The Star Trek franchise has grown considerably in the last five years. Following the launch of Star Trek: Discovery, we got Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. There are even more Star Trek shows on the way. The Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con is currently underway, with plenty of treats to be revealed.
First up is a new teaser for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, which will reunite the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In addition to Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, the teaser also features Jonathan Frakes as Riker, Marina Sirtis as Troi, LeVar Burton as Geordi, Gates McFadden as Crusher, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jeri Ryan as Seven, and Michelle Hurd as Raffi. Brent Spiner will also be back, but as a new character.
It’s great to see these characters again, and it’s particularly nice to see Worf looking like… Worf, and not one of the redesigned Klingons seen in Star Trek: Discovery. Gates McFadden, who frequently felt like an afterthought in the TNG movies, said that the “script for Season 3 of Picard is the best stuff ever for my character on the show!” A series of character posters were also revealed.
Executive Producer Alex Kurtzman said they wanted to be sure that the TNG cast would have “serious roles” and not just “cameos.” He added that the crew “is in different places around the galaxy” at the beginning of the season, and we’ll slowly see them come together. Kurtzman said that the season’s villain is a woman and that they took “great inspiration” from Khan. Patrick Stewart added that they’ll “revisit the old Enterprise for a time.” Exactly which Enterprise he’s referring to remains to be seen, but it could be the Enterprise D, last seen blowing up and crashing in Star Trek: Generations.
Next up is a new trailer for the third season of Star Trek: Lower Decks filled with plenty of references for fans. There’s also some Deep Space Nine love to be had, particularly in the final moments. The third season will debut on Paramount+ on August 25th.
The cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds then took the stage, where Anson Mount (Captain Pike) revealed that there will be a special crossover episode between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. The episode will occur during Strange New Worlds’ second season and will see Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) joining the U.S.S. Enterprise. Jonathan Frakes will direct the episode, which will be both live-action and animation.
What was your favourite moment from the Star Trek Universe Comic-Con panel?