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Star Trek: Discovery will end with season 5, Sonequa Martin-Green calls it a 'mind-blowing journey'

"I'm astoundingly blessed by God to have played Captain Michael Burnham and to have taken part in a legacy alongside an extraordinary cast, phenomenal crew, and remarkable writing team," says the series star.

It's the end of an era within the Trek franchise as Star Trek: Discovery is officially concluding with season 5, which is getting an early 2024 premiere on Paramount+.

In a lengthy statement released to press, series star Sonequa Martin-Green , who plays Captain Michael Burnham, opened up about her time on Discovery .

"I can hardly believe that this mind-blowing journey with Star Trek: Discovery is ending," Martin-Green, who's also a producer, says. "I'm astoundingly blessed by God to have played Captain Michael Burnham and to have taken part in a legacy alongside an extraordinary cast, phenomenal crew, and remarkable writing team."

The actress thanks CBS Studios and Paramount+, "who insisted on making television history." She also calls out showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman , and executive producers, including Olatunde Osunsanmi.

"I will never forget how it felt to stand together as a show family, cradling the heirloom of Trek with all those from the franchise at large and with the fans," the star says. "The fans welcomed us into their hearts as we launched a new iteration of Trek and an entire entertainment platform, and we'll never forget it. Sixty-five episodes later, here's to the entire company of Star Trek: Discovery , to the show and its fifth and final season, to its beloved fans and to all those who envision a better future. Let's fly… "

Premiering in 2017, Star Trek: Discovery was one of the flagship series that helped launch CBS All Access, the Viacom streaming platform that later became Paramount+. It's also a series that kicked off a new age of modern Star Trek shows, which has continued with Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks , and kid-friendly off-shoot Star Trek: Prodigy .

With next year's final season premiere so far down the line, Paramount+ is planning to celebrate the series as a whole, as well as season 5, all throughout 2023.

"As lifelong fans of Star Trek , it has been an immense honor and privilege to help bring Star Trek: Discovery to the world," Kurtzman and Paradise mention in joint remarks. "The Trek universe means so much to so many — including us — and we couldn't be prouder of everything Discovery has contributed to its legacy, particularly with representation. If just one person sees themselves, or the possibilities for their future, in a new way because of Discovery , then we think we'd have made Gene Roddenberry very proud."

In addition to Martin-Green's leading performance, the show also highlights LGBTQ representation, primarily with Wilson Cruz 's Dr. Hugh Culber and Anthony Rapp 's Lieutenant Paul Stamets.

"Of course, there would be no Discovery without Sonequa Martin-Green and the extraordinary team of artists, both in front of and behind the camera, who have brought this show to life," the showrunners continue. "Their passion and determination to make every episode special has been deeply inspiring; so too has their love and support for one another and their genuine love for Star Trek . Discovery has truly become a family over the years — and we couldn't be more grateful to be part of it."

2022's Star Trek Day gave fans a first look at season 5. We don't know much about what the story will entail, but after President of Earth Stacey Abrams , the crew of the U.S.S Discovery will uncover a mystery that sends them across the galaxy on a quest to find an ancient power. It's a power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries, and there are other, dangerous foes who are desperate to find it.

Doug Jones (Saru), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), David Ajala (Cleveland "Book" Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira), and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner) will also star in season 5.

Even though Picard is currently airing its final season and Discovery is planning for its big finish, Kurtzman said at San Diego Comic-Con last year that the producers are "currently developing two more Star Trek shows." He also made a point to say, "You can certainly expect to see more Star Trek shows with female leads."

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Related content:

• Star Trek: Discovery reveals season 5 first look and on-set Easter eggs
• Picard boss on final season's big twist: 'It wasn't something to be taken lightly'
• Picard season 3 is the final adventure The Next Generation cast never got

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• 2024 Spring Entertainment Preview

Star Trek: Discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants

Imagining the future of the future

by Susana Polo

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that even among the greatest television shows in Star Trek history, most of them take two seasons to stop being kind of bad. Never has that been more true or more excruciating than in the case of Star Trek: Discovery .

Polygon is looking ahead to the movies, shows, and books coming soon in our Spring 2024 entertainment preview package, a weeklong special issue.

Often it felt like what Discovery was really doing in its early seasons was discovering what didn’t work. Strong performances from a great cast? That works. A Klingon design that absolutely nobody liked ? Definitely not. But despite the stumbles, Discovery season 1 had still averaged C’s and B’s with reviewers, and had built an audience and a subscriber base for Paramount Plus. On the strength of Disco ’s first season, Paramount greenlit Star Treks Picard , Lower Decks , and Prodigy , three new shows covering a huge range of ages and nostalgic tastes. And spinning out of Disco ’s second season, which introduced familiar , nostalgic characters and a brighter, more Star Trek-y tone, Paramount produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , inarguably the best new addition to the franchise since 1996.

Star Trek: Discovery crawled so that the rest of modern Trek could run... and then it started to walk. The show’s third season saw the USS Discovery and crew in the place that should have been their starting blocks: the bleeding future edge of Star Trek’s timeline. Thanks to season 3’s groundwork, season 4 became the first time that Discovery had a status quo worth returning to. In its fifth and final season, Star Trek: Discovery is finally free — free in a way that a Star Trek TV series hasn’t been in 23 years.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is such an elder statesman of the television elite that it’s easy to forget that it was daring. The show’s triumph wasn’t just that it featured a new cast of characters, but also its audaciousness in imagining the future of the future — and making that future unmistakably different . The Original Series showed a racial and national cooperation that seemed fantastical in its time, with an alien crewmember to denote the next frontier of embracing the other . Next Generation saw that bet and raised it, installing a member of the Klingon species, the Federation’s once-feared imperialist rival state, as a respected officer on the bridge of Starfleet’s flagship.

Next Generation ’s time period — one century after Kirk’s Enterprise — wasn’t a nominal choice, but a commitment to moving the story of Star Trek forward. From the show’s foundations, Gene Roddenberry and his collaborators, new and old, set a precedent that the Federation would evolve. Therefore, in accordance with the utopian themes of the franchise, old enemies would in time become friends. Next Generation embraced The Original Series ’ nemeses and the rest of ’90s Trek saw that bet and raised it again, pulling many of Next Gen ’s villains into the heroic fold. Voyager welcomed a Borg crewmember and disincorporated the Borg empire; Deep Space Nine gave the franchise the first Ferengi Starfleet cadet, and brokered a Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance in the face of an existential threat.

But Discovery — at least until it made its Olympic long-jump leap 900 years into the future — couldn’t move Star Trek forward. So long as it was set “immediately before Kirk’s Enterprise,” hemmed in by the constraints of a previously established era of Star Trek history, it could graft on new elements (like Spock’s secret human foster sister) but it couldn’t create from whole cloth (like a galaxy-wide shortage of starship fuel that nearly destroyed the Federation). Like its predecessor, the ill-fated Star Trek: Enterprise of the ’00s, it was doomed to hang like a remora on the side of the events of The Original Series , or, if you’ll pardon another fish metaphor, doomed like a goldfish that can only grow as large as its half-gallon fishbowl will allow.

Discovery ’s later, free seasons in the 32nd century have shown the Federation at its most vulnerable, a subtler echo of Picard ’s own season 1 swing at fallen institutions . (Fans of Voyager and Deep Space Nine know that this is an extremely rich vein of Trek storytelling.) In its third season, Discovery solved a galaxy-wide fuel crisis that had shattered the community of the Federation. In its fourth it fought for a fragile new Federation alliance and its millennia-old ideals.

And those seasons have also boldly committed to the idea of imagining the future’s future — 900 years of it. The centuries-old rift between Vulcans and Romulans is long healed, Ferengi serve as captains in Starfleet, the work of Doctor Noonien Soong has brought new medical technologies to the fore.

Even still, Discovery hasn’t been truly free in its third and fourth seasons. Star Trek: Picard was out there, forming new past elements of a post- Next Gen / Voy / DS9 era that Discovery had to abide by. And, after all, the show still had to make sure there was something for its own next season to come back to.

But now — with Prodigy and Picard finished, and Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks locked into their settings of Star Trek’s established past, and Starfleet Academy and Section 31 not yet in production at the time that its final season would have been written — Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show. If you’re a Star Trek fan, that should excite you.

Not since Deep Space Nine in 1999 and Voyager in 2001 has a Star Trek series had the freedom to wrap up its run with the Federation in any state it wants to. With franchise flagship Next Generation at an end, and Voyager restricted to the Delta Quadrant only, Deep Space Nine used its last seasons to throw the Federation into all-out war, making sweeping changes to the established ficto-political norms of ’90s Trek. Voyager used its finale to do what Captain Picard never could: defang the Borg (mostly).

We don’t know exactly what Discovery will do with that freedom. Season 4 directors have talked about reaching “ into the past to get further into the future ,” and likened it to Indiana Jones. Official news releases have said the crew will “uncover a mystery that sends them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.” But speculating on what that means would be beside the point.

Discovery , the show about an intergalactically teleporting starship, can finally, actually, go anywhere. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since a beloved Star Trek series was so free to boldly go. Let’s hope they’re very bold indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres with two episodes on April 4 on Paramount Plus.

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Star Trek Discovery season 5 spoiler-free review: "As if Strange New Worlds and Picard season 3 never happened"

GamesRadar+ Verdict

The last leg of Discovery’s five-year mission gets off to an unremarkable start. Season 5 has some spectacular moments and no shortage of potential, but the ponderous storytelling will make you feel like Strange New Worlds and the brilliant Picard season 3 never happened.

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

This spoiler-free review is based on Star Trek: Discovery season 5 episodes 1-4.

A lot of water has flowed under the (starship) bridge since the Disco crew fixed the Federation’s Dark Matter Anomaly problem in the season 4 finale . Two years later, multiple seasons of Strange New Worlds , Picard and Lower Decks have shown us a more exciting vision of the final frontier, but the top brass on Discovery’s fifth and final season don’t appear to have received the subspace memo. As a result, the four episodes we’ve been given for review feel like they were created in a mirror universe – a place where phasers are set to earnest and everyone is (dare we say it) a little bit dull.

That’s not the opening paragraph we thought we’d be writing after an all-action start to the season, in which a spacesuited Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) finds herself clinging to the back of a warping starship. The story quickly flashes back four hours, to show how David Cronenberg’s enigmatic Dr Kovich – still, inexplicably, wearing a suit and tie in the distant future – interrupted a Federation shindig to dispatch the USS Discovery on a topper-than-top secret mission. (Just to emphasize how off-the-books this "Red Directive" assignment is, Kovich can only talk about it in a futuristic, sci-fi version of Get Smart’s Cone of Silence .)

At the risk of incurring the wrath of Kovich (or even Paramount Plus), we won’t go into story specifics here, but we can say the arc plot involves an 800-year-old Romulan spacecraft, an artifact of cosmic importance, and an Indiana Jones-esque race to stay ahead of the bad guys in an interplanetary treasure hunt. There’s also some old-school Trek problem-solving, ethical dilemmas, and some truly cinematic action sequences. Thought speeder bike chases on alien worlds were a Star Wars thing? Now Trek’s getting in on the act in spectacular style.

There’s no question these are highly promising building blocks, yet this opening quartet of episodes doesn’t come close to fulfilling their potential. Discovery’s quest is only a big deal because pivotal characters repeatedly remind us it is, while the nominal villains – a pair of resourceful thieves – never feel like a credible threat to the technological might of Starfleet.

And just as season 4’s DMA story arc strained to fill an entire season, there’s barely enough plot here to sustain a single episode of The Next Generation – something that doesn’t bode well for a 10-episode run. It’s only in the comparatively standalone fourth episode – a welcome throwback to the big sci-fi ideas of TNG and Voyager – that the storytelling switches off the autopilot to try something different.

Disco discontent

The USS Discovery remains a wonderfully supportive and inclusive working environment, but it’s also a little bland. Yes, a harmonious, efficient Starfleet crew is totally in tune with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s original vision for the future but – as many writers complained during the TNG era – it’s hard to write good drama without conflict. 

Nobody’s expecting a return to the war footing of the show’s first season – where evil Captain Lorca ruled Discovery by fear – but now we’ve seen best buds Jean-Luc Picard and Will Riker have a barney on the bridge in Picard, there's surely room for a little more Disco discontent. A new cynical, mission-obsessed officer (played by Battlestar Galactica’s Callum Keith Rennie) does his best to shake things up, but it’s all a little too cuddly.

That wouldn’t matter so much if the characters were fun to be around, but these co-workers lack the easy chemistry of Trek’s finest. There’s been a humor deficit on board ever since Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou departed for her Section 31 spin-off movie in season 3, but even Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) and Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) – characters who could traditionally be relied on for a tension-breaking one-liner – have lost their edge.

That said, there’s no shortage of romantic subplots, as Saru (Doug Jones) contemplates settling down with Ni’Var ambassador T’Rina (Tara Rosling), and Book (David Ajala) – who’s still in the Federation’s bad books after his treasonous acts in season 4 – is brought back into the fold, nominally to help Discovery’s mission but mostly to engineer a bit of tension with his ex, Michael.

Beyond the walls of Discovery, the show still struggles to make the most of its 32nd century setting. When the crew waved goodbye to the pre-Original Series era in the season 2 finale, it felt like an opportunity to broaden Trek’s horizons beyond its traditional 23rd/24th century stomping ground. It hasn’t really played out like that, as the Federation is still populated by the same old alien races, inhabiting worlds that rarely qualify as strange or new. 

Iconic, genre-defining new races like the Borg or the shapeshifting Dominion aren’t created every day, but Discovery could at least try to give us a glimpse of the unknown. Indeed, aside from its fan-friendly McGuffin, season 5’s obsession with the past is holding Discovery back – when it comes to delivering precision-engineered nostalgia, it simply can’t compete with Strange New Worlds and Picard.

Genuine peril also remains elusive in a far-future where technology is so advanced that – to paraphrase Arthur C Clarke – it’s effectively magic. Does it matter if you lose a phaser if programmable matter can conjure a new one out of thin air? Are you ever in actual danger if you’re wearing a spacesuit loaded with enough gadgets to make Tony Stark jealous?

Don’t give up hope just yet, however. Star Trek has always been a franchise of optimism, and season 5 offers enough hints of something bigger – more exciting – on the horizon to suggest the series could still end on a high. But, seeing as the writers simply had to tune into Strange New Worlds, Picard and even Lower Decks for tips on crafting a more entertaining iteration of Trek, you have to wonder how Discovery’s final season has left Spacedock like this.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 debuts with a two-episode premiere on Thursday, April 4. New episodes will stream on Paramount Plus every Thursday.

For more, check out our guides to the Star Trek timeline and the  best Star Trek episodes  that every Trekkie should watch right now.

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy. 

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Star Trek: Discovery Renewed For Season 5 — Plus, Picard Season 2 Premiere Date Is Set

Keisha hatchett, staff editor.

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Burnham & Co. are coming back for even more space adventures.

Star Trek: Discovery has been renewed for Season 5, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon. Season 4, which is streaming on Paramount+, will resume with new episodes starting Thursday, Feb. 10.

The current season finds Burnham stepping into the captain’s chair, and the titular crew chasing a scientific anomaly that poses a major threat to the galaxy — a story partially inspired by the current global pandemic.

“We’re taking the spirit of what we were and are feeling as a global family, and then looking through the eyes of our characters and seeing how they would respond to something that is bigger than themselves,” showrunner Michelle Paradise previously told TVLine. “In [this] case, it’s a scientific anomaly. We don’t know at the start of the season what it is, where it came from, what is its nature. Our heroes are going to have to figure that one out.”

Paramount+ also announced that Star Trek: Picard Season 2 will premiere on Thursday, March 3, with new episodes dropping weekly.

The upcoming season of Picard will see The Vampire Diaries ’ Annie Wersching recur as the Borg Queen, the infamous villain first introduced in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact (played then by Alice Krige). Plus, John de Lancie will reprise his role as Q, the omnipotent shapeshifter who delighted in testing Picard.

The Season 2 cast also includes Alison Pill (back as Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj and Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Rafaella “Raffi” Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal “Chris” Rios), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Orla Brady (Laris) and Brent Spiner (Data).

Want scoop on any of the above shows? Email [email protected] and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line .

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31 comments.

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Woo hoo! Love this show. Also excited for More Picard.

It’s a good day to be a Star Trek fan.

How could you say that? You’re obviously NOT a Star Trek fan. This “show” is a disgrace to Star Trek legacy.

Will Whoopi Goldberg be in Picard season 2? She was asked on the View to be on it. I don’t see her name mentioned though.

They haven’t shown her in any material, but one of the actors mentioned being really happy that they got to act with Whoopi.

Yep. Michelle Hurd (who plays Raffi) confirmed Whoopi’s appearance in a Cameo video.

I defended Discovery seasons 1,2 and 3. But holy, is season 4 bad. Like, really bad.

I’ve lost hope that it will ever be consistently good. Season one was decent, two was much better, but it’s been getting worse almost by every episode since then.

I gave Discovery every chance. Like the above poster I defended seasons 1-3; but 4 is just awful. Sonequa Martin-Green seems to always be smiling beatifically like some sort of Madonna figure and often times its not even content appropriate. It can, and often does, ruin a scene for me. Then there are the content and plot decisions that seem….poorly considered.

I love Picard, Lower Decks is good, and Prodigy is way better than I expected. I’m also looking forward to the new series with Pike and Spock. I just Discovery would be a bit more consistent in its quality.

Sonequa Martin-Green is cringe worthy in season 4. Her voice sounds very fake like she’s trying too hard to convey her emotions. Like a mother consoling her children in a quieter and over dramatic tone. I just want to strangler her when she speaks. I don’t know if it’s intentional but ever since she’s become captain, her voice and tone totally changed to trying to hard to be motherly/empathic. Maybe it’s just the direction she’s given or the writing. Man is the writing bad this season. They should just go back to episodic or short 2-3 episode arcs. The problem with entire season arcs is if the story is bad, then the whole season is bad and you lose viewers. However, if you have short arcs or episodic season, as long as you have most of them being good, then even a few bad episodes won’t doom the season, people will still tune in. This show with their constant need to up the stakes is really hurting the show. Instead of different compelling stories to entertain me over the season, I am just watching the first season of discovery and each episode is a season long of the big bad and how they defeat it. It’s no different from episodic tv, only it’s years between each episode and each episode is like 10 hours of either ok, maybe good, or like this season, totally trash, and you’re totally screwed when one episode season long is terrible.

Hm, really? Barring the first two-thirds or so of the second season, I’ve found the current batch to be the best that the show has ever been.

Maybe that’s not the HIGHEST bar in television history, but hey. Plenty watchable to me. I’m sorry the fourth season isn’t working for you.

Any word on Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan in Season 2 of Picard??

Finally, some good news for ‘22!

Too much “Star Trek”!!! Some good, some not so good, but such an overwhelming amount of material that I’ve given up on it entirely, even though I used to enjoy it. (See also: “Star Wars.”)

I’m not watching Prodigy, but I’m not finding the rest to be “too much”—especially since they air at different times and have different tones.

There is no such thing as too much Star Trek. I am not into the animated series but I’ll take the others.

Lower Decks is actually absolutely hilarious—and chock full of Easter eggs. You should give it a try.

Glad to hear this…love Discovery and can’t wait to see where they’ll take Picard.

Brent Spiner is listed as playing Data rather than as Dr. Soong (or a certain evil character). Is this a spoiler, a typo, or are we in for a lot more dreams and flashbacks?

picard season 2 there going back in time and the borg queen is the faciltaor of the time travel

I can’t wait for Picard Season 2!!! 2 years is a long wait. I know the pandemic made it that way. I just can’t wait!

They said last year when they released a trailer for season 2 it would be back in February. So was really hoping for early February. Well I’ll just have to wait a little bit longer till March 3rd.

This is great news. Now, all we need is a new “Star Trek” movie.

despite all the fenaglling and actors leaving like the main one’s is urban an pike the next star trek movie is in development the last i knew and it would have all the current cast back despite them leaving although i wonder what they’ll do with checkov as that actor tragically passed a few years ago in anton yelchin and he did a great job as checkov

Why does a streaming service actually have such long gaps in between episodes in one season? Just as bad a watching standard television, except we are paying extra to get hosed.

Kvetching about Paramount+, with very little to say about the quality of the season. Stop stretching a 10 episode show into 20 weeks of viewing.

Discovery’s 5th season will be only 10 episodes long.

Annie Wersching was in far better shows than Vampire Diaries, so I was wondering how writers pick the “what they’re known for” tag…

Not one episode from DIS S4 made 6.0 or higher on imdb. Just sayin.

you sure it wasn’t more like 2.0

Why? Discovery is the worst rated series by a mile. It’s a disaster on CBS. I guess it’s only being renewed because Paramount needs shows for their service.

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024

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“ Star Trek: Discovery ” will end with the upcoming Season 5 at Paramount+ , Variety has learned. In addition, the fifth and final season will now debut in early 2024 as opposed to this year as originally thought.

Filming is mostly complete on Season 5, but according to an individual with knowledge of the situation, there will be some additional filming that has yet to take place. In addition, Paramount is planning to send the show off in style, with events planned in certain key markets throughout the year leading up to the final season’s release. Further details will be released at a later date.

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Along with Martin-Green, the series also stars Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Wilson Cruz, David Ajala, Blu del Barrio, Callum Keith Rennie. Per the official logline, Season 5 “will find Captain Burnham (Martin-Green) and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.”

“Discovery” has been the flagship modern “Star Trek” series since it launched in 2017, at a time when Paramount+ was still known as CBS All Access. The series kicked off the rebooted “Star Trek” TV universe and led to the successful spinoff “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which is currently prepping its second season. The show also chalked up a number of firsts for the franchise, including having a Black female protagonist in Michael Burnham. It also prominently featured LGBTQIA+ characters in a way not previously seen in a “Star Trek” show.

“When we first started talking about the return of ‘Star Trek’ eight years ago, we never could have imagined the indelible impact ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ would have,” said David Stapf, president of CBS Studios. “The series brought back a beloved global franchise, and just like its predecessors, ‘Discovery’ honored ‘Star Trek’s’ legacy of ‘infinite diversity in infinite combinations,’ representing the best of what we could be as humans when we celebrate our differences. I’d like to thank Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise, who have led this show with heart, passion, and as fans themselves with vivid storytelling – always ready to push boundaries like those before them. And finally, I’d like to thank this talented cast, led by the brilliant Sonequa Martin-Green, whose leadership both onscreen and off has helped guide the way from day one.”

Bryan Fuller and Kurtzman are the credited creators of “Discovery.” Kurtzman and Paradise serve as executive producers and co-showrunners, with Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth also executive producing. CBS Studios produces in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Secret Hideout is currently under an overall deal at CBS Studios.

The ending of “Discovery” comes as Paramount looks to continue building on the success of the “Star Trek” franchise while also coming to grips with the financial realities of the streaming era, as most major media companies have announced plans to slash content spending in the years going forward.

Along with “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds,” Paramount+ is currently airing the third and final season of “Star Trek: Picard,” which features a reunion of the “Next Generation” cast alongside series lead Patrick Stewart. There have been rumors that spinoffs built around characters in “Picard” could also be in the works.

Paramount+ also has the adult animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” which is prepping its fourth season, as well as the Nickelodeon series “Star Trek: Prodigy,” which is prepping its second season. Paramount has also been developing a Starfleet Academy series for some time, along with a series about the mysterious Section 31 starring Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou, a character she originated on “Discovery.”

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Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Is Still "Fundamentally Discovery," Says Showrunner

• Season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery maintains its serialized storytelling while embracing a more adventurous and action-packed tone.
• The shift in tone was influenced by a desire for more lightness after the heavier themes of season 4, not by other Trek series.
• Captain Michael Burnham leads the USS Discovery on an intergalactic treasure hunt, encountering new foes and allies.

Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise says season 5 is still "fundamentally Discovery," despite the shift to a more adventurous tone. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres Thursday, April 4, on Paramount+. Discovery season 5 sees Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) lead the USS Discovery on an intergalactic treasure hunt, encountering new foes like Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), and a troublesome new ally in Starfleet Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie).

At SXSW for the world premiere of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, TrekMovie asked showrunner Michelle Paradise about whether Discovery' s new tone was influenced by the positive reception from audiences to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' episodic style , as well as Star Trek: Picard season 3 and Star Trek: Prodigy . Read Paradise's response below:

No, it’s still fundamentally Discovery . And Discovery is built on serialized storytelling. So we still have that. Really, the shift in tone for this season was that we came into this season after season 4, which had a bit of a heavier tone in general. That previous season was written and shot during a time of COVID and we kind of knew coming into season 5 that we wanted that different tone. We wanted a bit more action and adventure, a bit more lightness–not to lose the things that make Discovery Discovery . So really, it was a matter of thinking: What does that look like? So we’re sending our heroes on a quest. And so, then the nature of a quest allows for a bit more of the episodic storytelling. But again, it’s Discovery, so we don’t lose the serialized style.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Everything We Know

Star trek: discovery season 5 has more connections to star trek lore, discovery has callbacks to star trek's 24th century.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5's new, more adventurous tone also comes with more connections to Star Trek lore, especially the 24th-century era of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Discovery season 5's mysterious treasure comes from an 800-year-old Romulan vessel found in the 32nd century. 800 years in the past means Star Trek 's 24th century, which means Discovery season 5's central storyline could tie back to a major event from Star Trek: The Next Generation 's time frame.

The 24th century is yesterday in Star Trek: Discovery, but the TNG era matters more than ever to Discovery in season 5.

Captain Rayner, one of the new Star Trek: Discovery season 5 characters, is also a callback to Star Trek: Deep Space Nin e. At first, Rayner's pointy ears suggested he was a Vulcan or a Romulan. However, Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise confirmed that Rayner is a Kellerun , a race first introduced in DS9 season 5. The 24th century is yesterday in Star Trek: Discovery , but the TNG era matters more than ever to Discovery in season 5.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres April 4 on Paramount+

Source: TrekMovie.com

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

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Paramount Plus unveils new 'Star Trek: Picard' trailer, 'Discovery' season 5, plus 'Strange New Worlds' premiere date

Some viewers may still have to rely Pluto TV and Amazon Prime for a while, but Paramount Plus will be crossing the Pond soon

In a single " Star Trek "-tastic announcement, streaming service Paramount Plus provided updates on every incarnation of sci-fi's favorite franchise, including a new trailer for "Star Trek: Picard" Season 2 .

The second season of "Picard" will premiere on Thursday, March 3 (moved from Feb. 17) for 10 episodes, while Season 3 was due to start principal photography at the beginning of February, but that's been delayed for a little while at least.

"Star Trek: Discovery" we already know returns on Thursday, Feb. 10 for the final six episodes, but the show has been renewed for a fifth season. Only time will tell if the crew of the USS Discovery face yet another anomaly threatening the whole galaxy, forcing the Federation member and non-member worlds alike to dig deep for the greater good. Check out our Star Trek streaming guide to see where to watch Discovery and other Trek shows and films online.

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The eagerly awaited "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has been renewed for a second season, which isn't surprising. Granted, we haven't even seen a teaser yet, but Paramount+ has made a sizable financial commitment to this, so they'll want to get a good run out of it. However, we finally have a season premiere date of Thursday, May 5. 

It's worth noting this is after "Star Trek First Contact Day" on Tuesday, April 5, so it's very likely we'll get to see a trailer then and it's quite likely we'll at least have had a teaser before then, too. Plus, the "Star Trek: Mission Chicago" event runs from Friday, April 8 to Sunday, April 10, so there's bound to be some news and hopefully new footage too.

Related: Kirk vs Picard: Who is the best Star Trek captain?

"Star Trek: Lower Decks" has also been renewed for a 10-episode long fourth season and a 10-episode third season will drop sometime in the summer of this year.

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The first season of "Star Trek: Prodigy" is currently airing on Paramount Plus until Thursday, Feb. 3, when there will be a mid-season break. The next 10 episodes that make up the second half of Season 1 will then return at an as-yet-unspecified date later this year. We also know that "Prodigy" has already been renewed for a second season.

The first seven episodes of Season 4 of "Star Trek: Discovery" are available to watch now on Paramount Plus in the U.S. and CTV Sci-Fi or Crave TV in Canada. Countries outside of North America can watch on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel.

Related: Kate Mulgrew spills the beans on bringing Captain Janeway back to TV

In the U.K., You can watch "Star Trek: Discovery" on Amazon Prime; it's £20 for the whole series, or if you have a Fire TV stick you can watch it on Pluto TV where it airs at 9 p.m. on Fridays (repeated at 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays), but it is not available on demand. Paramount Plus is coming to the U.K. later this year.

Here's our updated calendar of sci-fi events to look for 2022, and my-oh-my, are we in for a treat this year. The premiere date of the second season of Amazon Prime Video's awesome near-future set, comedy-drama "Upload" has also been confirmed this week for March 11, 2022. 

• " The Book of Boba Fett " — airing on Disney Plus until Feb. 9, 2022
• " Blade Runner: Black Lotus " — airing on Amazon Prime until Feb. 9, 2022
• " Resident Alien " Season 2 — Jan. 26, 2022 on SyFy
• " Raised By Wolves " Season 2 — Feb. 3, 2022, on HBO Max
• " Star Trek: Discovery " rest of Season 4 — Feb. 10, 2022 on Paramount Plus
• " Star Trek: Picard " Season 2 — March 3, 2022 on Paramount Plus
• " The Orville " Season 3 — March 10, 2022 on Hulu
• " Upload " Season 2 —  now official ! March 11, 2022 on Amazon Prime
• " Star Trek: Strange New Worlds " Season 1 — May 5, 2022 on Paramount Plus
• " Halo " — sometime in 2022 on Paramount Plus
• " For All Mankind " — sometime in 2022 on Apple TV
• "Love, Death + Robots" — sometime in 2022 on Netflix
• " The Bad Batch " Season 2 — sometime in 2022 on Disney Plus
• " Star Trek: Lower Decks " Season 3 — late in 2022 on Paramount Plus
• " The Mandalorian " Season 3 — late in 2022 on Disney Plus
• " Andor " — late in 2022 on Disney Plus
• " Obi Wan Kenobi " — late in 2022 on Disney Plus
• " Foundation " Season 2 — late in 2022 on Apple TV
• " Invasion " Season 2 — late in 2022 on Apple TV
• " Avenue 5 " Season 2 — please, please, please ... on HBO Max?

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Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

When Scott's application to the NASA astronaut training program was turned down, he was naturally upset...as any 6-year-old boy would be. He chose instead to write as much as he possibly could about science, technology and space exploration. He graduated from The University of Coventry and received his training on Fleet Street in London. He still hopes to be the first journalist in space.

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Will Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 explain the Romulan Supernova?

Before Star Trek: Discovery was around, back in 2009, J.J. Abrams set up several mysteries during the first Kelvin Timeline movie . The imaginatively named Star Trek . The most significant one of these for the ‘Prime’ Star Trek timeline was the Romulan Supernova. But will Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 explain the Romulan Supernova?

In the 2009 film, this event was the catalyst that made its villain, Nero, embark on his quest for revenge against the Federation. Several explanations from various off-screen sources have emerged over the years. But the mystery has remained very much unsolved (and seemingly intentionally avoided) on screen. Even the Romulan-heavy Star Trek: Picard Season 1 avoided addressing or explaining the supernova in any detail. Choosing instead to focus its narrative on the gargantuan rescue operation that Starfleet ended up getting cold feet on.

In the past few months, we’ve gotten some new information about Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 , which hints that the cause of the supernova may finally be established on screen.

The first explanation for the supernova was given in the marketing build-up to the release of Star Trek (2009). The sequence of events leading to Nero’s travel through time to attack the U.S.S. Kelvin was covered through a comic series called Countdown . This 4-issue event was set in the prime timeline eight years after Star Trek: Nemesis . Countdown was based on a story by Star Trek (2009) writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman .

Tim Jones and Mike Johnson then wrote it. Johnson publicly stated that he considered Countdown to be canon, but in the years since another Kurtzman production (Picard) has confirmed it is not. As Picard actively contradicts the comic in significant ways (such as the fate of B-4).

Another notable divergence is that the Romulan star wasn’t going supernova in the Countdown comics. Instead, it was the Hobus star. The comics and movie combined laid out a (somewhat nonsensical, even for Star Trek ) plot about how this star going supernova threatened the galaxy to explain how a supernova seemingly travelled across multiple star systems. These events led to Spock using the MacGuffin Red Matter to collapse it into a short-lived black hole, which transported both his (Geordi LaForge-designed) ship and Nero’s back to the 23rd century.

Star Trek Online’s Explanation

The popular Star Trek MMORPG also took a turn explaining the supernova that led to the destruction of Romulus in an episode called Romulan Mystery . This story has seen several revisions over the years regarding structure and gameplay. If you haven’t played the game or don’t intend to play it, a basic summary of the story is in the next paragraph. If you do want to play Star Trek: Online and don’t want to spoil yourself, you can skip ahead. In Romulan Mystery, the supernova also started with the Hobus star. The player travels to the remnants of the Hobus system to find clues about the destruction of Romulus and Remus. The Romulan Republic has a theory and believes that the former praetor is responsible. Republic forces tried to capture the praetor, but she escaped through an Iconian gateway.

Throughout the story, you uncover that the unusual behaviour of the supernova was because it wasn’t a natural event (surprise)! But the effect of an Iconian doomsday weapon that rogue members of the Tal Shiar deployed.

So what about Star Trek Discovery?

As we know, Discovery is now set in the 32nd century. Almost a whole millennia from the events of the other live-action series. This jump to the future has opened up a wealth of possibilities for the show, allowing it to push beyond the established events of other series. The move also allowed Discovery to address the open-ended questions of the era, though. Such as the results of the Vulcan and Romulan reunification movement (also led by Spock) in the much-loved season 3 episode Unification III .

Discovery’s distance in the timeline from the other shows allows it to answer such questions without removing the possibility of them being explored in more depth in 23rd, 24th or 25th-century shows. As Harry Kim said in Star Trek: Voyager’s finale: “It’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey”. So, with that in mind, let’s look at the clues we’ve had so far that Discovery may tackle the supernova. Be warned, go no further if you operate a zero spoiler policy!

Season Summary

The upcoming fifth season, which will debut in April, finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it. Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 – StarTrek.com

The Red Directive

We started the year with a sneak peek at the episode titles for Discovery’s upcoming 5th and final season. Last week, we got our first episode synopsis for the cryptically titled “ The Red Directive “.

Capt Burnham & the Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious 800 year-old Romulan vessel; until the artifact hidden inside is stolen, leading to an epic chase. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime, and Tilly’s efforts to help pull her into a tangled web of secrecy. Synop for Star Trek: Discovery Episode 5×01 ‘Red Directive’

An 800-year-old ship with an artefact hidden inside? Was Star Trek Online on the money with their story? The title of the episode itself implies a link to Red Matter. We know from the only other directive titled episode The Omega Directive in Voyager’s fourth season that Starfleet has precedent for creating directives to deal with dangerous substances, and from what we saw in Star Trek (2009), Red Matter would certainly warrant one…

Of course, we have to address that this very specifically is a Romulan ship, and one from the 24th Century, no less. It also bears a striking resemblance to one of the few Romulan designs that we’ve seen on screen. The Romulan science ship is seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation ‘s “ The Next Phase “.

Given the limited number of Romulan designs seen in Star Trek , this must be an intentional choice. Also, a tasteful update to the design, if I do say so myself.

Putting the pieces together

So, we have a series arc that sees the Star Trek: Discovery crew uncovering a mystery. This mystery leads to an ancient power whose existence has been hidden for centuries. The mystery just happens to start on a 24th-century Romulan science ship as well.

We’re told that the power has been deliberately hidden. Given that it seems to have been hidden on a Romulan ship (or at least a clue that points towards the power), that would seem to imply that the Romulans were the ones who did this. This would certainly support a Star Trek: Online-type narrative of a rogue Romulan faction causing the supernova.

On top of that, we have the fact that Discovery producer Alex Kurtzman was involved in the original Romulus destruction explanation back in 2009 and that the only other ‘Directive’ named episode dealt with a Starfleet ship dealing with a dangerous substance. Dangerous would certainly be an apt word to describe Red Matter, and it would make sense if the Red Matter were also acquired by the Romulans and hidden with the power they used.

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32 Star Trek Actors Who Played Multiple Characters

One role just wasn't enough for some.

If you watch Star Trek shows a lot, like I do, you start to notice some familiar faces. With decades of television shows and movies under its belt, it's only natural that the franchise has approached actors to play multiple roles over the years. Sometimes, it was because it made sense for the character, but other times, it just seemed like the franchise loved working with that person. 

Today, we acknowledge both of those roles. Some of these actors you'll know quite well, and others you might not even realize it was them beneath all of those prosthetics and makeup. Let's dive in, and talk about these special actors who took on multiple roles during their time in Star Trek . 

Brent Spiner

This one is fairly obvious if you've watched Star Trek: The Next Generation , you've seen Brent Spiner play more roles than just Data. He's played his Synth twins Lore and B4, as well as various members of the Soong family across several shows. It's a fun recurring bit, and one fans are never upset to see. 

Jason Alexander

Since  leaving the  Seinfeld  cast , Jason Alexander has performed a couple of Star Trek roles. He played the merchant Kuros in Star Trek: Voyager and is also the voice of Dr. Noum in the animated series Prodigy . Both characters are wildly different, and show a side of Alexander that casual viewers may not have seen before. 

Thomas Kopache

If Thomas Kopache's face looks familiar to Star Trek fans, it's because he's been in a good deal of shows. The actor has held minor roles in The Next Generation , Voyager , Enterprise , Deep Space Nine , and even the movie Star Trek Generations . From a Starfleet communications officer to a Vulcan, one might never know where he'll pop up!

While he may be more well-known for his role in Candyman which required a lot of bee stings , Tony Todd is a beloved figure in the Star Trek universe. He played a recurring role as the Klingon Kurn in TNG and DS9 , an Alpha Hirogen in Voyager , but many may most remember his role as the older Jake Sisko in "The Visitor."  

Tim Russ was a beloved part of Star Trek: Voyage r's main cast as the Vulcan Tuvok, but that wasn't his only role in the franchise. He first popped up in The Next Generation as the mercenary Devor, and later in Deep Space Nine as a Klingon named T'Kar.

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Diana Muldaur

Diana Muldaur had a few roles in the original Star Trek , but it was in The Next Generation she made her biggest contribution to the franchise. Dr. Katherine Pulaski served on the Enterprise while Beverly Crusher was away, and had a brief fling with Riker's father. Her tenure was short, though Bev fans would argue not short enough. 

Todd Stashwick

Star Trek: Picard fans will sooner remember Todd Stashwick as the prickly Captain Shaw from Season 3, but that was not the actor's first role in the franchise. He had a smaller role as the Vulcan Talok in Star Trek: Enterprise . It's far less notable compared to the anti-hero he played in Picard , but still worth checking out. 

Kurtwood Smith

While readers may know him better as the hot-headed Red Forman in That 70s Show , Kurtwood Smith also had a couple of high-profile roles in Star Trek . He was the Federation President in Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country , as well as the obsessive captain Annorax in the iconic Voyager episode "Year of Hell." 

Jeffrey Combs

I don't think there's a more famous guest star among die-hard Star Trek fans. He's played many roles across all shows, even if you exclude the numerous clones of the Deep Space Nine character Weyoun. There are way too many to post for this entry, but personally, I would say his role as the Andorian Shran on Enterprise is among the best. 

Ken Mitchell

Actor Ken Mitchell was known for various roles across Star Trek: Discovery and Lower Decks and didn't let his diagnosis of ALS get in the way of interacting with the fandom along the way. The actor was remembered by many Trek actors and fans when he passed in February of 2024 . 

Aron Eisenberg

In addition to his incredible journey as Nog in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , actor Aron Eisenberg also had a brief role in Voyager . He played the young Kazon named Kardon in "Initiations," and once readers know that, they won't have trouble spotting him in the episode. 

Robert Duncan McNeill

Before he was the daring and sometimes troublesome Tom Paris on Star Trek: Voyager , Robert Duncan McNeill had played an almost identical character on The Next Generation by the name of Nicholas Locarno. Canonically, they're just two separate guys who look identical and have very similar personalities, as weird as that may be.  

Susanna Thompson

Before she stepped in as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: Voyager , actress Susanna Thompson did some smaller guest roles for the franchise. She played roles like a Vulcan and an illusion in  The Next Generation  and was also a Trill scientist on  Deep Space Nine . 

J.G. Hertzler

J.G. Hertzler's Martok was a beloved character for Deep Space Nine fans, but the actor also played a litany of minor characters in the series as well. He also did the same for The Next Generation , and even did some voice work for Lower Decks . 

Majel Barrett

An accomplished actress and the wife of creator Gene Roddenberry, Majel Barrett was in Star Trek from the very beginning. While her role as "Number One" wasn't resurrected until Star Trek: Discovery and later in Strange New Worlds , she was featured in TOS as Nurse Chapel and was beloved as Lwaxana Troi in TNG and DS9 . She also did tons of voice work for the franchise, including the voice of most of the computers up until the modern era. 

Robin Curtis 

After Kirstie Alley was allegedly blocked from returning to play Saavik, actress Robin Curtis came in to fill the role in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock . Following her work on that, she was also welcomed onto the set of The Next Generation to play the Vulcan posing as a Romulan named Tallera. 

George Murdock

George Murdock had two notable roles in Star Trek, but it's fair to say they're both substantial. He played "God" in Star Trek V: The Voyage Home , as well as Picard's friend and Starfleet Vice Admiral J.P. Hanson in The Next Generation . With roles like that, one has to wonder, "What would an actor want with a third role?" 

John Fleck has been in a lot of Star Trek , but due to fact he was always wearing prosthetics, fans may not be aware. If they watched Enterprise , no doubt they remember his Suliban character, Silik, who was a bit of a rival to Archer throughout the run of the series. 

Malachi Throne

Malachi Throne was there at the very beginning of Star Trek , playing The Keeper in the pilot episode "The Cage." Throne would be welcomed back in a couple of TOS roles, and wrap up his time in TNG as the Romulan senator Pardek. Malachi passed in 2013, but it's fair to say he was instrumental in the success of the franchise with his first role. 

Elias Toufexis

Elias Toufexis played one of the main antagonists L'ak in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, but that wasn't the first time he appeared in the series. Go all the way back to Season 1, and he played the criminal Cold, who tried to jump Michael Burnham in the mess hall with another prisoner named Psycho. Not the best thing to be proud of for a role, but at least Toufexis got to play the first unmasked Breen in Trek history, which he was understandably thrilled about . 

Armin Shimerman

Armin Shimerman made us all laugh as Quark in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but it wasn't his only role in the franchise. Hilariously enough, he played a couple of other Ferengi in TNG , which might be why some fans think every Ferengi acts like him. He also played that weird Betazoid Gift Box in the "Haven" episode, though was not credited for the role. 

Michael Dorn

Michael Dorn famously played the Klingon Worf across more episodes than any other Star Trek character, but he also has another role people tend to forget. Some might forget his role as Colonel Worf in Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country , where he's an attorney meant to be an ancestor of the future Starfleet character. 

René Auberjonois

There are few characters in Star Trek as iconic as Odo, and if that were the only role René Auberjonois gave us before his untimely passing, many would be ok with that. It's not his only role, however, as we can see him without his prosthetics in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as Colonel West. 

Barbara Babcock

Actress Barbara Babcock may have only had roles on the original Star Trek , but the show made the most of her. In addition to her two live-action roles, she did voice work for the cat Isis, Loskene, and the Zetarians just to name a few. Her prints are all over the original series, and she's definitely one of the more underrated guest stars of the bunch. 

Fionnula Flanagan

Fionnula Flanagan might've made all of us shed a tear playing the unaware Android Juliana Tainer, but also popped up in places outside of Star Trek: The Next Generation . She played the Vulcan diplomat V'Lar in Enterprise , and the former lover of Curzon Dax Enina Tandro in Deep Space Nine . 

Clint Howard

Few actors can say they started their career with a role in Star Trek , and later returned to play it in adulthood. I think perhaps the coolest thing about Howard's various roles is that he not only appeared in the original series, but was more recently in Season 2 of Strange New Worlds . Talk about sticking with a franchise across the decades!

Ethan Phillips

Ethan Phillips' Neelix brought a lot of personality to Star Trek: Voyager , so of course it makes sense it wasn't the only role the actor ever did. He had a small role as a waiter in First Contact and later showed up in TNG and Enterprise as a Ferengi. A pretty impressive run for someone who stood out as much on his original series, but well-deserved all the same. 

Mark Lenard

Mark Lenard is a national treasure in Star Trek , especially considering the powerful roles he had outside of playing Spock's father Sarek. We also see him as one of the unnamed commanders in the iconic episode "Balance Of Terror," and he also played a Klingon Captain in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . 

Robert O'Reilly

While the wild-eyed Gowron will always be the most notable role Robert O'Reilly ever did, he also had some smaller roles aside from that. This included playing a mobster in The Next Generation . He also played an accountant in Deep Space Nine , as well as a very creepy-looking Klingon in Enterprise , though I'd rather not talk about the last one because the visual freaks me out. 

James Cromwell

Beyond playing one of the most important characters in Star Trek , Zefram Cochrane, James Cromwell has had a couple of other random roles in the franchise. This includes the mole rat-looking Jaglom Shrek in The Next Generation , as well as the Karemma Hanok on Deep Space Nine . 

Brian Cousins

The actor who terrified Star Trek: The Next Generation fans as the Borg "Crosis" ended up making a couple of appearances as other characters. He played a Romulan named Parem two seasons before his Borg role, and would later be cast in Enterprise to play a character by the name of Paltani in the episode "The Catwalk." 

Patrick Kilpatrick

The Imhotep species of Voyager are some of the most unique aliens I've seen in the show, so it's a shame we only got a small bit of Patrick Kilpatrick's character. While the actor had the one-and-done appearance as that species, he also played a Kazon in the series, and later popped up in Deep Space Nine as a soldier in the Dominion War. 

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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Published Sep 8, 2024

An Exclusive Look and Poster for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Debuts on Star Trek Day

Produced by CBS Studios, the fifth and final season will premiere with two episodes on Thursday, October 24!

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In celebration of Star Trek Day , Paramount+ today debuted an exclusive clip and the official key art for the fifth and final season of its hit animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks .

The new season will premiere with two episodes on Thursday, October 24 in the U.S. and internationally. Following the premiere, new episodes of the 10-episode long season will drop every Thursday leading up to the series finale on Thursday, December 19.

In Season 5 of Star Trek: Lower Decks , the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos is tasked with closing "space potholes" — subspace rifts that are causing chaos in the Alpha Quadrant. Pothole duty would be easy for Junior Officers Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford... if they didn't also have to deal with an Orion war, furious Klingons, diplomatic catastrophes, murder mysteries, and scariest of all — their own career aspirations.

This upcoming season is a celebration of this underdog crew who are dangerously close to being promoted out of the lower decks and into strange new Starfleet roles.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 key art poster by Matt Ferguson

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an animated comedy series that focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos . The Starfleet crew residing in the "lower decks" of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes the voices of Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero; the bridge crew is voiced by Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O'Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman.

Star Trek: Lower Decks is produced by CBS' Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios' animation arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Executive producers include Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth. Titmouse, the Emmy Award-winning independent animation production company, serves as the animation studio for the series.

The Star Trek franchise on Paramount+ also includes Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , and the upcoming original series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , which recently started production, and Star Trek: Section 31 , an upcoming original movie with Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh. All seasons of the award winning original series Star Trek: Discovery starring Sonequa Martin-Green and the critically acclaimed original series Star Trek: Picard , starring Patrick Stewart reprising the iconic role of Jean-Luc Picard, are also available to stream.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel. The series will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Italy, France, the Caribbean, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and South Korea.

• September 20, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Talks To Doug Jones, Elias Toufexis, and Wilson Cruz about ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
• September 19, 2024 | James McAvoy Reveals Why He Turned Down Role In J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie
• September 18, 2024 | LeVar Burton, Kate Mulgrew, And More Star Trek Celebrities Line Up For Virtual Harris Campaign Events
• September 18, 2024 | Watch Star Trek Stars Face Off With ‘Deadliest Catch’ On ‘Celebrity Family Feud’
• September 16, 2024 | ‘Section 31’ And ‘Lower Decks’ Heading Up New York Comic Con Star Trek Universe Panel

James McAvoy Reveals Why He Turned Down Role In J.J. Abrams Star Trek Movie

| September 19, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 51 comments so far

Scottish actor James McAvoy is one of those avowed Star Trek fans who has expressed keen interest interest in appearing in the franchise, which is why it’s surprising to hear him talk about why he turned down a role in one of the Kelvin Universe feature films produced by J.J. Abrams.

Why McAvoy said no to J.J.

McAvoy was a guest on the Happy Sad Confused podcast when host Josh Horowitz brought up their shared love of Star Trek, and after talking a bit about their favorite shows and movies, McAvoy was asked how was it he never made it into final frontier. The BAFTA-winning actor then revealed he “came close” to landing a role in one of the recent Star Trek movies. McAvoy didn’t want to get specific about which role he was offered, but talked about how he tried to make it work:

“I got offered something. I didn’t want to do that. I suggested I can do something else. They wanted to camera test me and I was like, ‘Do you know what, it’s alright, don’t worry about it.’  Not because I wouldn’t, because I just didn’t think I was right.”

McAvoy went on to say that he thought Abrams eventually cast the right actor for the role:

“What I said to J.J. about what I thought the role should be and the kind of actor that should be, they absolutely got. I’m not saying that he got that because I said that. But the kind of person I thought that I’m not is exactly the person who got it. And it’s brilliant. And I love the new ones. I love J.J.’s films. They are excellent.”

It’s not clear what role McAvoy was offered (and requested), or even which of the three Abrams-produced films he’s referring to. Rumors that McAvoy was approached to play Scotty for Abrams’ first Star Trek movie start rumbling back in early 2007, several months before Simon Pegg was cast in the role. After initial denials, McAvoy became more evasive about whether he was in the running for the role of the USS Enterprise’s engineer. It’s unlikely he would have turned down such an iconic role as Scotty, so he was probably offered some other character.

You can see McAvoy talk Trek below.

McAvoy’s Trek dream

Even though he “came close” to that one role, over recent years McAvoy has made it clear he very much wants to get into Star Trek. When Star Trek: Picard was in development, he volunteered his services on more than one occasion to play a young Jean-Luc Picard, noting he was uniquely qualified as he had played a young Charles Xavier (originally played by Patrick Stewart) in 3 X-Men movies. He is such a big Trek fan that he used his time during the pandemic to create his own Trek fan film called “ Star Force: Sci-Fisolation. ”

More recently, McAvoy noted that as he gets into his mid-40s, he may be aging out of playing a young Picard but still hopes for a Trek role . There are currently two active Star Trek feature film projects at Paramount Pictures (the “origin story” and “Star Trek 4”), so maybe he will still have his chance. And of course, there could always be a role in the new Starfleet Academy show, which cast Trek fan Paul Giamatti, or maybe even the fourth season of Strange New Worlds . There are always… possibilities.

James McAvoy in homemade “Star Force” in 2020

Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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Let’s see, I’ll be under 30 kilos of makeup? No, thank you.

Idris Elba sould have delined Beyond for that reason alone …

That’s the first thing I thought of as well.

LOL So true

This was my first thought… they talked to him about Khan, and only a real fan would look at themselves and say ‘me playing Montalban? Not no, but hell no’. lol. I’m surprised if it was Scotty, because if I was in his shoes, I would have jumped at that. But I can certainly see where he figured Pegg was the right choice for that after the fact. No shade toward Cumberbatch here… but their whole concept for the role of Khan was just wrong, and I can see why they’d talk to him about it. He’s a helluva great actor, for sure.

Yeah, making Khan a white British dude was just super bizarre. I’m sure it was done for secrecy reasons, as JJ is way to obsessed with such things, but it really just amounted to white washing a great character and turning him into something he’s not.

they were more interested in casting that big star from ‘sherlock’ than in it being a plausible way to go with the character

It’s SO INSULTING! THe British ruled Hindustan (India + Pakistan) for more years than I can count and THAT is the person Abrams picks to play an Indian? SO RACIST!

Casting aside, it was a weird and stupid to try to make Khan JJ’s mystery box mcguffin. The way they wrote him was just as bad as how they changed his outward appearance. He was a totally different character. What a waste

Exactly. Star Trek Into Dumbness is an insanely badly written movie but typical for dumb action movies.

But the Khan thing was just beyond inexcusable. Nothing about it made a lick of sense. You put a white British guy in the role who has the most Indian sounding name was just weird and jarring. And they don’t bother to explain anything. Everything is just hand waved with zero introspection of who he is. It’s very odd how badly they wanted to use Khan just to ignore who he actually was.

He’s literally just Khan in name only because nothing about him resembles Khan in appearance, personality or background.

Not arguing that it was a good choice (it wasn’t) but the reasoning for it was that they had Benicio del Toro for Khan and he dropped out at the last minute and Cumberbatch was available so they re-wrote things and played up the “mystery” of who he was supposed to be. It just never worked. (And I love Cumberbatch as an actor.)

It was an appalling case of whitewashing, and I still can’t believe that happened in 2009.

it happened in 2012-13

Even worse.

Well said. Abrams should be banned from hollywood for this. If Cumberbatch was cast as Martin Luthor King everyone would have been rightly pissed. Khan? meh… Pathetic.

Don’t get me started on Khan. SUCH a racist take on the character and such an insult to Indians!!!! And No, I do not care that Montaban was not Indian.

casting an indian as a homicidal, genetically engineered tyrant might not be such a positive move…

TRue but that was the 1960s

If you don’t like the character was made Indian or feel he’s too problematic today than simply don’t use the character; problem solved.

Especially when the character didn’t remotely feel like Khan anyway.

I’d love to see McAvoy in the Star Trek franchise. I loved him in the X-men films!

Same! Fantastic actor. Interesting notes about Picard. I’d prefer he do something else though. Having him play a younger Picard after doing a younger Professor X just feels a little too cute. Too stunt casting. Cool that he was willing to consider it though.

mcavoy or stewart….?

Yes to both

ST4 (or the mythical Origins movie) – McAvoy as a mad man villain with SWMD (space weapon of mass destruction) out for revenge on the federation!

Shhh, don’t give them the same idea again! ;)

I always thought it would have been interesting to see him as a Kelvin version of Picard since he played an alt version of Stewart’s Xavier!

He’d be great at it, but I don’t think any actor with much self-respect would want to be known as the person who keeps playing the younger version of another actor in their famous roles.

True I never thought about it like that

I could see that.

I was thinking Shinzon. A clone of Picard would make a lot of sense considering he has played a version of Stewart before.

no need for the caginess imo – what’s the big deal in just saying what it was.

Seems more like it was the camera test that made him tap out – and what he’s not saying by doing this tap-dance is really more like:

“I was offended that they wanted to camera test me – me! A big star! How dare they? So I walked and said why don’t you hire somebody not as famous as I am if you want to camera test them”

Yeah, Beyond is eight years in the rear view mirror now, and Abram’s seems peripherally in the franchise at best, now. Just spill it ..

It’s a way to be respectful of the actors who actually played the roles he was mulling over. It’s not common knowledge what he was up for, so it’s a nice gesture to keep that to himself.

That was my take as well.

Nero would make a lot of sense.

Bana’s ‘casual contemporary american’ voice in that always bothered me (as does damn near everything in that movie.)

On a wholly unrelated note, fans of THE OUTER LIMITS’ DEMON WITH A GLASS HAND ep should take some solace from this news story: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/20/science/human-genome-crystal-intl-scli/index.html

Scotty- of course, he didn’t want to play the jokey version we got, so he correctly suggested Simon Pegg.

Kelvin Scotty was a literal joke,

If you google “James Mcavoy” and “Scotty” articles show up saying that it was announced that he had been cast.

Considering that Scotty is pretty out of character (and went from doric to weegie), it makes sense that JA might have felt that he couldn’t make it work and they needed a more comedic actor.

He was offered the role of Scotty.

Translation: This movie will suck and I don’t want to be a part of it. Smart man.

Lol you said it as usual my friend. He may have been a great addition but those movies feel less relevant today for a reason because they just feel like slick big blockbuster action movies and little else. There is a reason why people barely talk about them today and probably why they can’t get another one made; because they probably think not enough people care anymore.

Just let JJ verse die already because most Trekkies wants stories in the prime universe anyway and the so-called new fans moved on after STID.

In my mind McAvoy didn’t miss anything besides a pay check and being invited to 30 Star Trek conventions. He probably would’ve did a great job but still part of pretty generic popcorn action movies with just Star Trek in the title basically. And he probably had more than one reason why he turned it down but just trying to be polite. Just my speculation.

At that time he was emerging as a lead actor (was the lead in 2008s Wanted with Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman) so to be 6th/7th down the list for Trek must’ve made him think ‘damn even though im a huge Trekkie and this is a big reboot of it and I’ll get to play opposite Leonard frickin Nimoy as Spock i do not want a supporting actor bit part!’ (and same for potential sequels).. when he got the XMen prequel/reboot a couple of years later he was co lead with Michael Fassbender, a far more enticing job prospect (and obviously ALOT more money too)

But had McAvoy played Scotty Pegg woukd never have taken over writing Beyond and we’d have probably got Orci’s (superior?) version of ST3

Not sure what one had to do with the other in terms of Orci getting fired since they rejected his script before they hired Pegg to write another one. That doesn’t make any sense.

No offense but you’re obsessed about that Orci movie. It might have been good or it really sucked. Since it was rejected the latter is possible and Trekkies may have hated him more by that point.

And I liked Beyond. It wasn’t TWOK or First Contact but decent enough. It at least felt like a real TOS movie. It’s the only one of those three I even liked.

I guess they wouldn’t have had the option to get Pegg to quickly bash out a new script over the weekend so would’ve just stuck with Orcis due to the time constraint..

I am obsessed with Orci’s ST3 , it came so close, but just missed. Id say out of all the ‘lost’ Trek movies (Planet of the Titans, Roddenberry’s JFK ST2, Bennetts SFA, Berman’s ST The Beginning etc) its the one that intrigues me the most and wish had happened.

Beyond to me was the ‘Kelvin’ equivalent of Insurrection, a bland inconsequential ‘2 part episode’ on the big screen (esp coming after JJs 2 extravaganzas with major shake ups for Trek lore/canon)

Or they could’ve just hired another writer? They hired about 12 for ST 4 in the last 8 years so that’s never been the problem lol. Didn’t they hired another one recently?

And you’re also forgetting that when they rejected Orci’s original script they got him to write another one to replace that one. They obviously thought that one sucked too and that’s when they went to Pegg. So that other script was never in the cards anymore. In fact now I wonder what was that second script about? Everyone has literally forgotten it was made.

Your issues with Beyond is understandable. And I agree I always said it was just another Insurrection, just with a much bigger budget and action. It’s probably another reason why it bombed because it didn’t look interesting enough to a lot of people, me included.

I had no plans to watch it in the theaters because how much I hated STID and the trailer for this one was awful too. So it’s not like I was remotely excited about it because I wasn’t. I only went after hearing people say it was at least better than the last one and I had a free ticket. I was originally saving that for Jason Bourne lol. But I still remember sitting in that IMAX theater on a Saturday night the second weekend it opened and there were maybe 50 people sitting there in a 300 seat theater. The same theater I watched the first two in and where it basically sold out the first two weekends.

I knew then this movie was going to be a turkey and the Kelvin movies were done.

And it didn’t help it used the exact same formula as the last two and people were basically over it by then.

If Orci did a second script maybe was just a revision of his first in light of Nimoys passing (therefore centring on Shatner Kirk)?

And yeah you could sort of tell Beyond was cooked when that first trailer hit (and in front of Force Awakens)..

Sybok in Strange New Worlds.

I would prefer him as a visiting Captain or scientist. I am not sure the show could afford him but who knows maybe he might be willing to take a pay cut.

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Star trek: deep space nine's most r-rated ferengi joke always makes me laugh.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Cast & Character Guide

9 ways ds9's ferengi changed star trek history, recasting star trek: ds9 for a movie reboot.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's R-rated Ferengi running joke always made me laugh, although I also get why other Star Trek fans disliked it. Originally conceived as the main villains of Star Trek: The Next Generatio n, the Ferengi initially underwhelmed, coming off as more comical than threatening. However, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine leaned into the comedic aspects of the greedy, profit-driven Ferengi, who were epitomized by the diversity of Quark (Armin Shimerman) and his family, Rom (Max Grodenchik) and Nog (Armin Shimerman).

The Ferengi were conceived as a reflection of the "greed is good" 1980s, and films like Wall Street, where making money was the highest goal of all. The capitalist Ferengi are a counterpoint to the socialist Utopia of the United Federation of Planets, where the acquisition of wealth is not the driving ambition of society. Smarmy, uncouth, and lascivious, the Ferengi were everything an enlightened 24th-century Starfleet Officer was not, and that especially goes for their sexist treatment of women. Before Rom became Grand Nagus, Ferengi culture dictated women stay at home, naked, and were unable to pursue profit. But Ferengi women - or any woman - had one way to control a Ferengi man: oo-mox.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Oo-Mox Scenes Always Make Me Laugh

I can't believe ds9 kept getting away with oo-mox.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a TV-PG-rated show, and I'm always amused by how much they got away with the Ferengi receiving oo-mox. The ears of a Ferengi are erogenous zones, and Ferengi males are constantly coercing females to stroke their lobes. Ferengi receiving oo-mox was a running gag that happened startlingly often. Whether voluntarily or being tricked - like Nog fooling a human nurse in 1940s Rowell, New Mexico to stroke his lobes - women giving Ferengi oo-mox was a sex act performed in plain sight for laughs on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and I thought it was funny each time.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had the biggest cast of characters of any Trek show, meaning that Captain Sisko had numerous allies in the Dominion War.

Ferengi are driven by their lobes, and they usually mean for profit. But more often than not, a Ferengi is driven by his desire for oo-mox. For a Ferengi, it was erotic act, but for just about everyone else - especially the audience - oo-mox is absurd. Regardless of how excited it made a Ferengi, oo-mox was regularly played for laughs, and it was an overt weakness of Ferengi that was commonly exploited. Meanwhile, in the Star Trek Deep Space Nine season 4 episode "Bar Association," Rom confessed he had "too much oo-mox by himself," which is a jaw-dropping reference to masturbation on Star Trek.

Would Oo-Mox Would Have Been More Interesting In Star Trek Didn't Show It?

Oo-mox isn't for everyone.

Of course, it's understandable that some Star Trek fans cringe at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's running joke of Ferengi receiving oo-mox. Perhaps oo-mox might have been better subtly referenced rather than overtly shown so often. It can be argued that DS9 went to the well of showing latex Ferengi ears massaged too much, and oo-mox may have been a more effective gag if it was something inferred but not seen, the same way Morn was supposedly the most loquacious regular at Quark's Bar, but audiences never heard him say a word.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the making of the Ferengi and Quark, Rom, Nog, and Ishka continue to make a huge impact on the Star Trek universe.

In the end, the Ferengi are meant to reflect our worst instincts and impulses, and I think it's a credit to the excellent writing on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the performances of Armin Shimerman, Max Grodenchik, Aron Eisenberg, et al as their Ferengi characters that they are ultimately so loveable. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the red-headed stepchild of Rick Berman's era of Star Trek , but this was also a boon, as they were left alone to do things no other Star Trek had before. As for oo-mox deniers, as the Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #223 states: Beware the man who doesn't take time for oo-mox.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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