During the online Comic-Con events on July 23, CBS’ Star Trek franchise hosted a slew of panels, rolling out a versatile line-up of shows. And just like Alex Kurtzman teased in 2019, 2021 will be quite a big year for Star Trek.
Star Trek: Discovery
This year, Discovery is slated to have its third season. This time set 950 years into the future, these 13 new episodes will truly go where no one has gone before. The season is otherwise still under wraps, though. The majority of the panel was 18 of Discovery’s actors doing live readings. They read together the first act of the season 2 finale and the teaser for season 3 itself. Since then, Discovery season 3 has finally had its release dates. This new installment will premiere October 15
Star Trek: Prodigy
After all their success on CBS, Star Trek is expanding the franchise to Nickelodeon with an animated series called Star Trek: Prodigy. The same people who produced Trollhunters and Ninjago (Kevin and Dan Hageman) will be producing this series. While the release has few details, Nickelodeon has shared that the plot surrounds “A group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation.” It will debut in 2021.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
After a long wait, it has been announced that Lower Decks will premiere on August 6th. This is the first full-fledged animated comedy series in Trek-dom. For context, Lower Decks is set in 2380. In the Trek timeline, that means it’s right after Nemesis and long before Picard.
During the panel, CBS shared a first look at the series where a drunk Security Officer Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) accidentally flays Ensign Boimler’s (Jack Quaid) leg with a Klingon bat’leth. Also, the cast introduced their unique characters to the fans watching. This includes the aforementioned characters as well as crew members such as the Starfleet fanatic Ensign Tendi (Noel Wells), the newly cybernetic Ensign Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and the too-good-for-her-station Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) herself. With the USS Cerritos coming so soon, the hype train is really gearing up.
Star Trek: Picard
The Picard panel didn’t have too much discussion about any leaks or juicy tidbits about a season 2. After all, it has yet to even reach the production stage amidst COVID-19 concerns. Instead, it just turned into a big reunion chat for ex-TNG cast and current Picard stars. Trek veterans Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Mirina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, and Jeri Ryan spoke alongside newbies Isa Briones, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera, and Evan Evagora. The large group talked together about Picard’s production, the diversity and inclusion efforts of the franchise, and Star Trek in general.
Speaking of, the panel ended with promoting the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund. CBS All Access itself has made a donation themselves.
