‘Star Trek: Year One’ Would “Fill The Gap” Of Untold Stories Of Kirk’s Enterprise, EPs To Pitch To Skydance

Since the fifth and final season of Strange New Worlds was announced, the showrunners have been hyping their idea for a spin-off set on Kirk’s Enterprise starring Paul Wesley as Captain James T. Kirk. We’ve already reported that on stage at San Diego Comic-Con, executive producer Akiva Goldsman revealed “Star Trek: Year One” as the title for this follow-up show. And he, his co-showrunner and executive producer Henry Alonso Myers, along with potential series star Paul Wesley and members of SNW cast have had more to say about Star Trek: Year One.

Filling the gap

After using some of his stage time to hype “Year One,” executive producer Akiva Goldsman clarified with The Hollywood Reporter that his wish for a follow-up show to Strange New Worlds is so far only that:

“Let me just be very clear, it doesn’t exist. It’s an aspiration. It’s a hope on our part to be able to continue telling stories that would kiss the end of Strange New Worlds.“

That said, it’s clear that he has put thought into what the show would be:

“Strange New Worlds ends on Jim Kirk’s first day of work as captain of the Enterprise. And if we call ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ the second pilot, there’s space and time and relationships and crew that exist, that have been untold. The untold stories of Kirk’s enterprise. So that’s where we would love to situate the show, not really trying to drive into the continuity that we’ve seen, but in that gap between.”

 

Henry Alonso Myers backed his co-showrunner up, saying “Our approach to that, like Star Trek, is full of hope.”

Wesley is ready for his closeup

Paul Wesley knows what its like to star in a high profile TV show, coming to Strange New Worlds from his time in The Vampire Diaries, which ran for 8 seasons on the CW and itself spawned a couple of spin-offs. Speaking to TV Insider, the actor said he has told the showrunners he is up for more Trek:

“It’s not up to me, but I have expressed my desire, probably all too often, to the showrunners and whomever else asks. I would love nothing more than to do a Kirk series along with our beloved characters in TOS and introduce the characters that we have yet to introduce in TOS, Chekov and Sulu, and, I mean, you name it. And I think it would be fantastic.”

The actor also echoed what Goldsman has said about filling the gap:

“The end of Strange New Worlds and then the beginning, which is the first episode of TOS where we meet Kirk, which is ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before,’ there’s a chunk of time in between there. So you have Kirk at the helm in episodes that we have yet to see.”

Transitioning the SNW crew

Interestingly, actress Rebecca Romijn chimed in during the “Year One” talk during the THR interview, expressing her enthusiasm for the show:

“We would like to not strike the sets. We love our sets so much. And we have most of the people… We have everyone very willing and able and eager.”

Romijn’s character of Number One (named Una Chin-Riley in Strange New Worlds) only appears in “The Cage” (set before the events of Strange New Worlds). There is no established canon regarding her fate during Kirk’s famed five-year mission, but Romijn’s enthusiasm indicates she sees herself as part of “Year One” as well. In a sperate interview with IGN, both Rebecca Romijn and Christina Chong (La’an) confirmed they have talked to the showrunners about what happens to their characters at the end of Strange New Worlds.

And we may have an answer as to how characters that don’t appear in TOS would have a role this potential series from a comment Henry Alonso Myers gave EW at SDCC:

“Nothing would make us happier than to be able to continue telling the stories of how Pike’s crew transitions to Kirk’s crew and how Kirk’s crew sets off. Obviously, when we come into TOS it’s not the first day of the job…. Fundamentally, there are relationships that already exist. How did they happen? And, obviously, we have the opportunity for Sulu, and we have the opportunity for McCoy in a longer life, and opportunity for Chekov. So it would be awesome to be able to continue.”

Waiting for Skydance

On stage at SDCC, Goldsman implored fans to support the “Year One” idea, even asking them to send messages to Skydance Media, set to take over Paramount Global this week. In the THR interview, the co-showrunners admitted they are eager to pitch their spin-off series, but Akiva made it clear they are waiting for the new owners takeover:

“We will beg and borrow when Skydance comes in to see whether we can do it.”

That time could be soon. Incoming CEO David Ellison takes over Paramount on Thursday, and he has already announced his new management team, including a new head of streaming to oversee Paramount+, Cindy Holland, who used to head up scripted TV for Netflix.

What about the sets?

In that same THR interview at SDCC, Henry Alonso Myers chimed in about the pitch to Skydance, noting the selling benefit “We have the technology!” Previously, he and Goldsman have talked about how they do already have the USS Enterprise sets up at CBS Stages in Canada. And this could be a key point, as filming on the six-episode fifth and final season starts next month, and could wrap up by the end of the year. So the fate of those sets is a key question.

The last time a Star Trek showrunner pitched a follow-up series was when Picard’s Terry Matalas wanted to carry on the story of the USS Enterprise-G with his “Star Trek: Legacy” concept, which would star Jeri Ryan as Captain Seven. Even after a fan campaign Paramount didn’t move forward on it (although Alex Kurtzman has left the door open for he future), leading to Matalas’ exit to be the showrunner of Marvel’s upcoming Vision TV series.

One wrinkle regarding “Legacy” is that when Picard season 3 wrapped, all the sets for the USS Titan (which became the USS Enterprise-G in the series finale) were destroyed. Those Picard sets were elaborate and expensive, adding to the potential cost of starting up again. It could be that Goldsman and Myers are hoping all this talk about those sets will convince the new management at Paramount to at least preserve their USS Enterprise to maximize future options.