The Star Trek fandom is definitely getting a lot of news sprung upon us this spring! While Star Trek: Picard may be at an end, there’s no shortage of Star Trek goodness for you to enjoy while we wait for the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two. But first, there’s a strike-shaped elephant in the room we need to deal with before we can get into all the release dates and other Star Trek news. Grab some raktajino. You’re going to need it.
The Writer’s Strike and Star Trek
The strike by WGA has barely started, but there’s some trepidation among Star Trek fans about how this strike may affect the release of future Star Trek projects. Let it be known that I offer my full support to the writers involved. Fair wages for fair work, especially with new streaming considerations and the quality of content being produced. I’ll break it down for each project individually, but it’s safe to say that the shows set for release this year should remain unaffected. After that, well, all bets are off.
Now that all that’s out of the way, let’s dig into the fun stuff.
PlutoTV
If you’re a little short on extra streaming cash, no worries. PlutoTV now has Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as well as other Star Trek series available to stream for free with ads. This is a great way to get caught up with Strange New Worlds if you want to hold off on hitting subscribe on Paramount+. You can add the PlutoTV app to your smart TV, your streaming device, or simply watch online at Pluto.TV. But speaking of Strange New Worlds…
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is Back!
Thankfully Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been in the can long before the WGA strike began. The show’s second season is set to premiere on June 15, 2023. There are some rumors circulating online right now about potential titles for all of season two’s episodes. I want to iterate that these are rumors and Paramount hasn’t confirmed anything. However, I don’t need rumors to get me hype for this series to come back. If you’ve not seen it yet, take a look at the trailer for season two!
If you’ve read my reviews of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, then you know the one thing I want the most out of season two: #MORETEGAS! And from the teaser clip we got on Star Trek Day last year and this new trailer, it looks like my girl Erica is finally getting some time to shine.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Four is Beaming Aboard This Summer!
I am eagerly awaiting Star Trek: Lower Decks season four’s premiere. Paramount+ announced that the fourth season of the series will air sometime in late summer. If they follow the release method they’ve utilized with previous Trek series, then we can look for the season four premiere to overlap with the finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season two.
We may also have a brief Star Trek hiatus like we are currently experiencing. Again, this is speculation on my part. We don’t have an official release date yet, but stay tuned here to Fangirlish where I’ll be keeping you up to date on all the Star Trek news you can use.
More good news on the Star Trek: Lower Decks front: Lower Decks has been renewed for a fifth season! According to this helpful article on TrekMovie.com, it is unlikely that the current strike will affect Lower Decks or Star Trek: Prodigy because they are under a TAG contract, The Animation Guild, which is still current. While future live-action Trek may be delayed, that doesn’t seem to be a worry we have for animated Trek. Speaking of animated Trek…
Star Trek: Prodigy Will Return!
The second season of Star Trek: Prodigy will return sometime this winter. Season two was already underway while the first season was airing, so we’ve got no worries about getting a steady stream of new animated Star Trek stories. If you’ve slept on Star Trek: Prodigy because it’s “a kids’ show,” I would encourage you to give it a second look.
Star Trek: Prodigy, as far as I’m concerned, best captures the spirit of curiosity, loyalty, and courage of Star Trek. I should not be crying this much in nearly every single episode, but here we are. Kate Mulgrew is back as Janeway, and frankly, when I interviewed Kate before the season one premiere, she spoke about Star Trek: Prodigy like it is the greatest work she’s ever done in her life. I can’t wait to see what our young crew is up to this season.
Section 31…is Getting a Movie?
The long rumored Section 31 series is now officially a Star Trek: Section 31 TV movie that will air on Paramount+. Best of all, the studio was able to secure Queen Michelle Yeoh (all hail) to star in the film, reprising her role as Philippa Georgiou. The last time we saw her was in Star Trek: Discovery season three, taking a dive through the Portal of Forever.
As much fun as it would be to have a Michelle Yeoh-led series, I think it might be for the best to have this as a one-off TV movie. It’s potentially a smaller financial risk for the studio and it will also allow them to gauge audience interest.
If it does well, we may get another. We might get a full show. Who knows? At this point, the film’s production is unclear. Typically for a film to get the green light, there’s a script in place. Paramount will be pressed to get this one done due to demands for Michelle Yeoh’s time. She wasn’t an Oscar winner when this was announced and now she is.
For now, the status of production is unknown. Stay tuned here for any updates. I’m just glad to have Michelle Yeoh back in my Star Trek again.
Starfleet Academy is Go! Sort of…
Friends, the emotional whiplash I’m feeling about Starfleet Academy is monstrous. The series was officially announced at the end of March. Based on the press release on StarTrek.com, the series will take place “After over a century” of no Starfleet Academy. This tells me that this is set in the 32nd century when Star Trek: Discovery takes place. Does this mean I’m getting my girl Tilly in the professor’s chair, taking a bunch of new cadets under her wing? Good grief, I hope so.
I can’t wait to see the finished product, but unfortunately, we will have to wait until the writer’s strike is over. No work is currently being done on this series and won’t be until a new agreement is reached between the studios and the writers.
But speaking of Star Trek: Discovery, brace yourselves for impact, friends. I’ve got a lot of thoughts on this one.
Star Trek: Discovery to Finish in 2024
I cannot adequately express my disappointment that Star Trek: Discovery will end after season five. This was not the original plan for the series. To throw salt into the wound, this announcement came as many of the Disco cast were on the Star Trek Cruise earlier this year.
Even worse, the show had already wrapped for season five, so rewrites and reshoots have to be done in order to help the finale feel like a true wrap on the show. That is a real disservice to this cast, this crew, and to fans of the series. Whether you love or hate Discovery, you can’t deny that the cast of Discovery is comprised of some of the kindest human beings to walk the earth.
Without the success of Discovery, we wouldn’t have Strange New Worlds, which is a direct spin-off. We certainly wouldn’t have had Picard or both animated series. It is this show that proved to Paramount that Star Trek is a property worth investing in at the television level. So, if you enjoy those other shows, at least give Star Trek: Discovery the credit that it’s due.
Discovery has always been my favorite modern Trek series, and its cast of characters is why. I hope this series is given a solid ending. It doesn’t deserve anything less than that. It seems unlikely that progress on the reshoots will be affected by the strike. However, we don’t have an official word on that yet. As of right now, it still looks like the final season of Star Trek: Discovery will air in early 2024.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot to ponder on while we wait for more new Trek. In the meantime, set your hailing frequencies to Fangirlish! I’ll be bringing you all the Trek updates, and when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres on June 15, full episode reviews.
All episodes of all Star Trek series are currently streaming on Paramount+.
