Section 31 Breaks A Key Star Trek Movie Tradition After 46 Years (& It Won’t Be The Only Time)

Star Trek: Section 31 breaks away from a Star Trek movie tradition that began in 1979. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 premieres Friday, January 24, on Paramount+. Section 31 is the first Star Trek movie made for streaming, and it marks the return of Michelle Yeoh as her fan-favorite anti-heroine, Emperor Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery. With Section 31, Yeoh becomes the first woman to headline a Star Trek movie.

Before Star Trek: Section 31, there were 13 Star Trek movies, all of which were theatrically released. Starting with 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, every decade since has enjoyed at least one Star Trek movie. The first six Star Trek movies starred the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: The Next Generation then took over the movie franchise with four films. In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted Star Trek, setting new adventures of the USS Enterprise in the alternate Kelvin timeline. However, all 13 Star Trek movies had one big thing in common before Star Trek: Section 31: the Starship Enterprise.

Section 31 Is The First Star Trek Movie Not About The Starship Enterprise

Star Trek: Section 31 Has Nothing To Do With The Enterprise

Star Trek: Section 31 breaks one of the most prevalent Star Trek movie traditions by not being about a version of the Starship Enterprise and its crew. Billed as "a new flavor of Star Trek," Section 31 is a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery centering on Emperor Philippa Georgiou facing a new threat to the United Federation of Planets and the sins of her past as the despot of the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire. Georgiou was part of Section 31 in Star Trek: Discovery, but she is recruited into a new iteration of the black ops organization in Star Trek's 24th century "lost era."

It's unknown whether a version of the USS Enterprise will appear at any point in Star Trek: Section 31. If it does, it would either be the USS Enterprise-B first seen in Star Trek Generations or the USS Enterprise-C. Star Trek: Section 31 does have a direct connection to the Enterprise-C: Lieutenant Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) is destined to become Captain of the Enterprise-C. The tragic fate of Captain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neill) was seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation's classic episode "Yesterday's Enterprise," which happens decades after Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek’s Next Theatrical Movie Also Isn’t About The Enterprise

What We Know About The Untitled Star Trek Origin Prequel Movie

Star Trek has a new theatrical movie reportedly in development, but it also is not expected to be about the Starship Enterprise. Director Toby Haynes is helming a Star Trek Origin prequel movie written by Seth Grahame-Smith that is set "decades before" J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009). Further, this Star Trek prequel movie could be about the founding of the Federation and first encounters with new alien foes. This tentatively places the Untitled Star Trek Origin somewhere in the late 22nd century.

The USS Enterprise's canonical history has the Constitution Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701 seen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series built and launched in 2245. The 22nd century's NX-01 Enterprise seen in Star Trek: Enterprise isn't likely to be the focus of a new Star Trek movie. The Untitled Star Trek Origin will potentially be about new characters and new starships to free itself from canon (and possibly even retcon Star Trek history) to make it more palatable for general audiences.

When Will The Starship Enterprise Come Back In A Star Trek Movie?

Star Trek 4 Is Still In Development Hell

Star Trek Beyond was released in 2016, and it has now been 9 years since the Starship Enterprise warped on the big screen. Unfortunately, there is no end to Star Trek 4's development hell in sight. Several high-profile directors including Quentin Tarantino walked away from Star Trek 4 due to "creative differences." Although Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, and the rest of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie cast have expressed their desire to return, there has been no news since Steve Yockey was announced as the writer of a new Star Trek 4 script months ago.

Disappointingly, there won't be a new Star Trek movie about the USS Enterprise to help celebrate Star Trek's 60th anniversary in 2026. However, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 should premiere in 2026 to mark Star Trek's 6th decade with more voyages of the Starship Enterprise on Paramount+. Meanwhile, the hope is that Star Trek: Section 31 is a big enough streaming success that it not only spawns sequels, but more Star Trek streaming movies about other characters. Maybe one of those possible Star Trek streaming movies could be about the Starship Enterprise.