Deep Space Nine sat parallel to The Next Generation and Voyager as an outlier in Star Trek's timeline, darker in tone and set on a fixed space station to offer something a little different. Nevertheless, the progression from The Original Series to The Next Generation to Voyager suggested Star Trek would always follow one main ship in each successive era. Even if shows like Deep Space Nine tried something different, Star Trek looked like it would forever be spearheaded by the adventures of a modern Starfleet vessel exploring the galaxy, continuing the line of succession from Enterprise to Enterprise-D to Voyager.
No Star Trek Project Since Voyager Has Starred A New Generation
Was Voyager Secretly The Last Generation?
Since Star Trek: Voyager ended 21 years ago, the number of onscreen releases under the Star Trek banner has exploded. Strangely, none of those releases have accepted the mantle from Voyager by pushing into the late 24th century or 25th century with a new crew to reveal what comes next in Star Trek history.
There appears to be far more interest in exploring the two extremities of the timeline than in simply casting a new crew.
J.J. Abrams took a sideways step by remaking The Original Series' era at the movies with a brand-new cast. That proved a wise decision, revitalizing Star Trek's fortunes on the big screen in the wake of Nemesis' failure. Star Trek's success in 2009 understandably heightened expectations that the next step would be a post-Voyager TV series set in the Prime Universe. Again, Star Trek had other ideas. Discovery repeated Enterprise's trick of looking to the past, awkwardly attempting to slot between Archer's prequel and The Original Series.
Eventually, that premise proved untenable and Star Trek: Discovery was forced to relocate into the future. Even then, however, the series refused to become Voyager's successor, and instead warped far, far ahead into the 32nd century to sit in total isolation from the rest of Star Trek. As the IP then expanded rapidly, there was still no room for a new generation. Star Trek: Picard was set at the right point in time, but functioned as an epilogue to the Enterprise-D crew, and also dropped the adventure-of-the-week format in favor of serialized mysteries.
Strange New Worlds continued to eke out as much material as possible from the gap before The Original Series, and as an animated comedy, Star Trek: Lower Decks existed firmly on the periphery of the franchise. The closest Star Trek has come to replacing Voyager is, tellingly, Star Trek: Prodigy, but by virtue of being a cartoon aimed at a younger audience, it could never become the next flagship series after Voyager.
The trend shows little sign of ending anytime soon. With a Star Trek origin movie in production and the Starfleet Academy TV show coexisting in the 32nd century alongside Discovery, there appears to be far more interest in exploring the two extremities of the timeline than in simply casting a new crew and resuming where Voyager left off.
Why Introducing A New Generation Of Star Trek Is Riskier Than The Current Shows
Times Have Changed Since The 1990s
Exactly why Star Trek dropped the straightforward notion of one cast picking up from the previous one and taking a shiny new Starfleet ship out into the Final Frontier is impossible to say. Regardless, it must be noted that in the modern era of streaming, nostalgia, reboots, and remakes, Star Trek's old format is a far bigger risk.
Inventing an all-new ship and casting a fresh ensemble that audiences will gradually learn to love week after week represents a major risk.
Since 2009, Star Trek's live-action output has rested firmly upon familiarity. For J.J. Abrams, that meant recasting the original crew led by Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to tell new stories (or rewrite old ones) with characters the audience already loved. Star Trek: Discovery may have introduced a new cast and a new ship, but the familiarity of the period allowed it to include icons like Spock and Pike too.
By the end of Star Trek: Picard, Patrick Stewart's solo project had essentially become The Next Generation season 8, and at this point, Strange New Worlds is just a temporal hiccup away from just remaking The Original Series. Everything Star Trek has produced over the past 15 years has been firmly rooted in what viewers already know, and while some great stories have emerged as a result, the lack of a real Voyager successor has become more and more obvious.
In the current arena of recycling things that were successful once upon a time, inventing an all-new ship and casting a fresh ensemble that audiences will gradually learn to love week after week represents a major risk. Especially when the alternatives are re-recasting Spock or phoning up Patrick Stewart.
Star Trek: Picard Set Up A New Generation Of Star Trek, But It Hasn't Happened Yet
Will Seven Of Nine's Enterprise-G Crew Return?
Star Trek: Picard season 3 was an unapologetic throwback to The Next Generation, but it also laid the foundations for Star Trek's next TV show in the same vein as The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Voyager. In a dramatic final battle, a new crew was formed on the Enterprise-G with Seven of Nine as the captain. Star Trek: Picard ended with the suggestion that this exciting, fledgling group of Starfleet officers would embark on many thrilling capers across the cosmos, perfectly teasing a future series.
Star Trek: Legacy would unquestionably become the fourth "original recipe" entry in the franchise.
