The fourth season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is set to premiere on Thursday, July 23. The cast and crew, however, have already shot the fifth and final season of the series, and at a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association that I attended, co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers hinted at what to expect from the series before it comes to an end.
“I can tell you that by the end of the series, we will go on a journey that sends us towards the things that we know are going to happen. But hopefully, for all of our viewers, there will be some surprises that hit you on the way,” Myers said. “Why should we show you the thing that you already know? We want to show you the thing that you don’t know.”
Some of the characters’ fates also remain up in the air. We know what happens with legacy characters like Spock, Kirk, and Pike, but what about those like La’an and Pelia, Strange New Worlds characters that have no pre-existing canon in the Star Trek universe?
Goldsman acknowledged that the writing team had “work to do” for these non-canon characters. “We want to do that work with thoughtfulness and muscularity and collaboration with the actors who have been as much the driver of this narrative object as we have,” he added.
What does that mean for us as viewers? Perhaps we should look for signs for things that might be going on with these characters as season four progresses. Where they end up will be a surprise, but odds are good that the writers are leaving breadcrumbs for us in the upcoming episodes that may hint at their fates.
Season four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has 10 episodes, with the first one premiering on July 23, 2026, with new episodes appearing weekly on Thursdays until September 24, 2026.
