Just in case you were worried about Star Trek not getting that fancy “expanded universe” treatment that all the other major properties were getting, never fear! CBS is going all-in on the final frontier, and they’ve decided that Alex Kurtzman is the man to do it.
According to Variety, Kurtzman (who was recently tapped to showrun Star Trek: Discovery after the current showrunners departed following claims of abusive behavior towards their writing staff) has been signed into a five-year contract with the goal of developing new Trek content for television. These shows may be mini-series, animated, you name it. Here are the projects reportedly being tossed around at this moment:
- A series set at Starfleet Academy from the creators of Marvel’s Runaways, currently airing on Hulu.
- A limited series with plot details yet to be released. This is rumored to be a Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion, as Variety reports that Kurtzman is also trying to woo back Patrick Stewart to reprise his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
- An animated series, also with plot details yet to be released.
- Another limited series based around Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It is unclear if that means the character of Khan himself, or something related to what happened in the TOS film.
So those are all… ideas. The Starfleet Academy one makes the most sense, and is a good way to tap a younger audience, which CBS is doubtlessly keen on nabbing. The other two are vague, and Khan seems like a character best left alone given how poorly Star Trek Into Darkness handled its rehash of Wrath of Khan (which Kurtzman was partly responsible for as the co-screenwriter of the film).
On the one hand, this would seem to be a good sign on how CBS is feeling about more Star Trek. But attempting to churn out as much as they possibly can on short notice when Discovery has been through so many creative teams seems a bit premature. Guess we’ll see where this ends up in the next five years.
