Summary
- Frakes anticipates a bright future for Star Trek with upcoming projects like Starfleet Academy and Section 31.
- Legacy spinoff still a possibility, but new showrunner Matalas working on Marvel's Vision could delay it.
- Frakes highlights success of existing series and movies as catalyst for future of Star Trek franchise.
Director Jonathan Frakes touts the "great shape" Star Trek is in as he looks to the franchise's future of new TV series and streaming movies, including the possibility of Star Trek: Picard's much-desired spinoff, Star Trek: Legacy. Frakes portrayed Captain William Riker in Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Lower Decks, but he is also one of the most prolific and beloved directors of the Star Trek on Paramount+ streaming franchise. Frakes has helmed numerous episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
IndieWire spoke to Jonathan Frakes about his most recent directing success, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 9, "Lagrange Point". Turning to the future of Star Trek, Frakes offered his optimistic take on Star Trek's upcoming projects, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Section 31, and the possibility of Star Trek: Legacy still happening down the road. Read his quote here:
“I certainly have hopes and thoughts. Updates? I don’t have, but I do know that the franchise is in great shape. I do know that this Starfleet Academy series is going to be an entirely different animal, and I think that the success of what I’m imagining, the success of Section 31, Michelle Yeoh’s movie, is only going to catapult us further into the future. And my hope, obviously, is that we’ll find a place then to continue the Legacy story.”
Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas was recently named as the new showrunner of Marvel Studios' Vision TV series on Disney+, which could further hamper Star Trek: Legacy happening in the near future.
What Is Jonathan Frakes' Star Trek Future?
Frakes is sticking with his home franchise
Jonathan Frakes is in demand as a director (and he still occasionally acts, taking a role in the 2023 Hallmark Channel film A Biltmore Christmas), but Star Trek will continue to benefit from Frakes' talent behind the camera. Jonathan directed an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, following up his smash hit comedic crossover between Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Lower Decks. Frakes told Screen Rant his further plans to direct for Star Trek:
I’m gonna keep going on Strange [New Worlds]. I was asked to come and do Starfleet Academy, but the [episode directing] slot conflicted with my son's wedding. So I'll come back, hopefully, for the second season [of] Academy.
Jonathan Frakes plans to return behind the camera for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, which is greenlit by Paramount+ for a planned Spring 2025 production start. Frakes also hopes to direct Star Trek: Starfleet Academy in season 2. In the meantime, Frakes was announced as a director of the sci-fi series Deathlands, although there has been no further update about that project. As for what else Star Trek's future holds, thankfully, Jonathan Frakes has no plans to exit the final frontier.
