Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 carries even more pressure following the reception ofStar Trek: Section 31,with a great deal riding on the highly-anticipated next 10 episodes of the USS Enterprise prequel series. Still awaiting an official release date from Paramount+,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3will premiere sometime in 2025 after a 2-year wait. Production onStrange New Worldsseason 3 was delayed by 7 months by 2023’s WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, but filming was completed in late May 2024.
Star Trek: Section 31premiered on January 24 after an unusual journey that saw what was originally planned as a TV series spinoff ofStar Trek: Discoveryconverted into the firstStar Trekmoviemade for streaming on Paramount+.Section 31featured theStar Trekcomeback of Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou and was designed to explore a previously unseen part ofStar Trek’s 24th century era. However,Star Trek: Section 31didn’t setStar Trekfans' hearts ablaze, creating a greater need forStrange New Worldsseason 3 to equal or exceed the hit season 2 was.
Star Trek: Section 31’s Negative Response Puts Even More Pressure On Strange New Worlds Season 3
Star Trek Fans Want To See Star Trek Again
Star Trek: Section 31now ranks as the lowest-ratedStar Trekmovie ever, according toRotten Tomatoes, with a 19% Rotten rating and an abysmal 16% audience rating. On the plus side,Star Trek: Section 31has held as the #2 most watched movie on Paramount+ since its premiere, behindGladiator II.Still, this was not the reception Paramount+ hoped for its firstStar Trekstreaming movie, starring Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, no less.Section 31was also not the movieStar Trekfans wished for,with its overreliance on action and special effects masking a lack of character development, a deeper story, and solidStar Trekconnections.
Star Trek: Section 31 Movie Sequel: Everything We Know
Star Trek: Section 31 is Paramount+’s first Star Trek streaming movie, but will Michelle Yeoh headline another movie as Emperor Georgiou?
Perhaps the most damningopinion ofStar Trek: Section 31is that it’s aStar Trekmovie in name only, thus Michelle Yeoh’s action picture doesn’t satisfy asStar Trek.This puts the onus onStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 to bethe Star Trekof 2025, as it’s the only other Star Trek on Paramount+ project scheduled for this year. This, in turn, cranks up the pressure forStrange New Worldsseason 3 to deliver.Strange New Worldsseason 2 was lovingly received by critics, with a 97% Fresh rating onRotten Tomatoes, and several episodes ranked on the Nielsen Top 10 streaming charts.
Strange New Worldsseason 3 certainly has a high bar to live up to.
Strange New Worldshas already established itself as genuineStar Trek.OnlyStar Trek: Picardseason 3, which reunited thecast ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, was arguably more acclaimed thanStrange New Worldsseason 2 among Paramount+’s live-actionStar Trekseries.Strange New Worlds season 2 also has a pair of historic calling cards: a comedy crossover withStar Trek: Lower DecksandStar Trek’s first-ever musical episode. Considering its prior success,Strange New Worldsseason 3 certainly has a high bar to live up to.
What To Expect From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3
Strange New Worlds Season 3 Continues Season 2’s Big Swings
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 returns to the formula of creative"big swings"that made season 2 a smash. Most ofStrange New Worldsseason 2’s top visionary directors are back helming season 3 episodes, including Jonathan Frakes, Valerie Weiss, Maja Vrvilo, Jordan Canning, and Chris Fisher.Strange New Worldsseason 3 begins with built-in intrigue, sinceStrange New Worldsseason 2 endedwith a cliffhanger of many Starship Enterprise crew members kidnapped by the Gorn that begs to be resolved.
Star Trek In 2025: Strange New Worlds Season 3, Star Trek’s First Movie In 9 Years & More
Star Trek celebrates its 59th anniversary in 2025 with its first streaming movie, the return of Strange New Worlds, and clues about 2026.
Strange New Worldsseason 3 has already revealed a"Hollywood noir"murder mystery episode directed by Jonathan Frakes, and Jordan Canning directs a comedic outing where Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and many of his Enterprise crew are turned into Vulcans. In addition, Scotty (Martin Quinn) joinsStrange New Worlds' cast as a series regular, while Rhys Darby from HBO’sOur Flag Means Deathwill guest star as a mystery character. In addition, Cillian O’Sullivan joinsStrange New WorldsasDr. Roger Korby, the future fiance of Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush).
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 4 begins production in spring 2025.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldshas been described as"love stories in space"by its own executive producers and co-showrunners, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers. Indeed, Nurse Chapel still has unresolved romantic issues with Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) while Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) may continue his burgeoning love connection with Lieutenant La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). Further, Captain Pike’s own love story with Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano) hangs in the balance after she was infected by the Gorn.
Strange New Worlds Season 3 Must Live Up To Expectations
The Starship Enterprise Carries The Star Trek Brand
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 not only has the expectations set by its prior 2 seasons to live up to, but it must also wholly embody theStar Trekbrand after Star Trek:Section 31. While Section 31 attempted to win audiences over with its"new flavor of Star Trek,“Strange New Worldscontains some of the most revered iconography of theStar Trekfranchise, including Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the Starship Enterprise itself.
2025 Is When Strange New Worlds Must Fully Become Star Trek
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is the only Star Trek series scheduled for 2025, and it can define Star Trek for Paramount+.
Further,Strange New Worldsseason 3 is the first live-actionStar TrekTV show sinceStar Trek: Discoveryended with season 5in May 2024. The rest of 2024 saw the dizzingly imaginativeStar Trek: Prodigyon Netflix andStar Trek: Lower Deckson Paramount+ make profound statements about the vitality ofStar Trekanimation. However,Star Trek: Lower Deckshas also ended on Paramount+, andStar Trek: Prodigy’s future on Netflix is a frustrating question mark.
Thankfully, the crew of the Starship Enterprise thrives under pressure.
If anyStar Trekseries can singlehandedly carry theStar Trekbrand forward, it’sStrange New Worlds. WithStar Trek: Discoveryover,Strange New Worldsis the flagshipStar Trekseries on Paramount+, and it’s already established and popular. Whereas the nextStar Trekseries,Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, will undoubtedly be greeted with the same skepticism that all newStar Trekmust endure,Strange New Worldsalready has audiences on its side.Star Trek: Strange New Worldshas to be as good as - or better - than season 2 was, but thankfully, the crew of the Starship Enterprise thrives under pressure.
