was having dinner with Gillian Taylor in a restaurant and was unable to pay there, Gillian asked sarcastically, " don't tell me they don't use money in the 23rd century, " and Kirk earnestly replied, " well, we don't. " ( Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home )

In 2364 , Jean-Luc Picard tried to explain to Ralph Offenhouse , a financier from the 20th century, that there would be no need for his services any longer. " A lot has changed in three hundred years, " said Picard. " People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of "things." We have eliminated hunger , want, the need for possessions. " ( TNG : " The Neutral Zone ")

When Lily Sloane asked Picard how much the USS Enterprise -E had cost to build, he told her, " the economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century... The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity. " ( Star Trek: First Contact )

When Nog suggested that Jake should bid for a baseball card in an auction in 2373 , Jake said, " I'm Human, I don't have any money. " Nog commented, " It's not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement. " Jake answered, " Hey, watch it. There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity. " Nog then replied, " What does that mean? " Jake responded, " It means… It means we don't need money! " Nog quickly pointed out, however, that Jake wouldn't be able to bid or borrow. ( DS9 : " In the Cards ")

Upon entering a holodeck simulation of an early- 20th century bank in 2381 , Beckett Mariner mockingly asked to " withdraw some paper with no intrinsic value. " ( LD : " Room for Growth ")

The Federation and money [ ]

Outside of Earth, money and other forms of currency were still used in the 23rd and 24th century, by the Federation itself, individual Humans, and other Federation species. One form of such currency was the Federation credit .

The Human philanthropist Carter Winston acquired a vast personal fortune during the late 23rd century. ( TAS : " The Survivor ")

While Vulcan was well-known to be a founding member of the Federation, non-affiliated Vulcans who practiced mercantile trade were common. In 2368 , a Vulcan master doubled the price of a meditation lamp upon learning that Tuvok and Kathryn Janeway were Starfleet officers. ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ", VOY : " The Gift ") Only six years later , Janeway stated she was " not used to handling currency " while recounting her experience making a purchase in a market on the Mari homeworld . ( VOY : " Random Thoughts ")

Notably, the crew of the USS Voyager , faced with severe resource limitations after being flung into the Delta Quadrant , treated rations on replicator and holodeck use as currency and traded these among themselves. ( VOY : " The Cloud ", " Twisted ", " Parturition ", " Meld ", " The Chute ")

Bartender Quark had repeated financial interactions with Federation personnel. On numerous occasions, Starfleet officers gambled to win latinum at Quark's , including Julian Bashir , Thomas Riker , and Jadzia Dax . ( DS9 : " Statistical Probabilities ", " Playing God ", " Business as Usual ", " Change of Heart ", " Defiant "; TNG : " Firstborn ") His bar also routinely extended credit to its patrons, including Federation citizens and members of Starfleet. ( DS9 : " Little Green Men "; VOY : " Caretaker "; LD : " Hear All, Trust Nothing ") In 2372 , he sold Quark's Treasure – a damaged Ferengi shuttle which had belonged to him – for scrap after it was disabled in the Sol system , and was given enough to cover passage back to Deep Space 9. ( DS9 : " Little Green Men ") Later that year, Benjamin Sisko threatened Quark to collect on five years' "back rent" that was unpaid, though the actual motivation behind the threat was not fiscal. ( DS9 : " Bar Association ") Quark later stated that he was in debt to some unnamed Humans, but considered defaulting on them a trivial matter. ( DS9 : " Body Parts ") In 2373 , he indirectly caused damage to a cargo bay , and was informed that he would have to bear the burden for the repairs, though it was not clear if this burden was financial in nature. ( DS9 : " Business as Usual ") When Quark rescued Gaila from a Federation starbase after he was arrested on Thalos VI , he had to pay a fine before he could be released. ( DS9 : " The Magnificent Ferengi ")

Other mentions [ ]

• Sometime in the 2250s , Harcourt Fenton Mudd programmed a number of android duplicates of himself with the phrase " if I had any money, I'd be sipping jippers on a beach somewhere. " ( ST : " The Escape Artist ")
• Captain Kirk offered to reimburse a group of miners on Rigel XII for lithium crystals in 2266 , but he was rebuffed in favor of bartering for Mudd's women . ( TOS : " Mudd's Women ")
• In 2285 , Leonard McCoy wanted to pay a smuggler to transport him to the Genesis Planet . ( Star Trek III: The Search for Spock )
• In 2364, Beverly Crusher bought a roll of cloth at Farpoint Station and had her account on the USS Enterprise -D billed. ( TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ")
• That same year, while playing the role of the title character in a Dixon Hill simulation , Picard stated a rate of $20 a day plus expenses to Jessica Bradley , who was convinced that someone was trying to kill her. She accepted and gave him a "c-note," or $100, as an advance. Later in the simulation, he wished to purchase a newspaper but did not have any money, and was told by the vendor that he could catch him next time. ( TNG : " The Big Goodbye ")
• In 2366 , Jean-Luc Picard purchased a Horga'hn on Risa . ( TNG : " Captain's Holiday ")
• In 2368 , Commander William T. Riker tried to get information out of Amarie . She complimented him on her husband and told him to "drop a few coins" in her jar. He told her that he did not carry any money, but managed to tempt her by teaching her a song. ( TNG : " Unification II ")
• In 2370 , when Lieutenant Worf and his son Alexander Rozhenko visited the Klingon outpost on Maranga IV , Alexander came to Worf asking for money, stating that he could see Molor 's head in a box for 50 darseks. Worf replied that the man who told him this was just trying to take his money. ( TNG : " Firstborn ")
• As of the 24th century, the Bank of Bolias was a major financial institution, and Bolarus IX had a market economy that fluctuated in value. ( DS9 : " Starship Down ", " Who Mourns for Morn? ")

Money as a figure of speech [ ]

In certain cases, references to money were made in a manner that were construed or explained as euphemistic or idiomatic, with no literal implications of money directly being used:

• When preparing to fight Klingons on Organia in 2267 , Kirk said, " Well, the Federation has spent a lot of money on our training. " ( TOS : " Errand of Mercy ")
• On two occasions later that year, Kirk commented to a subordinate, " You just earned your pay for the week! " ( TOS : " The Doomsday Machine ", " Who Mourns for Adonais? ")
• That same year, Cyrano Jones , after giving a free tribble to Lieutenant Nyota Uhura , told her, " A tribble is the only love that money can buy. " ( TOS : " The Trouble with Tribbles ")
• Shortly before he retired in the 2290s , Montgomery Scott stated that he had "just bought a boat ." ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )
• Leonard McCoy responded to Chang incessantly declaring quotations of William Shakespeare during the battle of Khitomer by saying, " I'd give real money if he'd shut up. " ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )
• Phillipa Louvois suggested to Picard, at a meeting in 2365 , that he "buy [her] dinner." ( TNG : " The Measure Of A Man ")
• In 2366 , an illusory representation of Rishon Uxbridge referred to her husband Kevin Uxbridge as a "starving student " when she had first met him. ( TNG : " The Survivors ")
• While inside the Nexus , Kirk described an illusion to Picard, remarking, " It's my house... I sold it years ago. " Kirk was actually referring to a former home of his on Earth . ( Star Trek Generations )
• In 2374 , a smiling Jake Sisko mentioned to Quark that he had "sold [his] first book" earlier that day. Seemingly surprised, Quark asked Jake how much he had acquired from the sale of the book, to which Jake further explained, " It's just a figure of speech. The Federation News Service is going to publish a book of my stories about life on the station under Dominion rule. " Jake then confirmed that he had not been paid. ( DS9 : " You Are Cordially Invited ")

Monetary units [ ]

• Beryllium ( Grid 539 )
• Bolian currency ( Bolarus IX )
• British pound ( Old Britain )
• Casino chip ( Earth )
• Cent ( United States of America )
• Coin (various)
• Credit card (Earth)
• Credit chip (Earth)
• Darsek ( Klingon Empire )
• Dilithium (various)
• Dime (United States of America)
• Dirak ( Karemma )
• Dollar (United States of America)
• Dorak ( Barkon IV )
• Federation credit ( United Federation of Planets )
• Fin (Earth)
• Franc ( France )
• Frang ( Takar )
• Gambling token (Earth)
• Gold -pressed Latinum (various)
• Isik (various)
• Keloda ( VOY : " Time and Again ")
• Lek ( Cardassian Union )
• Lita ( Bajoran Provisional Government )
• Looney ( Canada )
• Penny (Canada, Old Britain, United States of America)
• Quatloo ( Providers of Triskelion )
• Reichsmark ( Germany , 1924 - 1948 )
• Renn ( Mari )
• Replicator ration ( USS Voyager )
• Scudo ( Italy )
• Shilling ( England , Ireland )
• Terran Imperial credit ( Terran Empire )
• Transporter credit (United Federation of Planets)
• Voucher (various)

Appendices [ ]

See also [ ].

• Credit card
• Credit chip

Background information [ ]

In the final draft script of TOS : " The Naked Time ", self-appointed "Captain" Kevin Riley , while suffering from polywater intoxication , announced to the crew of the USS Enterprise that all male crewmen who attended an upcoming formal dance would be "raised one pay grade." According to Riley, this was to compensate them for all the female crewmen who attended the event each being provided with a pint of perfume from ship's stores .

In the final draft script of TOS : " Charlie X ", Doctor McCoy jokingly told Captain Kirk that, if McCoy was permitted to "just sit quietly in the background and hear" Kirk give Charles Evans a disciplinary talk, he "would gladly give up a year's pay."

The final draft script of TOS : " Miri " implied that the society on Miri involved money, as a wig scripted to be worn by Jahn was described (in one of the teleplay's stage directions) as having a price tag still attached while the wig was being worn.

Ronald D. Moore commented, " By the time I joined TNG , Gene had decreed that money most emphatically did NOT exist in the Federation, nor did 'credits' and that was that. Personally, I've always felt this was a bunch of hooey, but it was one of the rules and that's that. " ( AOL chat , 1997 )

A cut scene in the script of Star Trek: First Contact would have established that, as of 2063, "no one" had used currency in ten years, apparently due to scarcity. However, a currency called Dome money was also mentioned.

In the first draft script of ENT : " Fortunate Son ", when Ryan became surprised that Trip Tucker could synthesize a required amount of valve seals in approximately forty minutes , Tucker joked that he could take longer to do so but that he "charge[d] by the hour."

An ultimately omitted line of dialogue from the final draft script of ENT : " Carpenter Street " featured 21st century Human Loomis exclaiming to 22nd century Vulcan T'Pol , " You act like money doesn't mean anything! "

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman , screenwriters of Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , said in a question-and-answer session with fans that "there's money, or some kind of credit system" in the alternate reality . [1]

Apocrypha [ ]

There are many mentions of payment and currency in the Pocket TNG novel Balance of Power by Dafydd ab Hugh .

In the mirror universe of the alternate reality-set comic "Live Evil", James T. Kirk ( β ) mentions a monetary unit called the "chit".

In the 25th-century timeline of Star Trek Online , a currency system called "Energy Credits" (EC) has achieved near-universal acceptance among galactic powers, including the Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire. EC may be exchanged by individuals or traded for goods and services, and many commodities have a fixed EC "cost" to obtain from a replicator. It is implied that EC are intended as a direct representation of the amount of energy used to replicate or construct a given item, allowing commodities to become "cheaper" if they can be created for less energy. It is not known whether EC is used at large in the same way as regular currency, or if it is simply a convenient way for the game to facilitate more traditional economic activity.

External links [ ]

• Money at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Currency at Wikipedia
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Screen Rant

Will the bad batch's season 3 finale set up the next star wars animated tv show.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch will soon be coming to an end, so where does that leave Star Wars animation? Is another show already in the works?

• The Bad Batch's series finale may hide a major new development in the Star Wars universe.
• The show has become essential in Disney's new canon, revealing key details about Palpatine and more.
• The future of Star Wars animation remains a mystery, paving the way for new stories and revelations.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch 's season 3 finale airs next week, and there's still no word about the next animated Star Wars project – what if the series finale is hiding a major new development? Originally marketed as a direct continuation of Star Wars: The Clone Wars , The Bad Batch has become something more – it's not just a story about the aftermath of Order 66 and Clone Force 99 's life within the Empire. It has also set up countless narrative threads that lead through to the New Republic and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, too.

As such, it's arguably become Star Wars ' most important animated TV project in Disney's new canon, perhaps even more so than The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels . Without Star Wars: The Bad Batch , for instance, Palpatine's resurrection would still be a convoluted mystery. And yet, The Bad Batch is still, at heart, the story of Clone Force 99 and their "adopted" sister. Once that story ends, where will Star Wars animation head next? At this point, the only confirmed animated project on the horizon is Star Wars: Tales of the Empire , but The Bad Batch 's series finale could reveal something entirely new.

13 Essential Star Wars Animated TV Show Episodes Every Fan Should Watch

The bad batch season 3 is the end of a specific story.

The Bad Batch has been responsible for expanding the audience's understanding of Palpatine's cloning plans, explaining how the clone troopers were phased out in favor of stormtroopers, and reintroducing old favorite characters such as Cad Bane, Asajj Ventress, and more. But all those things happened to Clone Force 99. The story has never been solely about studying the aftermath of the Clone Wars. The audience learns everything about Palpatine, Tantiss, the stormtrooper program, and more because it is shown through the Bad Batch's eyes. Would Clone Force 99 have gotten so involved if it weren't for Omega? No. This is still, above all, their story.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch 's series finale premieres Wednesday, May 1, only on Disney+.

Since The Bad Batch 's season 3 finale is the series finale, too, it stands to reason that Clone Force 99's role in this era of Star Wars is coming to an end. Whether that be because of a tragic, untimely death or because they simply find a place to live out the rest of their lives in peace with one another remains to be seen. If, hypothetically, Hunter, Wrecker, Echo, and Crosshair manage to rescue Omega and burn down Tantiss, what will be left for them beyond a few minor appearances in something new? They'll have done their part. It will be someone else's turn.

So Many Bad Batch Spinoff Stories Have Been Left Untold

Throughout their travels, Clone Force 99 has encountered many new and compelling characters as well as familiar favorites, too. In three seasons, The Bad Batch has introduced plenty of plot threads that The Bad Batch itself doesn't necessarily need to resolve. An animated show focusing solely on the goings-on within the Empire might be tantalizing, especially with Star Wars: Tales of the Empire airing so soon after The Bad Batch ends. On the other hand, what if Captain Rex were to lead a clone uprising in the next animated series, or Star Wars decides to focus on bounty hunters, like Asajj Ventress, Fennec Shand, and Cad Bane?

Asajj Ventress' return is particularly interesting. They must have brought her back for a reason. Though the character had a major role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she later canonically died in the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple by Christie Golden. So how and why has she returned in The Bad Batch ? With the Nightsisters now becoming major players once again in other Star Wars stories, particularly in Ahsoka , Tales of the Empire , and the Star Wars Jedi games, who's to say that Ventress can't be at the center of it all in an upcoming animated series?

The Future Of Star Wars Animation Is Still A Mystery - But Why?

For some reason, Star Wars has refused to share what the future of the franchise's animated slate looks like beyond Tales of the Empire . Why hold off on announcing something so important? Logically speaking, this could only mean one thing: The Bad Batch series finale sets up Star Wars ' next mainline animated series . Perhaps something happens while Clone Force 99, Omega, and the other child subjects try to escape Dr. Hemlock's base. Perhaps Rex and Echo's uprising begins right then and there. Maybe a new revelation about the unaltered clones and their genetic makeup changes everything that was known about the Force.

Even the Empire's young test subjects could be the focus of a new series – if they are Force-sensitive, their lives could be very difficult even after escaping Hemlock's clutches. Though it's a shame that The Bad Batch is coming to an end, there's a wealth of stories Star Wars can still explore in animated form. Hopefully, what that next story will be will soon become clear. Star Wars animation has historically been used to fill in the gaps between Star Wars' major stories and, as a result, elevate those stories to new heights, and Star Wars: The Bad Batch has fulfilled that purpose beautifully.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch is an action-adventure animated series set after the events of The Clone Wars, following Clone Force 99 (a.k.a. the Bad Batch.) Finding themselves immune to the brainwashing effects of Order 66, the Bad Batch become mercenaries for hire while outrunning the empire, now seeing them as fugitives of the law.