When Star Trek: Discovery ends later this year, it leaves behind its two spinoffs as the last live-action Star Trek shows standing. Paramount+ recently announced that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for season 4, while simultaneously announcing that Star Trek: Lower Decks would end with season 5. With Lower Decks due to end later in 2024, and the future of Netflix’s Star Trek: Prodigy unknown beyond season 2, 2025 looks like a lean year for televised Star Trek.
As sad as that may seem, there’s something positive about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy carrying on the legacy of its parent show. After a 12-year gap, Star Trek: Discovery revitalized the franchise on TV. The success of Discovery season 1 and 2 laid the groundwork for the modern Star Trek franchise, and that can never be overstated. Without Discovery there would be no Strange New Worlds or Star Trek: Picard season 3, so it’s only right that it continues to push the franchise forward into 2025 and beyond.
Related
Gene Roddenberry’s Son & Star Trek Executive Producer Comment On Franchise Future
Rod Roddenberry and Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman discuss how fans have saved Star Trek and where the franchise can go next.
Strange New Worlds & Starfleet Academy Are Star Trek: Discovery Sequels
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy are effectively sequels to Star Trek: Discovery, set in the show’s disparate timelines. Strange New Worlds tells the story of what happened after the USS Discovery time traveled to the far future, while Starfleet Academy will continue the story of Star Trek‘s 32nd century. Following the end of Star Trek: Picard in season 3, live-action Trek exists in two time periods; the 23rd and 32nd centuries, leaving a 900-year gap in the middle. That needn’t be an insurmountable gulf, as both SNW and Starfleet Academy are tied together by their connections to Discovery.
Looking back at the state of the franchise in the 1990s, post-Star Trek: The Next Generation, both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager were thousands of lightyears apart. However, they felt part of a cohesive era, anchored by TNG. There’s a neat bit of symmetry then, as Star Trek: Discovery comes to an end, that there are two spinoff shows that are also wildly different in tone but anchored to a parent show. It’s easy to be concerned about the future of Star Trek, following recent cancelation announcements, but the shape of the franchise in the 2020s feels much like it did in the 1990s, which can only be a positive.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Ending Is A 24th Century Tragedy
While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy may be the Deep Space Nine and Voyager of the 2020s, they won’t continue the story of the 24th century. Star Trek: Lower Decks ending with season 5 will bring an end to the 24th century period of the Star Trek timeline, at least when it comes to the TV shows. Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Section 31 movie will reportedly focus on the untold adventures of the early 24th century, which could shed new light on classic Star Trek: The Next Generation characters.
As enticing as that might be, it’s still disappointing that Star Trek: Lower Decks won’t get the chance to further explore what happened after Star Trek: The Next Generation ended. There’ll be a glimpse of the 24th century in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 when it hits Netflix, but much of that will likely take place in an alternate future. While Star Trek fans will be well served for new adventures in the 23rd and 32nd centuries, there’s a gnawing sense that the franchise is missing out on all the exciting things happening in the 900-year gap between Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are available to stream on Paramount+
Star Trek: Discovery
Where to Watch*Availability in US
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
A spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a television series that takes place before the events of the original series and follows Captain Christopher Pike as he mans the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The show focuses on this previous crew of the Enterprise as they explore the galaxy with returning characters from Discovery.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
After being closed for over a hundred years, Starfleet Academy is reopening its doors to those who wish to pursue a career as Starfleet Officers. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will follow a new group of cadets as they come of age, and build friendships, rivalries, and romantic relationships while being threatened by a new adversary that could destroy the Academy and the Federation itself.
Star Trek: Section 31
In this Paramount+ exclusive movie event, Michelle Yeoh returns as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who was first introduced in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1. Star Trek: Section 31 centers on Yeoh’s character as she faces her past sins and is recruited by Starfleet’s secret division that protects the United Federation of Planets.
