Star Trek: Lower Decks wrapped its fourth season on Thursday with an episode that brought back some familiar characters and pushed the beloved series protagonists serving on the lower decks of the U.S.S. Cerritos into new places. The episode also featured some cinematic action and a grander tone appropriate for a finale and perhaps more. In the past, the biggest Star Trek shows jumped from television to film. Star Trek: The Original Series did it, with Star Trek: The Next Generation doing the same. Now Paramount+ is plotting new straight-to-streaming Star Trek movies, the first being Star Trek: Section 31 with Michelle Yeoh. ComicBook.com asked Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan if he had an idea for what a Star Trek: Lower Decks movie could look like. It turns out that he has multiple ideas spanning animation and live-action, as well as characters beyond those in Lower Decks.

"I have an idea for an animated Lower Decks movie," McMahan tells ComicBook.com. "I have ideas for live-action Lower Decks movies. And I have ideas for brand new, totally original Star Trek movies that don't tie into anything we've seen before. I think Star Trek is an amazing genre to think about. I love the idea of not micro but small-budget Star Trek movies, where you get the bigness of a movie set, but you get to tell a Star Trek story that drives across a moment instead of a thing that has to be dealt with, like a Khan."

He continues, "I think there are cool ways to make Star Trek movies that aren't quite like the Marvel system and aren't quite like DC or the superheroes in general, but I would love a world where there's going to be Star Trek movies all the time, and when you go, you don't know which crew it's going to be about or if it's going to be a comedy or suspense or a drama. I loved Captain America: The Winter Soldier, that it went from the first one [Captain America: The First Avenger] being a period piece superhero movie to being a spy thriller. I think there are ways to make Star Trek movies like that so that when you go, you don't know what you're going to get, you just know that you trust seeing that Starfleet Delta and that you're going to get a cool movie within that genre."

One might think that Paramount+'s first Star Trek movie project being about Section 31, a morally gray spy unit working largely independently of Starfleet's chain of command, is a step in that direction. McMahan would agree.

"Yes, and I am a big fan of Craig [Sweeny, writer] and everybody with Section 31," McMahan says. "I think it's going to be awesome. And I'm Mr. More when it comes to Star Trek. I want to see Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which sounds awesome. I want to see more Prodigy. I want to see more movies. More, more and more like, let's go."

ComicBook.com also spoke to McMahan more in-depth about the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 finale and what it means for the show's future. Here's what he had to say:

Star Trek: Lower Decks Creator Mike McMahan on the Season 4 finale

ComicBook.com: At what point did Mariner's backstory firm up in your mind? Was this always the plan? Because it feels like an explanation for her attitude towards taking responsibility in Starfleet could have gone several different ways. How did you end up landing here?

Mike McMahan: I knew for a long time that Mariner was affected by her time in the Dominion War. There's a lot of earlier hints about that in the series. I always wanted to tie her to that original "Lower Decks" foursome, because it fits into the timeline. I held back for a really long time partially because part of me doesn't want to tell people why Mariner or any character is behaving the way they are. I just think there's a chance that you're jumping the shark at that, and I also wasn't sure if tying Mariner directly to a character from a previous episode would be too distracting or too specific. And oftentimes, I'm too cautious with stuff like, "When can I bring T'Lyn in?" or "When can I promote them?" And I'm really, really careful.

This is such an important show to me, and this is such an important franchise to me, that I tend to maybe be too careful. Part of it is I want people to love watching Lower Decks. I don't want to make people feel like they don't know what's going on. A lot of the time, with the legacy stuff, I am waiting until I can find a way where if somebody has never seen the stuff I'm referring to, it doesn't matter because they still get it. Locarno is a bad guy from the past, Sito was an old friend, things that if you know it all, you'll know it. If you don't know it all, it's fine, or maybe it'll inspire you to go watch more Star Trek, which is even better.

But this season being about Mariner gets promoted, but Ransom won't let her get demoted -- there's that episode earlier on where he is like, "I know what you're up to. I'm going to support you unconditionally" -- that creates Mariner's story arc this season, that she can't do the pressure release that she usually does. And then when she's in that cave with that Klingon in a fight-to-the-death rain delay and she knows she can talk about stuff that will never get out because Ma'ah will die or she will die, it's kind of a win-win for her. That's the first time she's able to communicate honestly about something because she is in a space, weirdly a Klingon therapeutic space, where she can speak about it. It's so painful. That felt earned to me. That felt like a thing where I'm like, "This feels honest, this feels good," and that's when I let myself do that stuff.

I understand that it's not the same thing as what you're talking about, but it's also a little funny to hear you say you're too careful about things after giving us the "Naked Time" orgy scene a couple of seasons ago. I get it, but it's funny.

Well, it's funny too because it's a two-second thing that makes total sense within the world of the show. And I don't think of Star Trek as being a Puritan thing. I think of Star Trek as being human. It's funny. I wasn't the one who put that kind of stuff into Star Trek. But also at the same time, I want to make a show that makes you laugh. That makes you go, "God, that was fun." Or like, "Oh, I've never seen that before." I'm incredibly careful about canon stuff, and I'm a little less careful about, "Is this going to make you laugh out loud? Will this make you love this? Is this something you haven't seen in Star Trek before?" It doesn't have to be a history book. This is a whole different genre for Star Trek. And I am dancing between all the classic Trek and something totally new for Trek, and it just has to be a funny show on its own.

This finale ends up forming this third chapter of what is now a trilogy of episodes that started with "The First Duty" and then the original "Lower Decks" episode. Now we have this "Locarno trilogy" or whatever fans might want to call it. Was that on your mind, this larger franchise meta-story, or was your focus entirely on your characters?

No, I mean, it's a Nicholas Meyer Wrath of Khan. I was trying to make it very clear that Star Trek does this really well, and it did it once with features after an episode hadn't aired for a really long time. Now this is what Star Trek can do animated. You see that people a lot of the time are like, "Oh, animation is good for Star Trek because you can see more squiggly arms on aliens, or go to more places." But another power of it is it is this kind of magic of doing what Star Trek does best and saying that these one-off characters could, possibly, show up again.

You mentioned that Mariner goes through a lot this season. She comes to terms with a lot of things. I know you are deep into Star Trek: Lower Decks Season Five at this point. I know you probably don't want to say too much, but how different should fans expect her to be going forward now that she's resolved a lot of things?

Mariner hasn't resolved anything, but she's been unburdened by them. I think it's important to say that mental health isn't something you solve, it's something that you take care of and that you are aware of, and that communication and there not being a stigma about it and things that you carry don't necessarily have to be heavy. There is a possibility to diffuse them. Going forward, Mariner is Mariner. Mariner is a funny, loving, chaos-creating, sci-fi badass, who is just a little less burdened by the things that she was carrying before. I find, because I'm done writing season five, the Mariner in Season 5 is the Mariner that I love from Seasons 1 through 4, just happier.

As you said, this episode is very Wrath of Khan, including the ships hiding in the clouds sequence. Considering you had done those "Crisis Point" episodes that lovingly made fun of the Star Trek movies, was there any worry going into this about, "How do we get the audience to take us seriously now after we had so much fun taking the piss out of the Star Trek movies?"

No, because even when we're taking the piss out of the Star Trek movies, it's clear we love it and we're doing a cool movie. A lot of it is the framing and the stakes and the music a lot of the time. Something Lower Decks does well in my opinion is makes you laugh and then immediately pivot to real stakes. That's a skill of ours that is partially the performances, the editing, the music, but I'm never worried we're not going to make a moment land because my directors and everybody, they know the score, they know what we're up to and we can pivot like that.

A lot of this episode is about Mariner, but Boimler also gets his big moment in this episode when he gets to captain for the first time, which is interesting because, in one of the earlier interviews I did with Jack Quaid, I asked him about Boimler potentially becoming Captain. He's said something like, "I know he wants it, but I don't know if he actually wants it." Is this a reaffirmation that maybe he really does want it and will be good at it? What made this the right time and what does it mean for him now?

What spoke to me about that moment was that it ties directly to that Redshirts episode in a previous season where, in this moment, Boimler was trusted by Ransom and the Captain to get this done. And what I think is interesting is, people love that they see him in the chair because they believe in Boimler too. But what being a Captain is about isn't about sitting in a chair in the middle of a bridge during a high-stakes moment. Freeman is being the captain there. Freeman is putting herself in danger, flying through a fireball. Boimler is being trusted and he's in that chair, and it's great. But being a captain is more than just that moment, and moving forward, Boimler's now had a taste of the epic part of being a Captain, but you have to earn being a Captain in a lot of different ways, and the thrill of that does not take him across the finish line yet with where we're going.

I have time for one more question. Since I didn't get a chance to ask you about this towards the beginning of the season. I'm going to roll it back to the premiere to have you weigh in on one of Star Trek's biggest controversies: Did Janeway do Tuvix wrong?

Janeway didn't only do Tuvix right, she also did us right. Although, I don't know if she did him right, but look, listen, she's not in the Alpha Quadrant. She's surviving, and she's doing what she has to with the resources that she has. Now, did Tuvix beg for his life, and she still murdered him? Yeah, that was pretty rough. But you know what, dude? Did anybody, did any of us really want more Tuvix? I was relieved. I did not want to watch another five seasons of Tuvix. I didn't want to lose Tuvok for that. I think people are still allowed to argue about the ethics of Janeway's decision, which is fine. Sometimes things are not black and white. Sometimes you're allowed to do the right thing, but it not be good. Sometimes you can do everything right and still not win. But ultimately, I'm glad we didn't have to watch Tuvix again. What a sigh of relief that he wasn't in the next episode, Tuvixing it up.

That is the 100% correct answer. Thank you.

[Laughs] Of course.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Cast

Star Trek: Lower Decks stars "lower decks" crewmembers of the U.S.S. Cerritos Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (No?l Wells), and Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Provisional Ensign T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) joined the crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3. The U.S.S. Cerritos' bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), and Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman).

Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) created Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, "an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves - all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

How to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

CBS' Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. Secret Hideout's Alex Kurtzman, Roddenberry Entertainment's Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, and Katie Krentz (219 Productions) are executive producers with showrunner Mike McMahan. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) also serves as an executive producer. Titmouse (Big Mouth) serves as the animation studio for the series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, Star Trek: Lower Decks airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Lower Decks will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.

Nick Locarno was a Starfleet cadet who led Nova Squadron, a distinguished group of pilots at Starfleet Academy. Locarno wanted to finish his time at Starfleet Academy with a bang and decided he'd accomplish that by having Nova Squadron perform a banned flight maneuver during the commencement ceremony. Wesley was at the academy and a member of the academy at the time, and he went along with the plan. The flashback in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4's finale shows how Locarno managed to convince Wesley to go along with the idea by pushing at Wesley's desire to earn Captain Jean-Luc Picard's approval. That makes it all the more ironic that Wesley lying about the incident after one of the Nova Squadron pilots died while attempting the maneuver earned him the sternest talking to he'd ever received from Picard.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Is Now Even More a Star Trek: The Next Generation Sequel Than Ever

The Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 finale even more firmly ties Star Trek: Lower Decks to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lower Decks has always been a successor to Next Generation and its spinoffs, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager, both in terms of chronological Star Trek timeline and in spirit. However, "Old Friends, New Planets" feels like the third chapter of a trilogy with "The First Duty" and the original TNG "Lower Decks" episode.

That's because of the relationship between Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill, who also returns as a special guest star in this episode of Lower Decks). Sito was also a member of the Nova Squadron during "The First Duty." The character returned in the Next Generation episode "Lower Decks," the namesake and inspiration for Star Trek: Lower Decks, as an ensign serving aboard the Enterprise. As a Bajoran, Sito was chosen for an undercover mission to return a Cardassian defector to Cardassian territory. She never returned and has been presumed dead.

Mariner, a first-year at Starfleet Academy at the time of the Nova Squadron incident, considered Sito a friend and looked up to her as a mentor, which viewers get a glimpse of in this week's flashback. The past two Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes reveal that Sito's loss and the trauma of serving during the Dominion War made Mariner fear command, associating it with having to order her friends to their deaths, as Sito was ordered to hers. A heart-to-heart with a Klingon in last week's episode set her straight and made her realize that she owes it to Sito to live up to her memory and her potential. She's willing and eager to sabotage Locarno's grand designs, and she does.

With Season 4 of Star Trek: Lower Decks coming to an end today with the episode "Old Friends, New Planets", Funko has finally launched the first wave of Pop figures inspired by the animated series. The wave includes Pops of Badgey, Beckett, Bradward Boilmer, D'Vana Tendi, and Samanthan Rutherford, and pre-orders can be found via the links below.

• Star Trek Lower Decks - Badgey - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Trek Lower Decks - Beckett Mariner - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Trek Lower Decks - Bradward - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Trek Lower Decks - D'Vana - See at Entertainment Earth
• Star Trek Lower Decks - Samanthan - See at Entertainment Earth
• See Star Trek Lower Deck Funko Pops on Amazon

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Cast

Star Trek: Lower Decks stars "lower decks" crewmembers of the U.S.S. Cerritos Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (No?l Wells), and Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Provisional Ensign T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) joined the crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3. The U.S.S. Cerritos' bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), and Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman).

Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) created Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, "an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves - all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

How to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

CBS' Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. Secret Hideout's Alex Kurtzman, Roddenberry Entertainment's Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, and Katie Krentz (219 Productions) are executive producers with showrunner Mike McMahan. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) also serves as an executive producer. Titmouse (Big Mouth) serves as the animation studio for the series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, Star Trek: Lower Decks airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Lower Decks will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 comes to an end this week. Paramount+ is being even more secretive about the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 finale than it was about last week's episode, which brought back Star Trek: Voyager star Robert Duncan McNeill as Nick Lorcano, his character from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty." Paramount+ hasn't released the finale's title or synopsis and has only released three preview images from the episode. One of those images shows Lieutenant Junior Grade Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) with Locarno after he abducted her at the end of last week's episode. The others show Mariner's crewmates aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos, lower deckers -- Lieutenant Junior Grade Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Lieutenant Junior Grade D'Vana Tendi (No?l Wells), Lieutenant Junior Grade Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), provisional Lieutenant Junior Grade T'Lyn -- and senior officers Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), Lt. Commander Andy Billups (Paul Scheer), Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman). -- assembled on the ship's bridge. You can see all of the episode's preview images below.

As mentioned, the title and synopsis of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 10 is still unknown. Along with that, we do not know who directed or wrote the episode.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Cast

Star Trek: Lower Decks stars "lower decks" crewmembers of the U.S.S. Cerritos Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (No?l Wells), and Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Provisional Ensign T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) joined the crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3. The U.S.S. Cerritos' bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), and Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman).

Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) created Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, "an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves - all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

How to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

CBS' Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. Secret Hideout's Alex Kurtzman, Roddenberry Entertainment's Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, and Katie Krentz (219 Productions) are executive producers with showrunner Mike McMahan. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) also serves as an executive producer. Titmouse (Big Mouth) serves as the animation studio for the series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, Star Trek: Lower Decks airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Lower Decks will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.

The penultimate episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, titled "The Inner Fight," featured the return of a Star Trek: Voyager actor reprising a role other than the one for which they're best known. SPOILERS follow for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 9, "The Inner Fight." Robert Duncan McNeill is well known to Star Trek: Voyager fans for playing Tom Paris, the helmsman aboard the U.S.S. Voyager during that vessel's storied journey through the Delta Quadrant. He reprised the role in voiceover for the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 episode "We'll Always Have Tom Paris," but he's reprising another character in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4.

McNeill voices Nick Locarno in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "The Inner Fight." McNeill first played Locarno in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty."

Who Is Nick Locarno in Star Trek: Lower Decks?

Locarno was a Starfleet cadet who led the distinguished Nova Squadron. He convinced the squadron to attempt a banned flight maneuver for the academy's graduation ceremony, which led to the death of one of their squad mates. Locarno lied to cover up his role in the fatal accident and pressured the other Nova Squadron members, including Wesley Crusher, to back his story. Eventually, Captain Jean-Luc Picard figured out what was happening and commanded Wesley to tell the truth, lest the captain do it for him. Once Wesley broke ranks, Locarno took full responsibility for Nova Squadron performing the banned maneuver. His impassioned plea saved his surviving squad mates from facing expulsion from Starfleet Academy, as he did.

Star Trek: Voyager's creators cast McNeill as Tom Paris because they wanted a character like Locarno to undergo a redemptive arc early in the series. They thought of bringing Locarno back but ultimately felt Locarno was an irredeemable character, selfish to the core, and altered McNeill's character to become the Tom Paris that Voyager fans know and love.

What's Locarno's history with Beckett Mariner?

"The Inner Fight" reveals that Beckett Mariner knew Locarno at the academy. She was closer to Sito Jaxa, a member of Nova Squadron who appeared in "The First Duty" and returned in a later Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Lower Decks," which gave Star Trek: Lower Decks its name and focus. Sito is presumed dead at the end of "Lower Decks" after she, a Bajoran, is sent undercover to return a defector to Cardassian territory.

Locarno and Mariner are reunited at the end of "The Inner Fight" after Locarno abducts her. It's unclear what his plans for Mariner are.

Locarno is the Person Behind the Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Mystery

At about the same time that Locarno abducts Mariner, Capt. Carol Freeman and other members of the U.S.S. Cerritos crew discover that Locarno is involved with a series of attacks on various ships throughout the galaxy using a mysterious spacecraft. ComicBook.com asked Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan about this season-long mystery in a previous interview.

"I wanted there to be a breadcrumb trail of something that led to a really cool season finale," McMahan said. "I think that's a fun thing, on a rewatch especially, to get to watch go down. I also really loved and wanted to get more of the storytelling we saw in 'wej Duj,' which was the three-ships episode, Season 2. Getting to do a little breadcrumb thing that replaced, if you go back and watch the first season, there were more cold open bits, standalone comedy bits that you would open the show with, and then it would get into the episode. I missed the modularity of that a little bit. We had also just experienced Season 3, where we had been building up the story of Rutherford and the Aledo and Buenamigo all season, and getting that to all work resulted in the second to last episode feeling like I had to do it instead of I wanted to do it. I still love that episode, but we needed 11 episodes that season to really resolve all of that. I told myself we would do a comic book run that filled the gap between those two episodes for Mariner being out and adventuring, but I think that I should've triggered that one episode earlier, but it's hard to navigate all that."

He continued, "Then this season, I wanted to give our characters time. Now, by just having the modularity of doing these little sketches, of seeing lower deckers and bridge crews on other alien ships and popping into them and having them be removed from the narrative, except in the Betazoids are being affected by it. You're going to see other people being affected by it, but it doesn't drive the narrative of any individual episode. It's existing within it, and it's causing changes to happen within the show, but the Cerritos isn't directly being targeted by it. That was really fun for me because then I could start an episode and be like, 'All right, we're going to see some Ferengi lower-deckers.' That was really cool. And then it gets to a place which is really like... I don't want to give anything away. I'm going to stop there."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, Episode 9, "The Inner Fight," is streaming now on Paramount+. The Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 finale streams Thursday on Paramount+.

At some point during peak Star Trek - when there were five Star Trek shows in production, one releasing right after the other on Paramount+ -- I came across Stellaris. I'm not a player of grand strategy or 4X games, but it occurred to me that a game like Stellaris - which cast players as the controller of an interstellar polity - could be recast in the Star Trek universe with relative ease. It turned out that some interpret modders had already had the same idea. Thus, I purchased a copy of Stellaris and immediately downloaded a total conversion mod that turned it into a Star Trek game.

I played it for a bit, but not too long. Ultimately, the novelty of turning Stellaris into a Star Trek game wasn't strong enough for me to climb the steep learning curve required to understand the various nuances of complex 4X-style gameplay. But then Paradox Interactive, the company that published Stellaris, announced Star Trek: Infinite, a 4x-style game bearing the official Star Trek license, and my curiosity was piqued again.

I tell you all of this so you know that I coming at Star Trek Infinite as a Star Trek fan first and foremost and not a great lover of 4X games. That perspective, the search for a unique Star Trek experience within the gameplay, undoubtedly colors my opinion of Star Trek: Infinite.

Star Trek: Infinite allows players to take control of any one of four major factions in the Star Trek galaxy: the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, or the Cardassian Union. Each faction has its distinct strength that lends it to loosely pursuing one of the four "X" strategies (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) that give the genre its name. The Federation is based on diplomacy and peaceful galactic exploration, while the Klingons, a warrior culture, are more invested in their military, and so on.

Each Star Trek: Infinite campaign is slightly less random than a game of Stellaris because Star Trek: Infinite is rooted in Star Trek canon. In each game I started, the major powers are arranged in roughly the same areas relative to each other, and galactic events proceed in a more-or-less fixed sequence, starting with the Romulan sneak attack on Khitomer that leads to an alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire (events Star Trek: The Next Generation fans will be familiar with).

Other Star Trek polities are considered minor powers. They're allowed more leeway to stray from established Star Trek stories. Events around them may transpire differently than in Star Trek's shows. The Betazed might ally with Cardassians while the Federation can, theoretically, liberate the Bajoran Republic well ahead of schedule. This keeps things interesting, though there are some oddities. For example, early on, the Federation can colonize the Denobula and Risa, which should each have established populations.

All the pieces are there, and the game mechanics seem solid in their fundamentals (though, admittedly, this is not my area of expertise). Explore new worlds, use diplomacy with familiar civilizations, and send spies and military fleets against those who don't cooperate. The major powers are designed to encourage you to play them within their established moral character -- Starfleet will typically put diplomacy and scientific exploration first; Romulans will always have a few spies in place wherever they go. Yet, the game didn't spark that Star Trek joy. Instead, Star Trek: Infinite made me realize how important characters are to the Star Trek experience, for me, at least.

I'm sure some fans will enjoy moving their fleets around on the galactic map, expanding their territory, and completing the long list of tasks the game offers. For me, it feels too much like meaningless busywork without a performance to anchor it all, which explains why games like Star Trek Online and Star Trek: Resurgence -- which both put so much effort into honoring the experience of watching a Star Trek episode over recreating the political reality of the universe that those episodes transpire in -- resonate with me more strongly.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Star Trek: Infinite is available now for PC. A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.

A new Star Trek novel from veteran novelist Dayton Ward will bridge the gap in events between Star Trek: The Next Generation's episodes with the Cardassians and Benjamin Sisko's arrival on Deep Space 9. Star Trek: The Next Generation - Pliable Truths is set in the year 2369, the same year on Star Trek's timeline that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine begins, with Captain Jean-Luc Picard handing control of the space station over to Commander Sisko in the two-part pilot episode, "Emissary." Occurring shortly after Captain Jean-Luc Picard's capture by Cardassians and torture at the hands of Gul Madred, as seen in the classic Next Generation two-parter "Chain of Command," Pliable Truths sees Picard arriving on Terok Nor, the Cardassian space station that will soon be rechristened Deep Space 9, to mediate the end of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor. However, Ro Laren, the Bajoran Starfleet officer that Picard has taken under his wing aboard the Enterprise-D (and whose story comes full circle in Star Trek: Picard), is tipped off to a Cardassian secret that threatens the fragile peace and Bajor's future.

Simon and Schuster will publish Star Trek: The Next Generation - Pliable Truths through Pocket Books in May 2024. Here's the official synopsis from the publisher's website:

"A thrilling new Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine adventure from New York Times bestselling author Dayton Ward! 2369: Shortly after Starfleet thwarts a Cardassian attack on a Federation star system, the Cardassian government orders an end to its fifty-year occupation of the planet Bajor. As a result, a newly installed Bajoran government requests immediate assistance from the Federation to mediate how the withdrawal will proceed and what recompense, if any, Bajorans are owed from their brutal oppressors. Captain Jean-Luc Picard is ordered by Starfleet Command to oversee these tense negotiations on Terok Nor, the massive Cardassian space station still orbiting Bajor, even as he still deals with his own recent trauma as a prisoner held and tortured by a Cardassian interrogator.

"As these critical peace talks get underway, Ensign Ro Laren receives a call for help from a friend thought long dead, exposing an insidious secret from inside Cardassian space. Now, Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise must act to prevent an interstellar incident from reigniting deadly hostilities between the Federation and the Cardassians, and shattering any hope of justice for the Bajoran people..."

Ward has written many Star Trek novels, as well as Star Trek short fiction, Star Trek reference books, and articles for Star Trek publications, including Star Trek.com. Some of his recent work includes the Star Trek: Discovery novels Drastic Measures and Somewhere to Belong and Star Trek: Coda: Book 1: Moments Asunder, which began the trilogy that ended the old post-Star Trek: Nemesis novel line.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Pliable Truths is the second Star Trek novel that Pocket Books has announced for 2024. Star Trek: Picard - Firewall by David Mack, which will be released in February, is a Star Trek: Picard prequel story focusing on Seven of Nine, revealing her struggles with Starfleet upon returning with the U.S.S. Voyager from the Delta Quadrant and how she ultimately joined up with the Fenris Rangers. The novel is available to pre-order now.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - Pliable Truths goes on sale on May 21, 2024. It is available to pre-order now.

IDW Publishing's Eisner-nominated line of Star Trek comics expands in 2023 with Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek, a new four-issue miniseries announced during the Star Trek: Boldly Going panel at New York Comic Con. The four-issue Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek series spins out of Star Trek: Day of Blood, Star Trek's first-ever comic book crossover event, which united the crews of IDW's ongoing Star Trek series and its Star Trek: Defiant spinoff. Morgan Hampton, who wrote Cyborg for DC, will write Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek. Veteran Star Trek comics artist Angel Hernandez is drawing the book, which will debut in early 2024.

Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek sees Jake Sisko, the son of recently returned Benjamin Sisko, feeling unmoored in the aftermath of the Day of Blood. At the same time, Alexander Rozhenko, son of Worf, is recovering from his indoctrination by Klingon Emperor Kahless II and subsequent death and resurrection while reckoning with his actions on behalf of the Red Path.

Their paths become entangled when they find themselves in an alternate universe where they both follow more explicitly in their fathers' footsteps, each joining Starfleet and serving aboard the U.S.S. Burton. During their time in that universe, they meet other offspring of Star Trek characters, including, based on the cover, both Nog and Q Junior. Could Jean-Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher's recently revealed son, Jack, make his comic book debut?

"Star Trek is a franchise that has rewired my DNA and provided me a sense of comfort amongst its characters and stories," said Morgan Hampton in a statement. "I'm so excited to pour some of that energy back into this world. Angel and I are creating a story full of shock, excitement, and wonder led by characters not usually in the spotlight. Fans new and old will find that familiar Star Trek charm at the heart. It's a dream come true to be able to add a wrinkle in the fabric of this incredible universe!"

"Having the possibility of creating everything practically from scratch is an exciting challenge," adds Angel Hernandez. "Defining new personalities and making the characters face completely new situations is incredible. It's all new but it's all Trek."

You can see Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek #1's cover and the designs for the series' alternate reality Starfleet uniforms above. Star Trek: Sons of Star Trek #1 will go on sale in 2024.

• STAR TREK: SONS OF STAR TREK #1
• Written by: Morgan Hampton
• Art by: Angel Hernandez
• Cover by: Jake Bartok
• Colors by: Nick Filardi
• Letters by: Clayton Cowles
• On Sale 3/13/24

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy got a much-needed update from Star Trek Universe head Alex Kurtzman during New York Comic-Con 2023. Kurtzman confirmed for fans that Starfleet Academy will be another comedic-leaning Star Trek series, saying the series will be 'funny' (as per Collider).

Soon after the initial announcement about Starfleet Academy, Star Trek: Lower Decks animated series star Tawny Newsome revealed that she was joining the writers' room for the new series, giving fans the early impression that the show was going in a funnier direction. Collider got to speak with Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan, who confirmed that Newsome was going to be a great influence on Starfleet Academy: " "I'm a huge fan of Tawny's... Don't tell [Alex] Kurtzman, who is her showrunner right now, but I'm the first one to be like, 'Number one, everybody should hire Tawny to write on their show; number two, everybody should hire Tawny to star in their show because she's a f*ck*ng star.'"

What Is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy About?

The synopsis explaining Star Trek: Starfleet Academy can be read below:

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY is the latest addition to the expanding "Star Trek" franchise on Paramount+, which includes the current hit original series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, STAR TREK: PICARD, the animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS and STAR TREK: PRODIGY, and STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS.

When making the announcement about the series, Kurtzman and co. posted a mock recruitment call for Starfleet cadets to join the academy, which read as follows:

"Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves," Kurtzman and co-producer Noga Landau said in an earlier statement teasing the series. "The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!"

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is in development.

Star Trek Universe head Alex Kurtzman is giving fans an update on the Star Trek: Section 31 movie, now that the Writers' Strike is over - including the massive question of whether or not Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh is still involved.

During the Star Trek panel at New York Comic-Con 2023, Kurtzman let fans know that Michelle Yeoh is not only still attached to the Section 31 movie, but she is backing the project "with all her power." That is an important confirmation, as Yeoh's career has hit a new stratosphere after the release of the hit film Everything Everywhere All At Once in 2022. After Yeoh walked away with the Best Actress Oscar this year, there was a lot of buzz that she could be leaving her days in the Star Trek TV Universe behind.

Paramount made a big statement back in Spring, by officially announcing the Star Trek: Section 31 movie (as opposed to the original limited series format) with Yeoh still attached to star. At the time of the movie's announcement, Yeoh put out a statement that indicated her enthusiasm for Section 31 was indeed very high:

"I'm beyond thrilled to return to my Star Trek family and to the role I've loved for so long," Yeoh's statement read. "Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of Star Trek launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that's shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can't wait to share what's in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!"

Domenic DiMeglio, chief marketing officer and head of data at Paramount Streaming added that, "We're thrilled that Star Trek: Section 31 will be the next title in our Star Trek universe. Michelle Yeoh is an incomparable talent - she brought Emperor Georgiou to life in such an incredibly fun and nuanced way that the character immediately became a fan favorite. We're so thrilled to welcome Michelle back to the Star Trek and Paramount+ family and can't wait for fans to see what this special movie event has in store."

What Is Star Trek: Section 31 About?

Star Trek: Section 31 will be a spinoff movie from the Star Trek: Discovery TV series, which is focused on Star Fleet's Intelligence division, and its covert operations unit that tracks and eliminates extreme threats to Starfleet, using extreme measures.

In Star Trek: Discovery, Michelle Yeo played two versions of Philippa Georgiou from two different timelines. The "Prime" version was a Starfleet captain and mentor to Discovery protagonist Michael Burnham, who died during a mission early in the series. Burnham and her crewmates later encountered a version of Georgiou from the "Terran Universe" where the kindly captain was now the ruthless emperor of the Terran Empire, a war-mongering version of what Starfleet could be. That version of Georgiou was brought back to the Prime Universe, where her killer nature and imperial mind were put to work for Section 31. Last seen, Georgiou had to separate from Burnham and the Discovery crew after they jumped ahead into the 32nd Century, as Georgiou being an anomaly of both time and alternate reality was too much of a strain on temporal balance.

The Star Trek: Section 31 movie will presumably pick up Georgiou's story in the 23rd-century version of Section 31, and examine whether her presence is for the good or ill of the Prime Universe.

Patrick Stewart drew Star Trek: Picard to a close on Paramount+ earlier this year, but he doesn't want to be done with his beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation character, Jean-Luc Picard, yet. Since reuniting with his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-stars aboard the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Stewart has said he'd like to play the character again in one more movie. In a recent interview with Wired, primarily about Stewart's new memoir, Making It So (a title drawn from his performances as Picard), Stewart explained what he still hoped to achieve with Jean-Luc in a final film.

"Well, it would be: Let's explore further the inside of this man's head," Stewart says. "His fears, his anger, his frustration, his questioning all of those things. There is a moment, I'm not quite sure where it comes in the series ... Well, there are two moments. One is when Picard doesn't know what to do. He's stumped. And we never saw that in The Next Generation. There is also a moment when he is truly fearful. And those two pointers alone, I think, make him an interesting study for one more movie."

While Stewart still has things he'd like to achieve as Picard, this theoretical final film wouldn't entirely focus on that character as Star Trek: Picard's first two seasons did. Instead, it'd be more like Star Trek: Picard's final season, featuring the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation cast.

"I think we could do a movie, a Picard-based movie. Now not necessarily at all about Picard but about all of us," Stewart told IndieWire. "And to take many of those wonderful elements, particularly from Season 3 of Picard, and take out of that what I think could be an extraordinary movie. I keep telling people and mentioning it, and so far there's been no eager response, but it might well happen. And that would be I think a very appropriate way to say, 'And goodbye folks.'"

Will a Star Trek: Picard movie happen?

Stewart is pushing for a movie following up on Star Trek: Picard Season 3 and says in the Wired interview that he's had private conversations about it. His longtime co-star Jonathan Frakes hopes their story continues but has previously admitted, "Movies are tough! Even JJ [Abrams] can't get this fourth movie off the ground. All those wonderful rumors? Noah Hawley was attached to a Star Trek movie, and Quentin was toying with people's emotions about doing a movie. If those two names can't get a f****** movie made, I don't know. TV is the future, it seems to me."

There may be another way forward. Paramount+ recently announced a Star Trek: Section 31 movie starring Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou, which is reportedly the first in a series of straight-to-streaming Star Trek Paramount+ wants to release biennially. Perhaps a Star Trek: Picard movie could be one of those releases.

How to watch Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard is streaming in its entirety on Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard - The Final Season is now on Blu-ray and DVD, joining Star Trek: Picard - Season One and Star Trek: Picard - Season Two. All three seasons are available in a single Star Trek: Picard - The Complete Series box set and Star Trek: Picard The Legacy Collection - which will include all seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard, as well as all four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies - is set for release in November.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 has found a new streaming home on Netflix. The Star Trek animated series has been searching for a new place to stream ever since Paramount+ canceled the series and removed the first season from its library. Production continued on the second season in the hopes of finding Star Trek: Prodigy a new means of reaching fans, and it seems those hopes have come to fruition with Netflix, who previously carried Paramount+'s Star Trek series in international markets before Paramount+ began its global rollout. Star Trek: Prodigy will become the first new Star Trek show to stream anywhere other than Paramount+ (or CBS All Access, its previous branding) in a market where Paramount+ has been available since the long-running sci-fi franchise entered the streaming era with Star Trek: Discovery in 2017.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 will move to Netflix later this year. Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 will debut on Netflix in 2024.

"Thank you to our incredible Star Trek: Prodigy fans, who championed not just a show, but a community that's always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together," said executive producer Alex Kurtzman and co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman in a statement. "We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we can't wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world."

"I've always held that the Star Trek fan base is among the strongest and most intelligent in the world. They have shown their collective passion, and we're happy to be able to celebrate Prodigy once again," said Kate Mulgrew, the voice of Admiral Janeway.

Star Trek: Prodigy Heads to Netflix

Paramount+ canceled Star Trek: Prodigy following in June and quickly removed the first season from its streaming library despite having previously announced the second season of the Star Trek series for kids. However, work on the series' second season continues as Paramount looked to sell the series to another streaming service or television network.

The show's producers offered a glimpse at Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 during a panel at the annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas earlier this year. The clip confirmed the return of Robert Picardo as the voice of his fan-favorite character from Star Trek: Voyager.

What is Star Trek: Prodigy?

Star Trek: Prodigy follows the young crew of the U.S.S. Protostar, which the characters discovered on the prison colony of Tars Lamora, deep in the Delta Quadrant. Though aimed at younger viewers, Star Trek: Prodigy excited longtime Star Trek fans by bringing back Kate Mulgrew to voice Kathryn Janeway in both Hologram Janeway and Admiral Janeway forms

Star Trek: Prodigy's voice cast also included Brett Gray (Dal R'El), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Angus Imrie (Zero), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), John Noble (The Diviner) and Jimmi Simpson (Drednok). The recurring voice cast includes Daveed Diggs (Commander Tysess), Jameela Jamil (Ensign Asencia), Jason Alexander (Doctor Noum), Robert Beltran (Captain Chakotay), and Billy Campbell (Thadiun Okona).

It's no secret that Patrick Stewart took some convincing before he'd agree to return to the Star Trek franchise as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. Alex Kurtzman and other producers had to pitch Stewart passionately and convincingly before Stewart became interested in a return as Picard in the Star Trek universe. Stewart eventually acquiesced, but he had three conditions on which his return was contingent (while Marina Sirtis only had one), conditions that, as an executive producer of Star Trek: Picard, he had some power to enforce himself. Stewart lays out those conditions in his new memoir, Making It So.

The first condition was that Star Trek: Picard would not be a Star Trek: The Next Generation revival and that his former co-stars would not be a focus of the show. The second involved Picard's relationship with Starfleet. The final condition concerned how long the series would run. Stewart writes:

"1. The series would not be based on a reunion of 'The Next Generation' characters. I wanted it to have little or nothing to do with them. This was not at all a mark of disrespect for my beloved fellow actors. Rather, I simply felt it was essential to place Picard in entirely new settings with entirely new characters. Perhaps Picard might encounter Riker or Dr. Crusher in the second season, but such encounters were not to be the series' raison d'?tre.

"2. Picard would no longer be serving in Starfleet, and he was not to wear any kind of uniform or badges. 3. The series would run for no more than three seasons. It was clear to me that the writing team was not entirely thrilled with these conditions, but basically, they were all agreed to. The no-uniform rule was the toughest one for them to stomach, for some reason, and more than once, I was asked to reconsider my hard line. I stuck to my guns."

Patrick Stewart's Star Trek: Picard Conditions

Paramount+ stuck to Stewart's final condition. Star Trek: Picard ended with its third season (though not the way Stewart had hoped), which doesn't mean that Stewart is done with Jean-Luc Picard, as he still hopes to play the role again in another Star Trek movie.

The second rule - the one about Starfleet and uniforms - was infringed upon somewhat, but the show kept to its spirit. Stewart did appear in a Starfleet uniform in Star Trek: Picard Season 1 for a scene that flashed back to his final day in Starfleet, and again, briefly, in Season 2 when he gave a speech to Starfleet Academy cadets. However, he and his crew acted independently from Starfleet in Season 1. Although he was reinstated as Chancellor of Starfleet Academy in Season 2, the time-jumping plot meant his relationship with Starfleet had little to do with the story. By Season 3, Picard had retired again. Though Picard did wear badges for communication throughout much of the series, the uniforms mostly stayed in storage.

That first rule was stuck to during most of the series. Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis had guest roles in Star Trek: Picard's first season, with John de Lancie and Whoopi Goldberg then appearing in Season 2. However, Star Trek: Picard Season 3 was very much the Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion that Stewart hoped to avoid when he signed up for the series. He explains how that happened in Making It So:

"For Season Three, our last, Terry Matalas, by then 'Picard's' showrunner, told me that the studio wanted a full 'Next Generation' reunion. Ugh, just what I had firmly said I didn't want. But that had been three years ago. Now I was less resistant, having enjoyed working with Jonathan, Brent, Marina, John, and Whoopi. As an executive producer, I had a say in how we might go about achieving such a reunion. I told Terry, 'I like the idea, provided that we don't bring them all back at once. Let's trickle them back in."

Stewart had his way there. Star Trek: Picard begins with Frakes' Will Riker again joining his old captain, Stewart's Picard, as they gently hijack the USS Titan-A to respond to a distress call from Dr. Beverley Crusher, played by Gates McFadden. More of the Enterprise's bridge gradually join the cast, but the whole group isn't back together - and back aboard the Enterprise - until the final act.

Star Trek: Picard is streaming in its entirety on Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard - The Final Season is now on Blu-ray and DVD, joining Star Trek: Picard - Season One and Star Trek: Picard - Season Two. All three seasons are available in a single Star Trek: Picard - The Complete Series box set and Star Trek: Picard The Legacy Collection - which will include all seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard, as well as all four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies - is set for release in November.

Star Trek 4 has seen several iterations while gestating at Paramount Pictures, beginning as a time travel movie teaming Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) with his father, George (Chris Hemsworth). It has since been passed between various writers and directors to develop in different directions. Screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer had been working on the latest version of Star Trek 4 before departing to focus her attention on Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, the prequel horror film now streaming on Paramount+. Before that, she had participated in a writers' room to develop a Star Trek movie pitch separate from Star Trek 4 that came from director Quentin Tarantino. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Beer described working in Tarantino's room.

"We got in there and he started with, 'So what are your guys' ideas for a movie?' and I think I went first," Beer recalled. "So he listened to us patiently and just kind of nodded his head, and then he took out his notebook and started talking for 20 minutes with lines of dialogue and passionate ideas that he'd already written. It wasn't really a story yet; they were just random thoughts he had on a movie, but it was so passionate and so wonderful. And I laughed to myself and thought, 'Well, why didn't we start with that?'"

Paramount eventually chose Mark L. Smith to write Tarantino's Star Trek. Tarantino has said that his Star Trek would have been R-rated and like Pulp Fiction in space and was inspired by the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "A Piece of the Action," where Captain Kirk and Spock visit a 1920s-style gangster planet.

What's next for Star Trek 4?

While Beer didn't get that job, Tarantino thought she did good work. That led to her current relationship with Bad Robot and working on Star Trek 4. She talked about leaving Star Trek 4 during a recent interview with ComicBook.com.

"I wrote a couple drafts of that before I had to leave for Pet Sematary. And it was originally, the seed of the idea came from J.J. himself, who's such a creatively generous person, and it was amazing collaborating with him," Beer said. "And it was very sad to leave our Zoom sessions to focus on [Pet Sematary: Bloodlines], but this was my baby, so I had to prioritize."

While she has stepped away from Star Trek 4, she did tell Collider that, despite losing director Matt Shakman to Marvel's Fantastic Four reboot, the next Star Trek movie is still moving forward. "It is, it's still on the tracks," Beer says. "I love that project, and it was another one that I had to hop off of to direct this movie, and that was a hard thing to do. But I love that everybody involved with that project."

When will Star Trek 4 be released?

Paramount had scheduled Star Trek 4 for release in 2023 with Shakman directing. After Shakman dropped out, Paramount dropped the movie from its release schedule.

Paramount first announced Star Trek 4 ahead of Star Trek Beyond's theatrical release in 2016. J.D. Payne and Patrick McCay were writing, and Hemsworth was to return as George Kirk. SJ Clarkson signed onto the project as director, with J.J. Abrams producing. However, Hemsworth and Pine dropped out during contract negotiations, halting those plans.

After that came reports of Tarantino's Star Trek. Paramount also started developing a Star Trek movie with Noah Hawley. Paramount eventually backed off of both projects, deciding instead to hire Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vasquez to write a script for Star Trek 4. Paramount later replaced Vasquez with Beer, Robertson-Dworet, and Shakman's version.

Star Trek: Lower Decks' next season might be its last. That's the reality of the situation according to series creator Mike McMahan. While Star Trek: Lower Decks has already been renewed for another season, and the team behind Star Trek's animated comedy is hard at work on Season 5, McMahan observes, in an interview with CinemaBlend, the seeming contraction of the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+, concurrent with the overall cutting back on content by streaming services, which may end up being the writing on the wall. McMahan opened up about how that makes him feel about Star Trek: Lower Decks' future, encouraging fans to be vocal about their love of the series before it gets canceled so that maybe it can avoid the situation in which Star Trek: Prodigy now finds itself.

"Yeah, I mean, listen, we're in weird times," McMahan says. "Everything is changing. I think everything's gonna continue to change. I would say nothing is safe. I don't have any bad news for anybody, but also, I think you shouldn't assume that this stuff is gonna stick around unless you vocally and watch it early on. I do not know if we're going to have another season after the season we're working on right now [Season 5]. Lower Decks could very well be a five-season show."

McMahan continued, "So, if you love Lower Decks as much as I do, I would say make sure to watch it and get people to watch it now. A letter writing campaign after a show gets canceled, it's helpful, but what's more helpful is campaigning to get more eyes on the show when it's airing because it gives me the ability to push for more seasons. I would love to finish Lower Decks with the plan that I have for it. I would say, take Prodigy looking for a new [network], and take a look at Picard being wrapped at Season 3, and at Discovery wrapping as well. I would say read those as signs that if you want more Lower Decks, you should be vocal about it now and not wait."

How Star Trek: Lower Decks will end.

ComicBook.com spoke to McMahan recently. In that interview, he touched on how he thinks about and approaches the ending of the series.

"I'm never thinking the series is going to end because I don't want to write and compact," McMahan said. "I would rather feel like the last episode feels like a series resolution once I've found out that that's happening, and then instead, you get a season where you're writing up to these characters who will continue to exist after the series is over."

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Cast

Star Trek: Lower Decks stars "lower decks" crewmembers of the U.S.S. Cerritos Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), Ensign Tendi (No?l Wells), and Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Provisional Ensign T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) joined the crew in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3. The U.S.S. Cerritos' bridge crew includes Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell), Lieutenant Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore), and Doctor T'Ana, (Gillian Vigman).

Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites) created Star Trek: Lower Decks. In Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4, "an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn't important enough for stuff like that! Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves - all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way."

How to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4

CBS' Eye Animation Productions, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. Secret Hideout's Alex Kurtzman, Roddenberry Entertainment's Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth, and Katie Krentz (219 Productions) are executive producers with showrunner Mike McMahan. Aaron Baiers (Secret Hideout) also serves as an executive producer. Titmouse (Big Mouth) serves as the animation studio for the series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America. In Canada, Star Trek: Lower Decks airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Star Trek: Lower Decks will also be available to stream on Paramount+ in the UK, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and South Korea later this year.