An upcoming episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will feature a crossover with the live-action show and the Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series, but it won't be like the popular movie Roger Rabbit. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the live-action prequel to the original Star Trek and follows the crew of the USS Enterprise led by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). The upcoming crossover episode will feature Star Trek: Lower Decks characters Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimier (Jack Quaid) moving from animation to live-action.

In a recent interview with Trek Movie, Star Trek: New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover episode director Jonathan Frakes revealed that the episode wouldn't be like the iconic Disney animated/live-action crossover film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The Star Trek: The Next Generation star also described his experience working with Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome as an amazing experience. Frakes added that the episode is a flat-out comedy, and it features the characters in animation only at the beginning and the end but not throughout the episode. Check out Frakes' full comments on the crossover episode below.

"Oh god, it’s so good. I have Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome, who are both amazing. It was such a treat for me because it is a flat-out comedy. Full on. And they’re fearless over there, they take some really big swings on Strange New Worlds. They’re animated at the beginning and at the end. It’s a clever and simple product. It’s not really Roger Rabbit because what happens is these guys come over and they’re humans and you accept them as soon as they’re on the Enterprise. God, the two of them have got great energy, and it freed up the acting company on Strange New Worlds to play more broadly."
Star Trek Is Having A Renaissance On TV


Much like Star Wars, the Star Trek franchise has experienced a great deal of success on the television and streaming medium in previous years. The last theatrical Star Trek release was 2016's Star Trek Beyond. The JJ Abrams-produced trilogy of Star Trek films concluded with the 2016 entry with an uncertain future for additional movies, but over the last seven years, the home of Star Trek has been on the Paramount+ streaming service. New adventure series have been released, both in animation and live-action, and the shows' positive reception is part of the reason for the hype behind the highly-anticipated crossover episode in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

CBS's slate of Star Trek content on television and streaming kicked off with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017. The show aired on CBS and CBS All-Access before shifting over the Paramount+ in 2021. Another addition was Star Trek: Picard featuring Patrick Stewart as an older Admiral Jean-Luc Picard which will be entering its final season next month. The third live-action series is Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and it's also the highest-rated show by both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The popular movie review site currently lists the show with a 99% average Tomatometer and an 80% average audience score.

The success of the Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy animated series have only added to the diversity of the franchise's storytelling. Their use of animated series to welcome new characters into the fold with plans of bringing them into the live-action story is also akin to what Star Wars has successfully done with Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Both franchises have realized that the better way to tell these long, fleshed-out stories is oftentimes through streaming, where more time is allotted to the creators to tell a satisfying and wide-branching story. Star Trek: Strange Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks crossover is the culmination of a successful streaming plan which continues to enrich the Star Trek universe.