Star Trek: Legends is now available on Steam Early Access. Star Trek: Legends is an officially licensed team-based RPG featuring characters from the Star Trek universe that first launched on Apple Arcade. The game is available via Steam Early Access as of today at a discounted price of $14.99 until 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET, after which the price will rise to $19.99. Star Trek: Legends casts players in the role of fan-favorite Star Trek heroes and villains from throughout the franchise's history as they embark on a mission vying for control of the mysterious Nexus, with the fate of existence hanging in the balance.

According to Star Trek: Legends publisher Tilting Point, the Steam Early Access release of Star Trek: Legends is bringing the game to Steam along with a host of new features and improvements. The game includes 95 Star Trek characters, with 8 expanded episodes with 6 missions each to play through, and the new Collections feature, exclusive to Steam, that allows players to unlock rewards and combat enhancements by collecting sets of thematically connected characters across the Star Trek franchise.

Star Trek: Legends features characters ranging from the crew of Star Trek: The Original Series up to characters from Star Trek: Discovery. Players take command of the USS Artemis, recruiting their team while undertaking missions and making choices that change the game's story.

The Star Trek: Legends Steam launch trailer is included above. Here's the full list of enhancements coming to the Steam Early Access version of the game, via publisher Tilting Point:

• A Universe of Characters to Recruit: Collect and command a roster of 95 playable characters available from day 1, each with 3 to 4 unique skills. Unleash the potential of your team with characters from across the entire history of the Star Trek franchise.
• Complete Collections and Earn Rewards: Complete thematic collections, from Starfleet Captains to notorious Villains. Activating collection-specific combat bonuses adds a layer of strategy to your battles - each completed collection will also reward players with exciting bonuses.
• Play Your Way: We've added both controller and Steam Deck support for this version of the game.
• Experience Expanded Missions: Embark on 8 Episodes with 6 Missions each, offering narrative choices and multiple pathways. The Steam version includes all 8 Episodes from day 1, with refined reward and difficulty balancing for an engaging experience.
• Enhanced Shuttlecraft System: Assign characters to Shuttlecraft routes for XP and rewards. The Steam version introduces a player-friendly and streamlined experience with overhauled timers and rewards for enhanced gameplay.
• Improved Combat and UI: Engage in turn-based combat with up to 4 characters in your team. The Steam version brings quality-of-life changes, combat balance tuning, and a revamped UI for a smoother gaming experience.
• Updated Survival Mode: We've updated the balance of Survival Mode for a better player experience and improved the mode's character reroll feature.
• Customize Your Bridge: Unlock 8 different stations aboard the U.S.S. Artemis, assigning characters to each station to provide combat bonuses. Tailor your team to fit your preferred strategy.
• Enhanced Summons: Collect "Orbs" to summon new characters, now with the convenience of +1 & +10 buttons for multiple summons in a single transaction.
• Unlimited PVP Battles: Challenge fellow players in unlimited PVP battles, earn medals, and advance through lifetime PVP Leagues for better rewards.
• Exciting PVP Seasons: Participate in limited-time PVP leaderboard Seasons, competing for the highest score and exclusive rewards. A fresh start every 2 weeks keeps the competition fierce.
• Operations and Events: Engage in daily challenge battles with the overhauled Daily Operations system. Weekly events offer Event Operations for points, unlocking characters, and participating in faction-specific War Events.

Star Trek: Legends' campaign mode features a storyline by writer Mike Johnson, who may be familiar to Star Trek fans as the New York Times bestselling author who has penned Star Trek comics such as Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness, IDW Publishing's first ongoing Star Trek series, and Star Trek: Picard - Countdown. Players can also pit their crews against others online in PVP mode, with unlimited daily battles in PVP leagues. There's also survival, where players can attempt to unlock more rewards.

Star Trek fans may remember Star Trek: Legends being promoted via a viral campaign featuring Star Trek: The Next Generation star Michael Dorn. One of the Star Trek: Legends developers previously spoke to ComicBook.com about creating a new starship for the game.

"The Nexus, where the game takes place, is this realm that you can only enter through these destructive rifts, so we had to kind of set up that the Federation of Planets created this unique starship that's the only starship in the fleet that can go into that realm," said Amir Lotan, Executive Producer and Creative Director on Star Trek: Legends, at the time. "Another reason is that, because we're bringing in characters from all eras of [Starfleet], we didn't want a starship that would be associated specifically with one of those shows or one of those eras. We really wanted something that would feel like it's the player's as the captain and can't be claimed by anybody that they bring on board."

Star Trek: Legends launches on Steam Early Access on February 20th. The game also remains available on Apple Arcade.

Star Trek Adventures Second Edition is on its way, set to launch with a new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds-themed Core Rulebook at Gen Con 2024. On Monday, Modiphius Entertainment announced it will publish the second edition of the award-winning Star Trek roleplaying game in 2024, beginning with the new core rulebook and followed by a series of new game expansions. The biggest sub-announcement from Modiphius is that Star Trek Adventures Second Edition will include content based on Star Wars: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Prodigy, which have not previously been featured in Star Trek Adventures books, adventures, or character packs. With their inclusion, Star Trek Adventures will offer fans the opportunity to build a Star Trek story in the style of any Star Trek series they like, from classic Star Trek to Star Trek: Discovery, to Star Trek: Lower Decks, and beyond.

The new Star Trek Second Edition Core Rulebook will debut at Gen Con. A new Star Trek Adventure Second Edition Starter Set will follow in the fall. The core rulebook includes rules for players to create original characters and starships, will be compatible with supplements and expansions previously released for Star Trek Adventures' first edition, and will feature artwork inspired by the look of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

A key advancement in Star Trek Adventures' design philosophy going into the second edition is that the new version of the game will not be focused exclusively on playing as Starfleet characters to start with. Instead, the core rulebook will offer players the rules and support needed to tell stories starring characters from the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, and other polities in the Star Trek universe.

"Phase two of Star Trek Adventures is giving us the opportunity to refine the award-winning ruleset, taking advantage of all we've learned and published for the game and for the 2d20 System over the last seven years," project manager Jim Johnson said in a press release. "And, since Star Trek presented a diverse setting from the very beginning, I felt it important the core rulebook present a more diverse spread of character possibilities beyond just the Federation. You'll see a selection of fully playable non-Federation species in the core, expanding your group's gameplay possibilities right from the start."

Modiphius has been releasing new Star Trek Adventures content for seven years. The company recently released Star Trek Adventures: Captain's Log, a version of Star Trek Adventures designed for solo play.

"You can see it in people's eyes when they talk about their Star Trek Adventures games, that this RPG is really bringing something quite special to the table," Chris Birch, Modiphius founder and chief creative officer, said. "Seven years ago we set out to tell a new story in the Star Trek universe, and to bring us all together to explore strange new worlds. So whether you're a new crew coming to the table or old friends, I think you'll find the second edition of Star Trek Adventures will be the beginning of your own five-year mission with all the wonder that entails."

The Star Trek Adventures Second Edition Core Rulebook will debut at Gen Con 2024, which kicks off on August 1st. The Star Trek Adventures Second Edition Starter Set is scheduled to launch in the fall.

When it comes to the world of entertainment, Patrick Stewart is one of the most iconic actors to ever grace the screen. Stewart is best known for playing Captain Picard in Star Trek and Professor X in X-Men, which are both roles he's reprised in recent projects. Over the years, Stewart has starred in many television programs ranging from Star Trek: The Next Generation to Star Trek: Picard in addition to having guest roles in shows like Fraiser and Extras. Earlier this week, it was announced that Stewart would be honored for his work in television, which spans over many decades. According to Deadline, the ICG Publicists Guild is set to honor Stewart with the 2024 Television Showperson of the Year Award.

"We are honored to celebrate Stewart's venerable career, including the recently-completed final season of CBS Studios/Paramount+'s Star Trek: Picard, in which he reprised his signature role, first appearing in 1987, in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation," Publicists Award Chairs Tim Menke & Sheryl Main said in a joint statement.

Stewart will receive the award at the 61st Annual ICG Publicist Awards luncheon at on March 8th.

Previous winners the award include Norman Lear, Ava DuVernay, Greg Berlanti, Quinta Brunson, Ryan Murphy, John Landgraf, Shonda Rhimes, Chuck Lorre, Steven Bochco, Aaron Spelling, and Bob Hope.

Will Patrick Stewart Play Picard Again?

Stewart recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast and talked about some of his biggest roles, including Captain Picard. Stewart first played the character in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, and recently reprised the role in Star Trek: Picard. The show's third and final season recently came to an end, but Stewart's days in the franchise may not be over. While speaking with Josh Horowitz, Stewart revealed he's supposed to be getting a new Star Trek script.

"After we finished recording our seven seasons of Next Generation, we made four movies, one after the other. Star Trek movies of varying qualities, the best one being the one directed by Jonathan Frakes [Star Trek: First Contact], who was one of the people who had the most influence on me, on the show, because of his experience and his understanding of the complexities and how bringing different qualities on to the stage floor was very, very important. Diversity, you know, and change," Stewart explained.

"So it's an ongoing procedure for me, and I heard only last night about a script that is being written but written specifically with the actor Patrick to play in it and I've been told to expect to receive it within a week or so, and I'm so excited because it sounds like the kind of project where the experimentation that I want to do will be essential for this kind of material," he added.

In an interview with Wired last year, Stewart spoke about his new memoir, Making It So, and the actor revealed he wanted to make one more Star Trek movie.

Congrats to Patrick Stewart on his 2024 Television Showperson of the Year Award.

Kenneth Mitchell, the actor who played four characters in Star Trek: Discovery's first three seasons, died at age 49. In 2020, Mitchell publicly announced that he'd been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Having already played three Klingon characters in Star Trek: Discovery's first two seasons - Kol in Season 1, then Kol-Sha and Tenavik in Season 2 - Mitchell returned in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 as Aurellio, a character whose use of a hoverchair was designed to incorporate Mitchell's wheelchair use into his performance. Additionally, Mitchell voiced three characters in the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1 episode titled "Veritas": the Tweerk captain, a black ops operative, and a Romulan guard.

"Working on Lower Decks is... the last time I remember walking before having to be in a motorized wheelchair," Mitchell told Syfy Wire in 2020. "I remember walking up the stairs to go into the studio and the recording booth, and I remember having a great time with [showrunner] Mike [McMahan] and the team. And then I remember walking down the stairs but having trouble getting down. But, to be honest, that's my last memory of walking on my own. And for that to be the last memory, it's pretty damn special."

He also said of returning to Star Trek: Discovery, "For the new character in Discovery Season Three, I worked a lot with Mario [Moreira] and the props department and the special effect department, so you can interpolate that as much as you want," Mitchell hinted. "I'll just say it's pretty damn cool and very unique and something Star Trek hasn't had a lot of. I think it was special they adapted this part for me. I think it will be meaningful to the Trek community and beyond."

"Being a part of Star Trek keeps me inspired and gives me purpose," Mitchell said. "Hopefully, that will keep going."

Mitchell also had credits outside of the Star Trek franchise. He played Carol Danvers' father in the Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel. He also appeared in the movie Miracle and in the television shows Jericho, The Astronaut Wives Club, Ghost Whisperer, and Switched at Birth.

Mitchell is survived by his wife, Susan May Pratt, and their two children, Lilah and Callum. He requested that any fits in his memory come in the form of donations towards further ALS research or to support his family. A GoFundMe campaign for the family is live now to accept such donations.

After the fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery came to an end back in 2022, the show's long-awaited next season is finally debuting on Paramount+. Last week, it was announced that the fifth and final season of the series will premiere on Thursday, April 4th on the streaming service. The first two episodes of the show's final 10-episode season will be released at the same time followed by weekly episode drops on Thursdays. Today, the trailer for the final season was released by Paramount+, and it's sure to get fans of the show excited.

"The fifth and final season will find Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa 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," Paramount+ shared on YouTube. You can check out the trailer below:

Sonequa Martin-Green Teases Star Trek: Discovery's Final Season:

Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green recently teased that, "There's a big thing. A biiiig thing in Season 5." She added that there will be "a great sense of adventure and fun. It's a bit of a tonal shift that I think people will enjoy."

"I can hardly believe that this mind-blowing journey with Star Trek: Discovery is ending," Martin-Green said in a statement released when Paramount+ confirmed Star Trek: Discovery would end with its fifth season. "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. To our most supportive partners at CBS Studios and Paramount+, who insisted on making television history, I'm deeply grateful. I'm also deeply grateful for the creative collaboration with our showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman, as well as Olatunde Osunsanmi and the incomparable team of executive producers.

"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 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. 65 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... "

What did you think about the latest Star Trek: Discovery trailer? Tell us in the comments!

An upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds story will finally reveal Captain Christopher Pike's history with his "Number One," Una Chin-Riley. Gallery Books has revealed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds by Una McCormack (the veteran Star Trek writer for whom Una is named). The novel will dig into the history between the two Starfleet officers that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has frequently alluded to, going back at least 25 years, to that speech Pike gave at Starfleet Academy that left such an impression on Cadet Chin-Riley. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum's title may also refer to the legal status the Federation granted Una in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, allowing her to continue in her Starfleet career even after revealing her genetically modified Illyrian heritage.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum jumps between two time periods set 25 years apart. Here's the book's synopsis: "A new Star Trek adventure based on the thrilling Paramount+ TV series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds!

"When Una Chin-Riley and Christopher Pike meet at Starfleet Academy after one of his lectures, they immediately become friends. A stellar student, Una is the "poster girl" of her class, and Pike is determined to become a Starfleet captain with his own ship, rhetorically assembling his dream crew. As their friendship evolves, Pike also suspects Una is involved with the Euxhana, a Chionian cultural minority, who are seeking asylum in Federation space, leading to more questions than answers.

"Twenty-five years later, Una and Pike are working together on the USS Enterprise to settle a Chionian trade agreement when a pro-Euxhana saboteur launches a terrorist attack. When the suspect is taken into custody for interrogation and is discovered to have a history with Una, her past associations resurface, threatening to expose a secret she's been harboring all these years..."

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum is the second novel based on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, following 2023's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The High Country by John Jackson Miller. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum goes on sale on September 24th.

When will Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Premiere?

Following delays due to last year's strikes in Hollywood, Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3 is now in production. The new season will presumably pick up from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2's tense cliffhanger ending.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley, Ethan Peck as Spock, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga.Recurring guest stars include Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and Carol Kane in a recurring as Pelia.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming now on Paramount+. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 and Season 2 are also available on Blu-ray and DVD.

On Wednesday, Paramount+ officially announced that Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, the final season of the series, will premiere on Thursday, April 4th on the streaming service in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will also premiere on April 4th on Paramount+ in Canada. The Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will see the first two episodes of the series' final 10-episode season released at launch. New Star Trek: Discovery episodes will follow weekly on Thursdays. Here's the official Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 synopsis from Paramount+:

"The fifth and final season will find 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 is the Show's Final Season

Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green recently teased in the show's final season that, "There's a big thing. A biiiig thing in Season 5." And, compared to Star Trek: Discovery Season 4's heavy subject matter and tone, "a great sense of adventure and fun. It's a bit of a tonal shift that I think people will enjoy."

"I can hardly believe that this mind-blowing journey with Star Trek: Discovery is ending," Martin-Green said in a statement released when Paramount+ confirmed Star Trek: Discovery would end with its fifth season. "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. To our most supportive partners at CBS Studios and Paramount+, who insisted on making television history, I'm deeply grateful. I'm also deeply grateful for the creative collaboration with our showrunners Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman, as well as Olatunde Osunsanmi and the incomparable team of executive producers.

"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 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. 65 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... "

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Cast

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 stars Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland "Book" Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Elias Toufexis (L'ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll) are recurring guest stars.

CBS Studios produces Star Trek: Discovery in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Sonequa Martin-Green, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth are executive producers. Kurtzman and Paradise act as co-showrunners.

Star Trek: Discovery's first four seasons are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 and Season 3 also are available on the Pluto TV Star Trek channel in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. In Canada, Star Trek: Discovery airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel.

Modiphius Entertainment has announced Star Trek Adventures: The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign, the latest addition to its line of supplements for the Star Trek TTRPG. Star Trek Adventures: The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign includes a six-mission campaign that runs alongside the story of the Klingon War seen in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, offering players the opportunity to explore the war's ramifications on the United Federation of Planets. The supplemental also includes rules to help navigate the psychological stress of warfare and tools to help gamemasters create new wartime Star Trek Adventures campaigns.

The new procedurally generated campaign overlay is arguably the most significant addition to Star Trek Adventures in The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign. This addition to the Star Trek Adventures game allows players to act as admirals overseeing the conflict from a high level. Such players must decide how to allocate resources and forces to prevent the Klingons' advances into Federation territory.

Star Trek Adventures: The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign adds six new playable species to Star Trek Adventures: Aenar, Arcadian, Ariolo, Betelgeusian, Coridanite, and Megarite. There are also new optional rules, character talents, and more than 20 mission briefs for wartime play, including tactical, routine, exploration, and mission varieties.

"With this release, we're expanding the scope of Star Trek storytelling possibilities," Star Trek Adventures project manager Jim Johnson said in a press release. "It includes a long roleplaying campaign and a tactical campaign overlay that provides players the means to take on the role of admirals and manage resources and events at a larger scale. And, the tactical campaign component could be played by itself as sort of a mini-game, beyond the full roleplaying experience. I'm excited for gaming groups to get this to their table and create amazing Star Trek stories with it."

The Star Trek Adventures: The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign is available to pre-order from Modiphius' online store. Orders are expected to begin shipping out in March.

What is Star Trek Adventures?

Star Trek Adventures is a tabletop roleplaying game allowing players to explore the Star Trek universe. Modiphius Entertainment developed the game based on its 2d20 gaming system and began publishing in 2017. Since then, Star Trek Adventures has won several industry awards, and Modiphius has expanded the game with a steady stream of supplements that add new content, rules, and tools.

According to Modiphius, "Star Trek Adventures takes you to the Final Frontier of the Galaxy, where new discoveries await keen explorers of Starfleet. Your duties may take you to the edges of known space, or to Federation colonies in need, to the borders of neighboring galactic powers or into the eye of interstellar phenomena. Your ship and your crew epitomize the best Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets has to offer, and you are needed more than ever."

Modiphius began expanding the game with supplements dedicated to each galaxy quadrant and Starfleet division. Its standout expansions include a new core rulebook for the Klingon Empire, campaign guides for play in the style of the modern Star Trek series Star Trek: Discovery and comedic animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, a campaign guide for exploring the Shackleton Expanse, and a variant of the game called Captain's Log for solo play.

Star Trek's LGBTQIA+ characters will get the spotlight in Star Trek: Celebrations #1, a one-shot comic book from IDW Publishing arriving ahead of Pride Month 2024. Announced this week via Screen Rant, the anthology comic features new stories starring characters like Star Trek: Picard's Seven of Nine and Raffi, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Christine Chapel, Star Trek: Discovery's Hugh Culber, Paul Stamets, Adira Tal, and Gray Tal, Star Trek: Lower Decks' Beckett Mariner and Jennifer Sh'reyan, and the Kelvin Timeline's Hikaru Sulu. These stories will be written by Vita Ayala, Steve Orlando, Mags Visaggio, and others and will hit store shelves on May 29th.

"What is Star Trek, if not the idea of celebrating the best of us, right?" IDW's Star Trek group editor Heather Antos said. "The best of humanity, and coming together. There's a really great quote from Gene Roddenberry that that's the future he wants to see: a future where we are all not just tolerating one another, but celebrating one another."

She continued, "That is the intention behind Celebrations, and where we get the title from. It's wanting to celebrate the badasses of the Star Trek universe, whether that's Culber and Stamets, whether that's Mariner, whether that's Seven and Raffi... there's so many characters that we're going to get to see explored here by some incredible, incredible writers."

Paulina Ganucheau created the Star Trek: Celebrations #1 cover, which is included above. Here's the issue's synopsis, provided by IDW Publishing.

"Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate but to celebrate differences in ideas and differences in life forms." --Gene Roddenberry

"IDW proudly presents a one-shot anthology centering and celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the Star Trek universe! Join legendary heroes from each era of the beloved franchise in stories that showcase the strengths of infinite diversity in infinite combinations, brought to you by a star-studded cast of writers and artists including Vita Ayala, Steve Orlando, Mags Visaggio, and more!"

Seven of Nine's Story Continues in Star Trek: Picard - Firewall

While fans wait for Star Trek: Celebration #1, there are other places where they can find some of the characters seen on the issue's cover. The upcoming novel Star Trek: Picard - Firewall by David Mack focuses on Seven of Nine, bridging the gap between the end of Star Trek: Voyager and Seven of Nine's appearance in Star Trek: Picard. The novel releases on February 27th. Here's the synopsis:

"Two years after the USS Voyager's return from the Delta Quadrant, Seven of Nine finds herself rejected for a position in Starfleet...and instead finds a new home with the interstellar rogue law enforcement corps known as the Fenris Rangers. The Rangers seem like an ideal fit for Seven--but to embrace this new destiny, she must leave behind all she's ever known, and risk losing the most important thing in her life: her friendship with Admiral Kathryn Janeway."

Star Trek: Discovery Returns For Its Final Season

Four of the characters on Star Trek Celebration's cover come from Star Trek: Discovery, which returns in April with the start of its fifth and final season. Star Trek: Discovery lead Sonequa Martin-Green recently emphasized that the final season's spotlight will shine on the entire Discovery ensemble. "There's no stone left unturned... We dig into some of everything in Season 5," she said.

Ahead of its Paramount+ debut, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's premiere will screen at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, which takes place March 8-16 in Austin, Texas. Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 premieres on Paramount+ in April. Star Trek: Discovery's first four seasons are streaming on Paramount+ now.

Sonequa Martin-Green is promising "a big thing" in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, the final season of the Paramount+ Star Trek series. Martin-Green has starred as Michael Burnham throughout Star Trek: Discovery's five seasons, chronicling her journey from first officer in the pre-TOS era, to mutineer, to Starfleet captain in the 32nd century. Burnham's journey, and that of her Discovery crew, concludes in Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, beginning in April. Speaking to TVLine at the SCAD TVfest in Atlanta, Burnham teased something big in the works for Discovery's final outing, as well as a tonal shift as the series pursues adventure.

"There's a big thing," Marti-Green said. "A biiiig thing in Season 5." And, in contrast to the heaviness of Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, "a great sense of adventure and fun. It's a bit of a tonal shift that I think people will enjoy."

Much of Season 4's heaviness stemmed from conflict in Burnham's relationship with Cleveland "Book" Booker, which fractured after the destruction of Book's homeworld. Martin-Green said that the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 trailer "would seem to suggest that they are on some sort of mission together" and that "the relationship between Burnham and Book is definitely be going to be covered. It's part of the story" before adding that the seasons will spread its focus among the entire Discovery crew. "There's no stone left unturned... We dig into some of everything in Season 5," she said.

When asked about the possibility of seeing "familiar faces" who aren't part of the Discovery crew, Martin-Green played it coy. "I hope those chances are good," she said.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Cast and Synopsis

According to Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's official synopsis, the season "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's cast includes Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland "Book" Booker), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's recurring guest stars include Elias Toufexis (L'ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll).

CBS Studios produces Star Trek: Discovery in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth are executive producers. Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise are co-showrunners.

Ahead of its Paramount+ debut, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's premiere will screen at the SXSW Film & TV Festival, which takes place March 8-16 in Austin, Texas. Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 premieres on Paramount+ in April. Star Trek: Discovery's first four seasons are streaming on Paramount+ now.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 is now available to own on Digital and will release on Blu-ray and DVD on April 16th (the set is available to pre-order now). The Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 2-disc collection will include all 10 episodes of the season, plus exclusive audio commentary tracks from the show's cast and crew, a featurette, and more. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 was a milestone season for the development of characters like Beckett Mariner, who came to grips with her anxieties about taking command positions in Starfleet in a way that tied Star Trek: Lower Decks directly back to the original Star Trek: The Next Generation "Lower Decks" episode.

Mike McMahan created Star Trek: Lower Decks. Per Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4's official synopsis, "In Season 4 of Star Trek: Lower Decks, an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves -- all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

The Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 cast includes the "lower decks" of Staffleet's U.S.S. Cerritos: Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome; Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid; Ensign Tendi, voiced by No?l Wells; and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. The U.S.S. Cerritos' Bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis; Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O'Connell; and Doctor T'Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman.

Star Trek: Lower Decks' guest stars include Jack McBrayer (30 Rock), Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O'Brien), Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and others. Here's the list of special features included in the home media release:

• Audio Commentary by Jack Quaid, Mike McMahan, and Brad Winters (Ep. 401)
• Audio Commentary by Tawny Newsome, No?l Wells and Gabrielle Ruiz (Ep. 404)
• Audio Commentary by No?l Wells, Eugene Cordero, Chase Masterson and Mike McMahan (Ep. 406)
• Audio Commentary by Dawnn Lewis, Tawny Newsome and Mike McMahan (Ep. 409)
• Audio Commentary by Robert Duncan McNeill and Mike McMahan (Ep. 410)
• Lower Decktionary: Setting Up Season 4
• Old Friends

Tawny Newsome on Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 was a game-changing season for Beckett Mariner. Newsome shared her feelings about it while talking to ComicBook.com after the episode aired.

"I thought it was really well-earned," Newsome said. "I think for a silly little 22-minute comedy that packs all the funny that it does, packs all the action, and all of the respect for canon that our show does, that's a lot. I don't think that we would've earned an emotional deep dive like that any earlier. I think we had to wait until Episode 9 Season 4, I really do."

I think that by doing that, we had so much energy and excitement and understanding of who Mariner is, and where she's come from, and why she's like this, it was like a little key that unlocked something huge. I saw it in the fandom. I saw people's reactions to be like, "This makes so much sense," that of course this would basically give her PTSD from the Dominion War and dealing with her friend dying. Of course, no wonder. She's not just acting out for no reason. This is a real reason."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Seasons 1-3 are also available in separate home media releases. All seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks are streaming on Paramount+, with Season 5 on the way.

Nicolas Cage wants to enlist in Starfleet, with hopes to become a member of the Enterprise bridge crew in a Star Trek production. About a year ago, Cage made a bold statement when he said he was much more interested in joining the Star Trek franchise than having a role in the Star Wars universe. Cage hasn't said much about Star Trek since then, but that changed on Sunday. Cage attended the 51st Annual Saturn Awards, where he took home the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Film for his performance as Dracula in Renfield. On the red carpet, he spoke to multiple outlets about Star Trek, revealing that while he's not currently in talks for any Star Trek roles, he has had some calls with Paramount about the franchise.

Speaking to TrekMovie, Cage referred back to the 2023 interview where he voiced his preference for Star Trek over Star Wars. "Well, my passion is more Trekkie. I grew up watching Shatner and Nimoy and Bones and those stories on television had a lot of wisdom and socially relevant commentary. So I've always been partial to Star Trek. Well, I've been hearing some talk about it, but nothing real... Since [the 2023 interview] there was a few comments from Paramount, but who knows? I'd want to be on the bridge. I want to be on the Enterprise. Yeah... Who knows?"

Separately, Cage told ScreenRant, "There were a couple of phone calls. I don't know, I'd have to see a script. It would have to be something that I could really add my flavor to; have some pop and some spark. I wouldn't want to just do anything, because I have so much love for the franchise. I want to be on the Enterprise. Ideally, I'd have to be on the Enterprise in some capacity. I don't want to be floating in space on a satellite! I want to be on the bridge, but they have to bring it to me."

In that 2023 interview, Cage fondly recalled growing up watching Star Trek: The Original Series while also praising the cast that assumed those classic character roles in the 2009 Star Trek movie and its sequels. When asked about wanting to join the Star Wars franchise, Cage said, "No is the answer. I'm not really down. I'm a Trekkie, man, I'm on the Enterprise. That's where I roll. I grew up watching Shatner, I thought Pine was terrific in the movies. I think the movies are outstanding."

What's happening with the Star Trek movies?

While Star Trek 4 has been in development limbo for years, with multiple unrealized projects going through development and writers and directors coming and going, there's been some encouraging movement recently. Paramount announced that it is developing a Star Trek movie that is an origin story of the Enterprise crew while also continuing to pursue a direct sequel to Star Trek Beyond that would bring back the cast of the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies.

Meanwhile, Paramount+ is moving forward with direct-to-streaming Star Trek movies. Its first, Star Trek: Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh, began filming in Toronto in January. Patrick Stewart also recently revealed he was expecting to receive a script for a new Star Trek movie starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew. Whether that's meant for Paramount+ or theaters is unclear.

Star Trek: Picard and Avatar: The Way of Water were the big winners at the 51st Annual Saturn Awards, which were handed out during a ceremony on Sunday in Los Angeles. Star Trek: Picard Season 3 took home the award for Best Science Fiction Television Series, and Star Trek: Picard stars Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), and Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) took home the individual awards for Best Actor in a Television Series, Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, and Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, respectively. Paul Wesley won the Best Guest Star in a Television award for his performance as James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Brent Spiner, and Michael Dorn were on hand to accept the award, presented by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige.

Other special achievement awards included Christopher Nolan receiving the Visionary Award (presented by Emily Blunt), Jodie Foster getting the Life Career Award (presented by Issa Lopez), Seth MacFarlane receiving the Robert Forster Artist's Award (from Star Trek icon William Shatner). Star Wars' Dave Filoni getting the George Pal Memorial Awards (presented by Ming-Na Wen). The Dan Curtis Legacy Awards went to the cast and creators of The Walking Dead, and Keanu Reeves received the inaugural Lance Reddick Legacy Award, named for Reeves' John Wick co-star, who died in 2023.

Avatar: The Way of Water dominated the film categories, winning Best Science Fiction Film, Best Film Writing, Best Film Direction, and Best Film Visual/Special Effects. The complete list of winners from the 51st Annual Saturn Awards follows.

Saturn Awards 2024 Winners

• Best Science Fiction Film: Avatar: The Way of Water
• Best Fantasy Film: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Best Horror Film: Talk to Me
• Best Superhero Film: Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3
• Best Action / Adventure Film: Mission Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
• Best Thriller Film: Oppenheimer
• Best Actor in a Film: Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny)
• Best Actress in a Film: Margot Robbie (Barbie)
• Best Supporting Actor in a Film: Nicolas Cage (Renfield)
• Best Supporting Actress in a Film: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
• Best Younger Actor in a Film: Xolo Mariduena (Blue Beetle)
• Best Film Direction: James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water)
• Best Film Writing: Avatar: The Way of Water (James Cameron and Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver)
• Best Film Producer Designer: Barbie (Sarah Greenwood)
• Best Film Editing: Oppenheimer (Jennifer Lame)
• Best Music in a Film: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams)
• Best Film Costume: Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
• Best Film Make-Up: The Covenant (Donald Mowat)
• Best Film Visual / Special Effects: Avatar: The Way of Water (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett)
• Best International Film: Sisu
• Best Independent Film: Pearl
• Best Animated Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
• Best Science Fiction Television Series: Star Trek: Picard
• Best Fantasy Television Series: Wednesday
• Best Horror Film Television Series: The Last of Us
• Best Superhero Television Series: Superman & Lois
• Best Action/Thriller Television Series: Outlander
• Best Television Presentation: Marvel's Werewolf by Night
• Best Actor in a Television Series: Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: Picard)
• Best Actress in a Television Series: Caitriona Balfe (Outlander)
• Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series: Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: Picard)
• Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series: Jeri Ryan (Star Trek Picard)
• Best Younger Performer in a Television Series: Jenna Ortega (Wednesday)
• Best Guest Star in a Television Series: Paul Wesley (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)
• Best Classic Film Home Media Release: Invaders from Mars 4k (Ignite)
• Best Television Homer Media Release: Night Gallery (Season Three) (Kino Lorber)
• Best Film Home Media Collection Release: Superman 1978-1987 4K Collection (Warner)
• Best 4K Home Media Release Release: John Wick, Chapter 4 - 4k (Lionsgate)

Noah Hawley says that Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek would have starred in his canceled Star Trek movie. Hawley's Star Trek movie would have starred a new crew and, according to composer Jeff Russo, a story that would have had fans losing their minds. Hawley has stated that Paramount Pictures pulled the plug on his Star Trek project during casting discussions. During an appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, Hawley revealed which stars were involved in those casting talks. "I was going to make a Star Trek movie with Cate Blanchett and Rami Malek," Hawley said. "You could have had that, America... Planet Earth."

Early rumors suggested that Paramount halted Hawley's Star Trek movie as it was on the edge of entering production because the plot revolved around a pandemic, which the studio felt hit too close to home. However, Hawley later told Deadline that a changing of the guard at Paramount Pictures, with Emma Watts becoming president, resulted in support for his Star Trek movie, with its unproven new crew, vanishing.

"We were on the runway," Hawley said. "There was major casting that we were in the middle of. We had a production schedule and I was getting ready to go to Australia. And then, as you said, new management. I guess in retrospect, what surprised me is not that Emma Watts came in and said, 'Are you people crazy? This is an untested crew. This is an original idea. We don't know if this is going to work or not work,' it's that I got as far as I did under Wyck [Godfrey] and Jim [Gianopulos]. It was a really fun movie and I think it would have been a great film, but you can't control these things, so you move on.

"It's not easy," Hawley continued, "and you have to allow yourself to have that process of, I won't say grieving because it's not life or death, but you do have to pour your 40 out on the ground for the movie that would have been, to really celebrate that you were excited artistically about something and now you have to, just as you were getting ready to ramp up, you have to cauterize that wound and move on.

What's next for the Star Trek movies?

Star Trek 4 has been in development limbo for years, with multiple unrealized projects going through development and writers and directors coming and going. Most recently, Paramount announced that it is developing a Star Trek movie that is an origin story of the Enterprise crew while also pursuing a sequel to Star Trek Beyond that would bring back the cast of the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies.

Meanwhile, Paramount+ is moving forward with direct-to-streaming Star Trek movies. The first, Star Trek: Section 31, starring Michelle Yeoh, began filming in Toronto in January. Patrick Stewart also recently revealed he was expecting to receive a script for a new Star Trek movie starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew. Whether that's meant for Paramount+ or theaters is unclear.

Star Trek has revealed the origin - or at least one possible origin - of one of Jean-Luc Picard's most memorable quotes. SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5 by Sam Maggs, Ornella Greco, Charlie Kirchoff, and Jeff Eckleberry follow. "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness, that is life," is one of Picard's most memorable quotes. It's a line he delivers in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 episode "Peak Performance." In the episode, Picard and his usual first officer, Will Riker, are chosen to captain opposing ships in a Starfleet war game.

With Riker on the opposing side of the battle, Date is made Picard's new "Number One" for the duration of the mock battle. However, Data's confidence is shaken after losing a strategy game called Stratagema to a famous strategist, Sirna Kolrami. Believing something is wrong with him, Data removes himself from bridge duty while he tries to isolate the issue. That's when Picard finds him and gives him a stern talking to before delivering the notable quote, expressing the sentiment that sometimes you can do everything right and still not succeed, and that's not a moral failing.

Where does Picard's famous quote come from?

According to Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5, Picard didn't come up with that line himself. Instead, he remembered having heard it himself during his days at Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Picard's Academy has chronicled Picard's first experience with command duties during a training mission. He's struggled to maintain the confidence of his peers, especially his rival for the head of the class, a Betazoid named Resh. However, he has managed to make a couple of close friends, notably Marty Batanides and a brilliant El-Aurian with a knack for science named Doqtis "Doq" Ilum.

It is Doq who delivers that quote in Star Trek: Picard's Academy. The group's ship malfunctions and after a moment of panic, the crew calms down and begins piecing together a new plan that combines the best parts of Picard and Resh's previous failed ideas. The class wonders if they still have a chance of passing the test, and it's here that Doq delivers the line about failure and weakness, which Picard takes in and takes to heart.

Doq's message will have an influence on Picard going forward. Not only is that obvious by Picard quoting Doq decades later, but Picard in Picard's Academy has been obsessed with succeeding at the academy and graduating early. Perhaps this is the moment where he learns that sometimes you can do everything right and still not win.

Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5 is on sale now. Star Trek: Picard's Academy #6, the series' final issue, goes on sale on February 28th.

• Star Trek: Picard's Academy #5
• NOV231060
• (W) Sam Maggs (A) Greco Ornella (CA) Sweeney Boo
• Starfleet's Evasive Maneuvers exam has turned into an actual battle for survival as Jean-Luc and his classmates find themselves facing the very real threat of death by vacuum of space! They can't reach Starfleet, and enemy Romulans continue invading their ship. Can Picard and his crewmates outmaneuver the enemy in their first-ever ship-on-ship space battle, or will he, in his first role as acting captain, succumb to the chaos and shouting matches among his crew?
• In Shops: Jan 31, 2024
• SRP: $3.99

Star Trek just retconned a Star Trek: The Next Generation character's origin story. SPOILERS follow for Star Trek: Defiant Annual #1 by Christopher Cantwell, Ramon Rosanas, Lee Loughridge, and Clayton Cowles follow. Sela was a villain played by Denise Crosby in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and she has a convoluted origin story. Crosby had previously played Tasha Yar, the Enterprise's security chief, during most of Star Trek: The Next Generation's first season. Following Crosby's decision to leave the show, the alien Armus killed Tasha in the episode titled "Skin of Evil." However, that wasn't the end of Tasha Yar's legacy.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" involved two different timelines after the Enterprise-C accidentally avoided its fate - destruction while attempting to defend a Klingon outpost under siege by Romulan force - by falling through a temporal rift and arriving 20 years into the future. This changed the present to one where the Federation was at war with the Klingon Empire, and Tasha Yar had not died. By the end of the episode, the Enterprise-C returns to face its destiny and reset the timeline, and Tasha Yar is aboard when it does. Following the battle, she's taken prisoner by the Romulans and, while imprisoned, later gives birth to a half-Romulan child, Sela.

Sela's Star Trek Origin Story

As the story goes, Tasha later tries to escape with young Sela. However, sensing that her mother was trying to take her away from her Romulan father, Tasha cried out, alerting the guards to their presence and costing her mother her life. However, Star Trek: Defiant Annual #1 reveals that the story isn't the truth.

Star Trek: Defiant Annual #1 sees Sela thrust backward through time to correct her mistakes while trying to regain favor with Romulan intelligence. Instead, she meets Tasha Yar - not the alternate timeline version that would become her mother, but the one who would appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 - during the mission where she first meets Jean-Luc Picard before she's assigned to the Enterprise-D.

In this unintended crossing of paths, Sela sees her mother as something other than the prisoner she'd been in Romulan custody. She's brave, capable, and willing to sacrifice herself for others. By the end of the encounter, Sela is forced to recognize her mother's sense of altruism in herself after she dives at Tasha to protect her from phaser fire.

The meeting forces Sela to reevaluate and confront memories she's long since buried. Sela did not have a relationship with her Romulan father before her mother's death. She didn't cry out during Tasha's escape attempt out of fear that she would be taken away from her father but out of simple, childish fear of being asked to do something dangerous.

With no other parent but her Romulan father left and feeling deep shame at having cost her mother her life, Sela threw herself into working for the Romulan Empire and rewrote her history in her mind. Serving the Empire was a choice, not an inescapable situation. Her mother was a coward, not a hero whose death was the result of a child's entirely understandable fear.

Sela's Star Trek Future

Sela built walls up around the truth, but those walls have come crumbling down. After being thoroughly shamed for her cowardly behavior, so unlike her mother, by Beverly Crusher during "Day of Blood," and being forced to realize that the Romulan hierarchy would never accept her entirely, Sela concludes that she has been trying to follow in the footsteps of the wrong parent. She defects and begins seeking out Worf and his "rogue" Defiant crew.

Sela was always presented as an over-the-top and flatly sinister villain on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek: Defiant Annual #1 has given her much more complexity and made her a more compelling character than ever before. What happens next for Sela will presumably be seen in the ongoing Star Trek: Defiant series. Star Trek: Defiant #1 is on sale now.

Filming on Paramount+'s Star Trek: Section 31 movie is officially underway. Paramount+ announced on Tuesday that production has begun in Toronto on Star Trek: Section 31, starring Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, a character she originated in Star Trek: Discovery. During that series, Georgiou joined Section 31, a secret division of Starfleet. In the Star Trek: Section 31 film, Georgiou is "Tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets" but must "also must face the sins of her past." Paramount+ also announced Star Trek: Section 31's supporting cast: Omari Hardwick (Power), Kacey Rohl (Hannibal), Emmy winner Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), Sven Ruygrok (One Piece), Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim), Humberly Gonzalez (Ginny & Georgia) and James Hiroyuki Liao (Barry).

"And we're off to the races! Thrilled to report principal photography has started on Star Trek: Section 31," executive producer Alex Kurtzman said in a press release. "We welcome our incredible cast of new characters as they join our beloved Michelle Yeoh on her next wild adventure across the Trek universe."

Olatunde Osunsanmi is directing Star Trek: Section 31 from a screenplay by Craig Sweeny. Kurtzman, Sweeny, Aaron Baiers, Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, and Yeoh are executive producers. CBS Studios, in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, is producing Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek: Section 31 will stream exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and in all international markets where the service is available. Star Trek: Section 31 is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

What is Star Trek: Section 31?

Star Trek: Section 31 was originally conceived as a streaming series for Paramount+ spinning out from Star Trek: Discovery (which is ending with its fifth season, starting in April). However, the pandemic prevented the show's pilot episode from filming. Instead, the concept was reworked as a streaming movie, the first in a series of such made-for-streaming Star Trek movies being considered by Paramount+.

"I'm beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I've loved for so long," Yeoh said in a statement when Paramount+ announced the Star Trek: Section 31 movie. "Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that's shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can't wait to share what's in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!"

At the time, Kurtzman added, "All the way back in 2017, before the first season of Star Trek: Discovery had even aired, Michelle had the idea to do a spin-off for her character, Philippa Georgiou. She broke new ground as one of the first two women on screen in the pilot to usher in a new age of Trek, and now, six years later, Star Trek: Section 31 finally arrives on the heels of her latest groundbreaking win. Everyone on Team Trek couldn't be more thrilled to have our legendary friend return home to us as we expand our storytelling into new and uncharted corners of the Trekverse. Long live Emperor Georgiou; long live Michelle Yeoh!"

Star Trek: Section 31 does not have a release date. Star Trek: Discovery is streaming now on Paramount+

In 2022, Star Trek legend William Shatner became the oldest person to fly in space when he, along with three other crew members, took to the sky aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-18. However, while the flight was historic and one that Shatner has described as "unbelievable", he's also reflected on the experience as being something that felt less like a celebration and more like a funeral as it prompted for him "among the strongest feelings of grief" that he had ever encountered. Now, in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com ahead of his appearance at Mega-Con in Orlando February 3-4, Shatner reveals how he would want a second trip to space to be different.

"The opportunity may be presented to me, and I thought, I don't want to repeat what happened to me emotionally going up there with Blue Origin, but If I went up again... I don't want to say too much," he said. "When I came down from the Blue Origin trip, I was filled with despair about the earth and what we've done and about what's happening and the extinction of so many species. But there is a rising campaign by numerous people, many of them scientists, to try and rectify that. But if I were to go up again, my thought is I would come down armed with the knowledge of many of those entities that are trying to stop the destruction that's going on, and I would celebrate that."

What Did Shatner Say About His Blue Origin Space Trip?

In his book Boldly Go: Reflections of a Life of Awe and Wonder, Shatner explained that when he went into space, it made his connection to Earth all the more profound and gave him a different perspective on the issues facing the planet.

"I had thought that going into space would be the ultimate catharsis of that connection I had been looking for between all living things -- that being up there would be the next beautiful step in understanding the harmony of the universe,' Shater wrote. "In the film Contact, when Jodie Foster's character goes to space and looks out into the heavens, she lets out an astonished whisper, 'They should've sent a poet.' I had a different experience, because I discovered that the beauty isn't out there, it's down here, with all of us. Leaving that behind made my connection to our tiny planet even more profound."

He continued, "It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of Earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. Every day, we are confronted with the knowledge of further destruction of Earth at our hands: the extinction of animal species, of flora and fauna ... things that took five billion years to evolve, and suddenly we will never see them again because of the interference of mankind. It filled me with dread. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration; instead, it felt like a funeral."

Shatner is Open to AI Being Used for His Captain Kirk

Shatner also told ComicBook.com that he is open to AI being used for his iteration of Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk returning, though he did have a very specific set of circumstances for it to happen.

"It's an interesting question," Shatner said. "The strike was all about getting permission to do that. And so, if I'm alive, I don't want AI to do that, but if I'm dead and they ask my family and they're going to pay my family very well to sound like me, I would advise them to say yes."

As mentioned above, William Shatner will be appearing at Mega-Con in Orlando on February 3rd and February 4th.

It's now a part of cinematic history that Halloween movie icon Michael Myers and Star Trek icon William Shatner (sort of) have the same face. The Michael Myers mask was made from a Shatner mask and has grown to be both iconic and lucrative merch following those humble beginnings. The question is: does William Shatner make any money off a mask designed using a mask made in his likeness?

"No, no, no," Shatner confirmed to ComicBook.com's Chris Killian. "That mask was made on my face to allow the makeup people at Star Trek to use it to apply appliances, beards, and mustaches and pieces of plastic that altered my appearance. They used that instead of using me, who didn't have the time to do that.

So at one point they didn't, the [Star Trek] series was canceled and I don't know what happened to the mask. Somebody found it and then it ended up in a Halloween thing [costume shop], and then my understanding of the story is the director of Halloween said, 'Go get a mask,' and somebody grabbed that mask. It's all inadvertent, as far as I know."

So there you have it: the 'William Shatner mask' was just a piece of Star Trek prop memorabilia, which wouldn't entitle Shatner to any merchandising rights, sadly. Just another Hollyweird coincidence that ended up becoming major pop-culture history.

How Halloween's Michael Myers Mask Got Made

As William Shatner (loosely) recounted:

When original Halloween (1978) director John Carpenter was putting together the film on an indie budget (over $300K), he had to use something to create the mask of his killer ("The Shape" as the credits labeled). Carpenter and Co. wanted to give The Shape a soulless, inhuman persona, which has since defined Michael Myers as a character.

Halloween (1978) production designer/art director/location scout, and co-editor, Tommy Lee Wallace, purchased the Captain Kirk makeup mask from a Hollywood Boulevard costume shop and altered it, widening the face and moth holes and painting it white. He once stated that the "idea was to make him almost humorless, faceless--this sort of pale visage that could resemble a human or not."

It'd be interesting to know how many people were subtly affected by the connection between Shatner and Michael Myers - surely there had to be a few people who watched Star Trek OS reruns in the 1980s and came away with an uncanny sense of dread. Or, you know, the people who watch Halloween movies and come away with unexplained fascinations with space and astronomy. Either way.

The use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry has become a major topic in recent years, provoking quite a lot of conversation surrounding which projects do -- or even could -- employ it. One significant element of the debate has been around using AI to revive or recreate performances from older actors -- and it looks like legendary Star Trek star William Shatner has a unique outlook on the matter. While speaking to ComicBook.com about his upcoming appearance at Mega-Con in Orlando on February 3rd and February 4th, Shatner addressed the possibility of his iteration of Star Trek's Captain James T. Kirk returning through AI, and revealed he would only want it to happen under specific circumstances.

"It's an interesting question," Shatner explained. "The strike was all about getting permission to do that. And so if I'm alive, I don't want AI to do that, but if I'm dead and they ask my family and they're going to pay my family very well to sound like me, I would advise them to say yes."

What Is William Shatner's Documentary About?

In recent years, Shatner has been vocal about his efforts to preserve his cultural legacy, including starring in the 2023 documentary You Can Call Me Bill. As Shatner put it in a 2023 interview, the documentary was a way to help ensure his story is told, no matter how long he ultimately ends up living.

"I've turned down a lot of offers to do documentaries before," Shatner said. "But I don't have long to live. Whether I keel over as I'm speaking to you or 10 years from now, my time is limited, so that's very much a factor. I've got grandchildren. This documentary is a way of reaching out after I die."

"When Leonard Nimoy died a few years ago, his funeral was on a Sunday. His death was very sudden, and I had obligated myself to go to Mar-a-Lago for a Red Cross fundraiser," Shatner added. "I was one of the celebrities raising money. That event was on a Saturday night. I chose to keep my promise to go to Mar-a-Lago instead of the funeral, and I said to the audience, 'People ask about a legacy. There is no legacy. Statues are torn down. Graveyards are ransacked. Headstones are knocked over. No one remembers anyone. Who remembers Danny Kay or Cary Grant? They were great stars. But they're gone and no one cares.' But what does live on are good deeds. If you do a good deed, it reverberates to the end of time. It's the butterfly effect thing. That's why I have done this film."

What do you think of William Shatner's new comments about an AI recreation of his Captain Kirk? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

As mentioned above, William Shatner will be appearing at Mega-Con in Orlando on February 3rd and February 4th.

Star Trek: The Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes shared some surprising thoughts on the "Riker Maneuver" during a recent Reddit AMA session. For those unfamiliar, the so-called "Riker Maneuver" is when Frakes' Star Trek: The Next Generation character, Cmdr. Will Riker sits in a chair by swinging his leg over the chair's back and lowering himself down instead of stepping in front of the chair and squatting back. The move is said to have helped the 6'3" Frakes manage back pain he experienced during repeated takes on scenes where he had to sit down while filming The Next Generation. The move has become a signature and an occasional internet meme among Star Trek fans. During the Reddit AMA, Frakes shared some playfully unflattering thoughts about the "Riker Maneuver" and disclosed its origin.

"It happened by chance when we first used 10 Forward...the chairs were low enough to step in," Frakes wrote on Reddit. "....frankly it's kind of an asshole move ...but I'm glad it found life as a Meme."

Jonathan Frakes' Future as Riker

Frakes returned as Riker in Star Trek: Picard, and there's been a lot of talk among fans and those involved with that show concerning the possibility of a sequel series. Frakes previously shared his ideas for what role Riker might play in the so-called Star Trek: Legacy, should such a show ever be put into development.

"The Rikers' marriage is back on track," Frakes said. "In my mind, for the show to be able to move forward, Riker would have to be a captain and have his ship, or he would be promoted to admiral and be a liaison. I'm only half-kidding when I say it would be great for me if the show carries on and I'm like Charlie from Charlie's Angels. They'd have to come to my office one day a week for a meeting with Riker. That'd be perfect. Then I could direct a bunch of the episodes and be around the show. I suspect if it does go forward, it would be Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, and Ed Speleers, who's now in Starfleet, and Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who played Geordi's daughter. I would also imagine Lulu Wilson, who played the Rikers' daughter in season one and was so fabulous, could be a part of it. She could come back and maybe be in Starfleet."

He continued, "It feels to me like there's a real opportunity for three of the legacy characters' children to carry on and sort of be the next Star Trek: The Next Generation. It just feels like it's laid out there. It's the blueprint for the next phase."

Rather than a series, Frakes could return as Riker for a new movie starring the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. Patrick Stewart revealed recently that he expected to receive a script for such a project soon.

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard stream on Paramount+.