3 Attachment(s)
Star Trek Has TWO Secret TV Shows: Here’s What We Think They Are
The Star Trek expansion shows no sign of slowing down - here's what we think Alex Kurtzman's 2 mystery live-action TV shows are. For better or worse, it's a busy time to be a Star Trek fan right now. Star Trek: Picard begins later this month, with Patrick Stewart reprising his role as the legendary captain, and that's swiftly followed by season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery. Production on a Section 31 spinoff series is currently underway, while there are also 2 animated series in the pipeline - Lower Decks and a co-venture with Nickelodeon.
One might think that's more than enough Star Trek to be getting on with over the next few years, but CBS have their All Access streaming service to fill with content, and Gene Roddenberry's iconic science fiction property is their premier franchise. Paramount and its subsidiaries are making concerted efforts to sell Trek to a wider audience via multiple platforms, trying to capitalize on the franchise's popularity to grow the brand globally. To these ends, Star Trek's executive producer, Alex Kurtzman, has revealed an additional 2, previously unannounced, live-action Star Trek TV shows are on the way. Although there's no official confirmation yet as to what these projects could be, here are our predictions.
Christopher Pike's Enterprise
Star Trek: Discovery season 2 made the bold move of introducing the pre-Kirk Enterprise crew, starring Anson Mount as Christopher Pike and Ethan Peck as Spock. Although the addition was a ballsy one, the risk paid off, and fans generally enjoyed this new iteration of the Enterprise crew. The end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2 sees the titular ship and their Enterprise friends part ways but, given Pike and co.'s popularity, there was clearly room for a spinoff. Now that 2 further live-action Star Trek shows are incoming, an Enterprise spinoff is a shoo-in to be one of the mystery projects.
Kurtzman and various others have already teased further adventures for Pike's Enterprise. The crew has appeared in recent Short Trek offerings, but the popularity of these characters perhaps demands more. Back in April, Kurtzman claimed in a THR interview, "I would love to bring back that crew [the new Enterprise lot] more than anything." Several months later, the producer went on to tell Deadline he was actively thinking of a way to bring back Pike, Spock and the rest, but confirmed this was unlikely to happen on Star Trek: Discovery. Meanwhile, both Mount and Peck have expressed an interest in reprising their characters for a full spinoff series. Given the obvious, publicly declared interest of everyone involved, it would be a huge surprise if one of the 2 new mystery Star Trek projects didn't involve Discovery's Enterprise crew.
The Wildcard - Klingons, Seven Of Nine & The Mirror Universe
Pinning down Kurtzman's other unannounced Star Trek series is considerably more difficult. Frankly, fans wouldn't have ever expected this many shows simultaneously; the fact Star Trek's counter is now nudging double digits is surprising enough. Nevertheless, there are several potential spinoff routes that might prove worthy. Aside from the Enterprise crew, the Discovery also left behind their former security officer, Ash Tyler, who was eventually appointed the head of Section 31. The storyline between Ash and his Klingon lover, L'Rell, remains somewhat unfinished, with Klingon unity still a contentious issue. Unresolved as this plot point may be, Ash might be better suited to the Section 31 spinoff than his own separate series.
Another option would be a Seven of Nine solo offering. Jeri Ryan's character is making a highly-anticipated return in Star Trek: Picard, and the rehabilitated Borg is certainly popular enough to front her own show. With her role in Picard looking to be a limited one, the response to Ryan's return might've been enough to inspire the birth of a whole new show.
Perhaps the most intriguing idea, however, would be a Star Trek spinoff solely focused on the Mirror Universe. With Picard, Discovery, Section 31 and a Pike & Spock series, there's a lot of timeline bases covered, while delving way back into the past didn't work out well for Star Trek: Enterprise. A spinoff set in Star Trek's mirror universe would not only dodge the pitfalls of trying to maintain perfect continuity, but it would bring something completely fresh to the franchise. Star Trek: Discovery has already introduced the modern Mirror world, and could even engineer a return for Jason Isaacs as Lorca to front the project.
Star Trek: Picard premieres January 23rd on CBS All Access.
