Just ahead of Star Trek: Discovery’s final season, today the Star Trek Universe got a bright spotlight shined upon it — and bringing readers a lot of new information about the future of this decades-old franchise.
In a lengthy cover feature for Variety, writer Adam B. Vary talks to Trek’s cast and creative team, visiting the sets of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 film starring Michelle Yeoh, and even going inside preproduction on the next television adventure, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
For the currently-filming third season of Strange New Worlds, the Enterprise sets will be expanding with a dedicated laboratory where Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) will investigate scientific dilemmas in front of a bank of large monitors — and above a water-filled tank which has already led some fans to joke that it may be a live-action Cetacean Ops.
In this new photo showcasing the new science lab from production designer Jonathan Lee, Spock is seen wearing an updated version of the Original Series’ red hazmat suits first seen in “The Naked Time” — redesigned by series costumer Bernadette Croft for the modern era.
Season 3 will also continue the trend of bringing new genres to Strange New Worlds episodes — as longtime Trek director Jonathan Frakes does reveal he’s finished a story “framed as a Hollywood murder mystery” that he describes as “the best episode of television I’ve ever done.”
Moving to the next live-action adventure — Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 film, which just finished filming last week — the Variety piece confirms that the project shifted from an ongoing series to a one-off movie due to the impact of the pandemic, as well as Michelle Yeoh’s rise in popularity that reduced her availability.
Despite her limited schedule, the actor returned to the Trek fold for this new Philippa Georgiou project, which sees the one-time Terran emperor zapped back in time after departing the 32nd century in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3. But where, you may ask, did the Section 31 agent arrive?
Surprisingly, it seems that the film will be spending at least some time in the 24th century’s ‘Lost Era’ — between the launch of the Enterprise-B in Star Trek: Generations and the launch of the Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation — as Variety reveals the identity of one of Yeoh’s Section 31 co-stars.
Kacey Rohl (Hannibal, The Magicians) will be portraying as a young Rachel Garrett, better known to Trek die-hards as the future captain of the Enterprise-C. The character appeared only once, in Next Gen’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” leading her ship and crew into a dark alternate future where she died in a Klingon attack before the Enterprise-C could return to its own time. (The older Garrett was played by Tricia O’Neil.)
The article also mentions that despite its temporal setting, the Section 31 film has repurposed some sets originally built for the now-finished Discovery series — and that the budget is, as shared by Alex Kurtzman, “much less” than a theatrical Trek production.
Kurtzman also noted that his team at Secret Hideout is considering other possible streaming movie concepts, including a possible Star Trek: Picard follow-up, and that Michelle Yeoh is interested in a Section 31 sequel… if the first film is successful.
Speaking of Trek theatrical projects, the years-long efforts to drum up a fourth and final outing for Chris Pine’s Star Trek Kelvin Timeline crew continue — I know, I know, you’ve heard that many times before — with the current Kelvin project in the hands of screenwriter Steve Yockey (HBO’s The Flight Attendant).
Also still chugging along is that other film concept first discussed back in January — said to be a prequel to the overall Star Trek timeline — expected to move into active preproduction later in 2024.
As always… we’ll see what happens in this department!
The next big television project, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, has been oddly coy about its place in the Star Trek timeline — and while fans have speculated for months about when the series will take place, Variety has confirmed that the show will be set in the post-Discovery 32nd century era.
Set to start filming later this summer as previously reported, Starfleet Academy has taken over the former home of Star Trek: Discovery in Toronto’s Pinewood Studios. The biggest soundstage in Canada, the series is expected to film on “the largest single set ever created for Star Trek television.”
“Plans [include] the series’ central academic atrium, a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space. To fit it all, they plan to use every inch of Pinewood Toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage.”
As for the still-uncast Academy cadets, showrunner Noga Landau describes them as kids who have “never had a red alert before, [and who] never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”
Finally, Alex Kurtzman went onto share that he has no plans to hand over the Star Trek franchise reins anytime soon.
“The minute I fall out of love with [‘Star Trek] is the minute that it’s not for me anymore. I’m not there yet,” he says.
“To be able to build in this universe to tell stories that are fundamentally about optimism and a better future at a time when the world seems to be falling apart — it’s a really powerful place to live every day.”
You can read the entire feature piece — truly worth your time — on Variety’s website.
Star Trek: Discovery returns next week, followed by new episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy later in 2024. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is expected to return in 2025. Release dates for Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy have not yet been announced.