Popverse's top stories of the day

• Marvel has an unpublished Star-Lord story by Star Wars' Thrawn creator Timothy Zahn. The author isn’t sure it will ever be released.
• Rings of Power just reached one of Lord of the Rings' most consequential battles... with huge diferences from how J.R.R. Tolkien wrote it
• The Grinch returns! Dr. Seuss's holiday hater turns vacation villain in new kids graphic novel

The future never ends. At the center of Star Trek’s core message is the idea that things will go on, and arguably continue to improve, because the future never ends and through community, communication, and the need to explore, new heights will be reached and new frontiers discovered. It’s something to think about now that the final season of Star Trek: Discovery has aired, taking the Franchise further into the future than ever before… but the story does not end when that series did.

Whether it’s William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard, Avery Brooks’ Benjamin Sisko, Kate Mulgrew's Kathryn Janeway or any of the subsequent commanders and captains of the many starships of Starfleet, generations of viewers have found themselves in good hands when it comes to navigating the outer limits of reality on a regular basis… and, these days, there are more opportunities than ever to transport into space for a trek of your own.

While there are only two ongoing Star Trek series right now, there are even more on the way, and the return of the franchise to the big screen, with multiple movies in the works. There’s so much happening, in fact, that it’s easy to lose track… which is why you should keep reading and find out what to expect from Star Trek across the next few years. (Spoilers: the final frontier is getting a lot bigger.)

Upcoming Star Trek movies and TV show schedule

There’s no shortage of Star Trek in the pipeline for the next few years, but no official dates have been announced by CBS or Paramount for anything outside of Star Trek: Lower Decks season five coming in October. That doesn’t mean that we have no idea when some projects should be dropping, based on how far along they are in terms of production, or simply teases given by those involved.

Here’s a quick rundown of the projects that have been announced from Star Trek that exist on some form of schedule, however vague. (There are many unscheduled projects, which we’ll get to at warp speed, don’t worry.)

What Star Trek TV series are planned?

Star Trek: Lower Decks, season five

A fifth season for the animated comedy set in the period between Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Prodigy was announced in April 2023. At San Diego Comic-Con 2024's Star Trek Universe panel, it was revealed that the fifth and final season of the beloved series is scheduled to debut on Paramount+ in late October 2024.

Release Date: October 24, 2024

Platform: Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, season 3

As if the second season cliffhanger wasn't enough of a clue that the popular spin-off of Discovery — which is also a prequel to the original Star Trek series from the 1960s —would return, the show's third season renewal was announced back in April 2023, and it will also return for a fourth season . But after

<a type="ext" rel="sponsored noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Strange-Worlds-Blu-ray/dp/B0CF4FNG37/?tag=popverse07-20">a second season that included a half-animated crossover episode and a musical</a>, how can they top what they've already achieved? A clue arrived in a recent article mentioning a murder mystery episode directed by Jonathan Frakes, plus at the SDCC 2024 Star Trek Universe panel we got a glimpse of an episode that sees many human members of the crew transformed into Vulcans. Furthermore, the panel also revealed that the new iteration of legacy character Montgomery Scott, played by Martin Quinn, will be a series regular in season 3.

Release Date: TBA 2025

Platform: Paramount+

Star Trek: Section 31

Even before the character of Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) left the Discovery narrative, rumors of a Section 31 spinoff starring the Oscar Award-winning actress have swirled. In mid-April 2023, it was officially announced that a Star Trek: Section 31 “special movie event” starring Yeoh had been greenlit by Paramount+. And during the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 Star Trek Universe panel, a first look teaser trailer was shared.

Yeoh, who originated the idea for a Section 31 spinoff herself, will serve as executive producer with Alex Kurtzman. Additional details from the announcement include the fact that Section 31 will be written by Craig Sweeny and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi (director of many episodes of Discovery). However, it remains to be seen what other familiar Trek characters may appear in the show, if any. The movie is scheduled for a 2025 release — and Yeoh has already said that she’d be willing to make more if this one goes over well.

Release Date: TBA 2025

Platform: Paramount+

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

In late March 2023, it was announced that Starfleet Academy season 1 had been ordered. Only a few details have been revealed about the series. It will be a live-action series and will be set in the same time period as Discovery seasons 3, 4 and 5, as was confirmed by Paramount executives. Several new cast members were revealed in the weeks leading up to San Diego Comic-Con 2024. These include Holly Hunter as the lead, Paul Giamatti as the antagonist and Gina Yashere as a teacher. In addition, a classroom attendance sheet worth of young actors who will be playing cadets has been announced. And during the SDCC Star Trek Universe panel, several returning characters were announced for the series: Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Jett Reno (Tig Notaro), Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) and The Doctor (Robert Picardo).

Serving as showrunners and executive producers will be Kurtzman and Noga Landau. Furthermore, in a Tweet sent shortly after the series order was announced,Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome revealed that she has joined the show’s writers room. Currently, the show is filming at the largest set ever constructed for a Star Trek series at Pinewood Toronto Studios.

Release Date: TBD; Expected 2026

Platform: Paramount+

Movies & TV Shows with No Approximate Schedule Yet

Star Trek 4

In April 2021, a new Star Trek movie was announced for release on June 9, 2023. It was subsequently revealed to be a fourth movie in the Kelvin Timeline. WandaVision alum Matt Shakman was attached to the project before he accepted the directorial role for the upcoming Fantastic Four MCU adaptation; he subsequently left the project, which placed it in turnaround.

Long believed to be quietly dead, sources inside Paramount have recently said that it’s still active and in development. And yet, it's not all good news - according to Variety, the fourth entry into the Chris Pine-starring Star Trek saga will be "the final chapter” in that particular series.

Release Date: TBD

Platform: Theatrical

Untitled Star Trek prequel

Having wowed fans with his work on Lucasfilm’s Andor series, director Toby Haynes is reportedly developing a new Star Trek movie set decades before J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, with writer Seth Grahame-Smith onboard to write. Little is known about the project including just what timeline of Trek it’s going to take place in; initial reports suggested it was part of the Kelvin timeline — which is to say, the continuity of the 2009 reboot movies — but more recently, it was described as being part of the core timeline of the franchise. (Of course, in that it’s a prequel set before Nero changed history in that 2009 movie, it’s possible that it could be both. Time travel is confusing.)

Release Date: TBD

Platform: Theatrical

Untitled Picard movie

The open question over what, if anything, Paramount would do to follow up on the success of the third and final season of Picard might have an answer. While Picard showrunner Terry Malalas had teased a new series called Legacy — see below — Patrick Stewart revealed in a March 2024 interview that he’s heard of a movie script written specifically for Picard, although he hadn’t read it and couldn’t give any further details. Will this feature more of the reunited TNG cast, or is it something entirely different? And is it meant as a Paramount+ project a la Section 31, or a theatrical release? Time will tell…

Release Date: TBD

Platform: TBD

Untitled live-action comedy series

During the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 Star Trek Universe panel, another new series was announced. Currently, Justin Simien (Dear White People) and Tawny Newsome are developing a live-action comedy series set in the Star Trek universe. According to the few details we've learned so far, the series will follow "Federation Outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet [who] find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant." We'll have to wait and see whether or not this intriguing and unique Franchise project makes it to the screen in the years to come.

Release Date: TBD

Platform: TBD

Potentially Abandoned Projects

Quentin Tarantino’s Trek

At one point, legendary director Quentin Tarantino was talking about directing an R-rated movie set in the Star Trek universe, with another writer working from an idea he had that was reportedly a time travel movie that would take inspiration from the original series episode ‘A Piece of the Action.’ Things progressed to a small degree with writer Mark L. Smith before Tarantino decided that he didn’t want to direct it, but the screenplay exists and Tarantino has said that he’d be willing to offer notes for any new director. We can but hope this oddity one day happens.

Star Trek: Legacy

One unannounced project remains at the forefront of Trekkie agendas everywhere: the proposed Picard semi-sequel, Star Trek: Legacy. The title was revealed by Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas on Twitter in March 2023, while Picard’s wildly popular third season was being released. Matalas stated the proposed series would be set in the 25th century, following up on storylines and characters from “the Last Generation and the Next.”

While the series has yet to be officially commented upon by Paramount or CBS, fans have signed online petitions in support of the idea, and at least one Trek executive seems in favor; In interviews in support of Strange New Worlds season 2, Akiva Goldsman voiced his continued advocacy for a continuation of the vision Matalas has for the Franchise. “Let me put it this way,” Goldsman said during an interview with CinemaBlend. “I signed the petition too.”

It’s unclear whether or not the Picard movie project mentioned above is a variation on the Legacy idea, or an entirely separate project.

Is Star Trek 4 confirmed?

As we mentioned earlier, a fourth and final Star Trek movie set in the Kelvin Timeline — the alternate timeline created with J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Karl Urban as Kirk, Spock, and Bones, respectively — is in development, although it’s unclear at what stage at time of writing. Certainly all parties involved seem to want to make it happen, so at this point, we should consider it a question of when it’ll happen.

What is the most current Star Trek?

Currently, all 20 episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 are available for streaming on Netflix, having joined the 20 episodes of Prodigy season 1 that were already streaming on the platform on July 1, 2024.

What’s the next Star Trek series?

At time of current writing, the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks will debut on Paramount+ on October 24, 2024. The next all-new series to debut will be Starfleet Academy, which we can likely expect at some point in 2025 or 2026.

Will there be another Star Trek with Jack Crusher?

One of the breakout stars of Picard, season 3, Ed Speleers portrays Jack Crusher, a new addition to the Star Trek universe with ties that go back generations (or at least, to the new one). After the third season of the Patrick Stewart-starring spinoff wrapped, fans were very curious about whether we'd see Crusher again.

Unfortunately, there's no confirmed answer to this question. However, that hasn't stopped folks like Susana Polo at Polygon from speculating about Crusher's future, particularly how it could connect to the rumors of Star Trek: Legacy. Be warned before you read that speculation, though; it contains major spoilers for Picard season 3.

Space may be the final frontier, but there's no end to Popverse's love of the Star Trek universe. Hop aboard the starship Enterprise with our Star Trek watch order, explore strange new worlds with our upcoming Star Trek TV shows and movies list, seek out the new life of the franchise, and boldly go where no Star Trek film has ever gone before - with Quentin Tarantino?