CBS has announced that it has handed down a straight-to-series order for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, its third live-action Star Trek series for its streaming platform, CBS All Access.
The show will feature Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock, Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, all of whom are reprising their roles from the latest season of Star Trek: Discovery.
According to CBS, the series will follow the trio “in the decade before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.”
The series joins the growing number of Star Trek projects on CBS All Access. Star Trek: Discovery launched in 2017 and returned for a second season in 2019, while Star Trek: Picard debuted earlier this year. Both shows have additional seasons coming up: Discovery’s third season is expected to debut sometime this year, while Picard has been renewed for a second season. In addition to the live-action shows, an animated series called Star Trek: Lower Decks is coming sometime this year (there’s also a Nickelodeon animated series coming). The network is also developing a series called Star Trek: Section 31, based on Michelle Yeoh’s mirror-universe character Philippa Georgiou.
CBS cited the popularity of the characters from fans as a reason for launching the series. “These iconic characters have a deep history in ‘Star Trek’ canon, yet so much of their stories have yet to be told. With Akiva and Henry at the helm, the Enterprise, its crew and its fans are in for an extraordinary journey to new frontiers in the ‘Star Trek’ universe.”
CBS did not say when the series would debut on the platform.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will fill a somewhat familiar gap between Discovery, and The Original Series. While Discovery is set years prior to TOS, many fans pointed out that the look and feel of the costumes and sets didn’t really line up with the series it was setting up. Presumably, this show will help narrow that gap a bit.
Returning to the U.S.S. Enterprise and its crew should serve as a new entry point for new fans of the franchise, as well as a familiar return for longtime fans of the franchise.
