Section 31 Is Totally Different In DS9 Than In Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek Movie
Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh's upcoming Star Trek movie, Star Trek: Section 31, shows a version of Starfleet's covert ops division that's completely different from the Section 31 that was first introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Streaming on Paramount+ January 24, 2025, Star Trek: Section 31 features Yeoh returning as Star Trek: Discovery's Emperor Philippa Georgiou. In the made-for-streaming film, a first for Star Trek, Georgiou joins Section 31's cast of brand-new Star Trek characters in an operation that takes place during Star Trek's Lost Era between Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In a deconstruction of Star Trek's utopian future, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that Starfleet harbored its own secret intelligence agency on par with the Romulan Tal Shi'ar or Cardassian Obsidian Order: Section 31. Section 31's leader, Luther Sloan (William Sadler), covertly tested Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 18, "Inquisition", and deemed Bashir fit for Section 31's morally gray operations. Star Trek: DS9 season 7, episode 16, "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges", sees Sloan manipulate Bashir into a Section 31 plot, despite the idealistic Bashir denouncing Section 31's worst DS9 crimes.
Section 31 Is Completely Different In Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek Movie Than In DS9
What Happened Between Star Trek: Discovery And DS9 To Make Section 31 So Cool?
Star Trek: Section 31's trailer offers a look at a version of Section 31 that's completely different from the Section 31 that was introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Star Trek: Section 31's version of Starfleet's dirtiest secret operates with far less mystery than its 24th century counterpart. In DS9, Section 31 operates behind closed doors as an independent, almost mythological entity, which gives Starfleet brass plausible deniability regarding Section 31's less-than-savory missions. The movie's Section 31 team brazenly confirms their affiliation when Georgiou gleefully figures it out and curiously works under the supervision of a Starfleet representative.
In Star Trek prequels produced after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, like Star Trek: Enterprise and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness , depictions of Section 31 as a shadow division unknown to Starfleet were fairly consistent with DS9 .
The differences between Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine make sense, given its Lost Era setting. Like Star Trek's answer to DC's Suicide Squad, Star Trek: Section 31's team of anti-heroes becoming Starfleet's super-spies tracks with Star Trek: Discovery's Section 31 recruiting Georgiou and ex-Klingon spy Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif). They're going to need Starfleet oversight. As an elite squad, Section 31 could actually be much more of an open secret in Star Trek's 2330s, and evolve into a more familiar form in the decades leading up to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Will Michelle Yeoh’s Movie Reveal How Section 31 Turns Into DS9’s Version?
Section 31's Evolution Can Happen In The Streaming Sequels To Star Trek: Section 31
It's unlikely that Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 movie will reveal how the Lost Era's Section 31 turns into Sloan's in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Star Trek: Section 31 already has to introduce a cast of new characters, explain how Georgiou got involved with this team in this time period, and tell a compelling action story — all within a feature-length runtime. Instead, Star Trek: Section 31 will probably set up its own sequel, which could start exploring the ways that Section 31 has to change in order to keep doing its morally dubious, but ultimately necessary, spy work.
Star Trek: Section 31's trailer capitalizes on the qualities that made Georgiou a fan-favorite in Star Trek: Discovery. Glamorous destinations, fashionable costumes, and thrilling fight sequences are a great way to advertise Section 31 as a vehicle for Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou. There's almost certainly a deeper Star Trek story hiding behind Georgiou's ostentatious badassery in the trailer, so it's entirely appropriate for Star Trek: Section 31 to look more like Julian Bashir's James Bond-style holosuite adventures than the difficult Section 31 assignment Sloan actually forced Bashir to do in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
