Star Trek: Section 31 is the first Star Trek streaming movie, and, given its critical and audience reception, it could also be the last. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 is Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh's comeback as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Yeoh's former Star Trek: Discovery anti-heroine teams up with a new team of Section 31 operatives to stop a plot to destroy the United Federation of Planets.
Section 31 was originally planned as a TV series spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery. Michelle Yeoh had a recurring role on Star Trek: Discovery, and Emperor Georgiou was written out of the show in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 to bridge into Section 31. Several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Yeoh's Best Actress Oscar win for Everything Everywhere All At Once made Paramount+ pivot, turning Section 31 into a made-for-streaming movie.
There were hopes Star Trek: Section 31 would launch a new Star Trek on Paramount+ movie franchise, but Section 31's woeful performance among critics and fans may have dashed them.
Section 31's Reception May Kill Star Trek Streaming Movies
Section 31 Ties A Star Trek Movie Low
Star Trek: Section 31 was not well-received by critics or audiences. Star Trek: Section 31 has a 23% Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, although this has ticked up from the 18% low it garnered earlier in its premiere weekend. Section 31's Rotten Tomatoes score now ties the lowest Star Trek movie Rotten score belonging to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Reviews overall were not kind to Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek streaming movie.
Perhaps even more damning is Star Trek: Section 31's 17% Popcornmeter audience score, which is abysmally low and reflects the general online consensus of the film, especially among hardcore Star Trek fans. Even Star Trek V: The Final Frontier's 25% audience score skews higher than Star Trek: Section 31. While Section 31 does have fans who appreciate its attempt to bring a Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy vibe to the Star Trek universe, the overall consensus pans the first Star Trek streaming movie.
A Star Trek: Section 31 sequel now seems unlikely.
In Star Trek: Section 31's defense, it was the #2 movie streaming on Paramount+ for the weekend of January 25 & 26, right behind Gladiator II. Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek movie is being watched, and perhaps even appreciated beyond the online and critical reaction. Yet such a vitriolic response from both critics and the Star Trek fandom is not the welcome for Section 31 that Star Trek on Paramount+ hoped for. A Star Trek: Section 31 sequel now seems unlikely, but the real concern is the future of other Star Trek streaming movies.
Can Star Trek: Legacy Happen After Section 31?
It's Hard To See How Star Trek: Legacy Can Happen Now
As beloved as Michelle Yeoh is, Star Trek: Section 31 was never the new Star Trek project hoped for by the Trekker faithful. The number one desire for Star Trek fans is Star Trek: Legacy, the proposed continuation of Star Trek: Picard season 3 about the USS Enterprise-G led by Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Paramount+ has not attempted to deliver on fans' hopes for Star Trek: Legacy as a TV series, and Star Trek: Section 31 could now make Star Trek: Legacy even less likely.
If Star Trek: Legacy couldn't become an ongoing TV series, then a streaming movie would be welcomed as the next best thing. There was speculation and hope that if Star Trek: Section 31 was a success, then it could mean Star Trek: Legacy may become viable as a streaming movie. However, if Star Trek: Section 31 becomes the death knell for Star Trek streaming movies, then the possibility of Star Trek: Legacy dissipates. In Paramount+'s defense, however, they have never indicated Star Trek: Legacy would be a TV series or a streaming movie.
Why Section 31's Reviews Are So Bad
Section 31 Is One Of The Lowest Rated Star Trek Movies Ever
Star Trek: Section 31 was billed as "a new flavor of Star Trek," indicating a departure from the usual tropes of an outer space adventure about a Starfleet ship and crew. Section 31 is the first Star Trek movie not about the Starship Enterprise in any capacity. Instead, Michelle Yeoh's Emperor Georgiou is surrounded by a new cast of characters and Section 31 leans heavily into Georgiou's past sins as the Emperor of the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire. The result is a very different Star Trek movie that, unfortunately, isn't very Star Trek at all.
The consensus about Star Trek: Section 31 is that while it can be a fun sci-fi flick with a likable cast, Section 31 is just a generic action movie. Section 31 lacks the moral quandaries that the best Star Trek stories explore, preferring to pay off with fist-fights and explosions. Even those who favor Star Trek: Section 31 agree Michelle Yeoh deserves a better and more memorable comeback as Emperor Georgiou. Worse, if there's no Section 31 sequel, it leaves Georgiou in limbo because Section 31's early 24th-century timeframe has no easy connections to the rest of Star Trek's canon.
Star Trek Needs More Streaming Movies
Many Star Trek Characters Could Use Streaming Movie Continuations
The potential for Star Trek streaming movies goes far beyond a Section 31 sequel. With multiple Star Trek on Paramount+ series now over, streaming movies could be a lifeline to continuing the stories of many beloved Star Trek characters. Besides Star Trek: Legacy, a Star Trek: Lower Decks streaming animated (or live-action) movie could follow up the intriguing multiverse setup by Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5's finale. Missing characters from Star Trek: Discovery like Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) or Star Trek: Picard's Soji (Isa Briones), Elnor (Evan Evagora), and the Agnes Jurati Borg Queen (Allison Pill) could also reappear in Star Trek streaming movies.
Star Trek streaming movies are a question mark after Star Trek: Section 31.
