Star Trek: Strange New Worlds May Be Ending With Season 5, But The Showrunners Are "Very Interested" In Telling TOS-Era Stories

While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds may be coming to an end with season 5, the showrunners want to see the continuing adventures of the USS Enterprise. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is currently streaming on Paramount+, but it is already known that the show will end after its fifth installment.

The series follows Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the Enterprise years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. As Pike's fate is already known, the commission will eventually go to James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). The crew of TOS is being introduced a piece at a time, slowly inching towards the legacy show.

In an interview with ScreenRanti's Joe Deckelmeier, showrunners Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman were asked about the future of the crew of the Enterprise after Strange New Worlds ends, and if some TOS stories would be retold with the new cast. Myers was coy, not confirming anything. Goldsman notes that they are interested "in telling stories of Kirk's Enterprise that we might not yet know about."

ScreenRant: At Strange New Worlds season 3's premiere, you spoke about continuing the show into The Original Series era with Kirk and Spock. Is that feasible? When Strange New Worlds ends, are you going to go directly into TOS and retell stories with that original crew?

Henry Alonso Myers: We can neither confirm nor deny.

 

Akiva Goldsman: We are very interested in continuing to tell stories... I'm gonna keep trying to find a good quote here. We are very interested in telling stories of Kirk's Enterprise that we might not yet know about yet.

What This Means For The Future Of Star Trek

The TOS Crew Is Slowly Being Introduced

Strange New Worlds debuted with a few TOS characters already on the Enterprise, including Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), Cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), and Dr. M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), whose character was in two episodes of TOS. Since then, Lieutenant Kirk, and Lieutenant Junior Grade Scott (Martin Quinn) have been added.

A few TOS characters still need to be introduced, including Dr. McCoy, Hikaru Sulu, and Pavel Chekov. While Chekov was not introduced until TOS season 2, he refers to being present at events from season 1 in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

When TOS began in 1966, the Enterprise was on its five-year mission. The series drops viewers into the middle of the action in season 1, episode 1, "The Man Trap." This is clearly not the first mission under Captain Kirk, so if the new cast were to continue into a new series, they would have room to do so before the events of TOS' first episode.

Our Take On Another Potential Show

It Would Be Perfect For The 60th Anniversary

Strange New Worlds takes most of its inspiration from TOS and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Given that it follows a familiar formula, continuing the story with the new cast is an exciting idea. The legacy characters are beloved, but as audiences are slowly introduced to the new cast incrementally, it allows viewers to acclimate to them.

Star Trek's 60th anniversary will take place next year in 2026. This would be the perfect time to announce that after Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the franchise is going back to its roots and telling stories with one of the most iconic ensembles ever put together on television.