The Star Trek Series That Could Save The Franchise

By Chris Snellgrove and Joshua Tyler | Published 2 seconds ago

Thanks to years of mismanagement by Paramount’s appointed head, Alex Kurtzman, the Star Trek franchise is in a precarious position. Nothing new is in production, and everything currently airing has been canceled.

It’s clear that Trek is going to need another hit show in order to remain relevant. The best idea for this has been around for over three decades: we need a Star Trek series focusing on Captain Kirk’s second five-year mission.

The Missions We Never Saw Between Movies

If you just spit out your tea (Earl Grey, hot), you might be surprised to discover that both the Star Trek Chronology (which came out in 1993) and the Star Trek Encyclopedia (which came out in 1994) both specify that Kirk and crew had a second five-year mission after the events of The Motion Picture. Effectively, there was a time jump between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan, and the unhappy Admiral Kirk we see in that second film is one who has finally given up gallivanting around the galaxy.

With a new Star Trek series set in this time period, we could finally explore exactly what happened between The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan.

Solving The Casting Problem

At first glance, you might think that the biggest hurdle to creating such a Star Trek series would be recasting iconic characters once played by Hollywood heavyweights like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. However, Strange New Worlds has already given us younger versions of main Original Series characters like Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and Scotty as well as supporting characters like Chapel and M’Benga. If these actors could reprise their roles in a future Star Trek series, it would require relatively little effort to cast new actors for the remaining TOS characters, such as McCoy, Sulu, and Chekov. 

The problem with that plan, of course, is that all of these Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actors were cast because they were young enough to pull off pre-Original Series versions of these famous characters. However, that’s the beauty of this plan: SNW hasn’t even aired its fourth season yet. By the time this show’s fifth and final season airs and Paramount completes preproduction on a totally new Star Trek series, all of these actors will be old enough (more or less) to play the part of post-Motion Picture characters.

If you still think these Strange New Worlds actors would be too young for this role, it may be worth considering that William Shatner and his original crew were arguably too old for the parts they were playing. You see, The Original Series’ final season was set in 2269, and The Motion Picture was set sometime in the 2270s. Despite the full decade between the end of the show and the first film, TMP was supposed to take place relatively soon after TOS.

Therefore, the actors in this proposed Star Trek series only have to look as old as the TOS crew looked in, say, 1972. That year, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were 41 years old. Meanwhile, current Kirk actor Paul Wesley is 43 now, and current Spock actor Ethan Peck is 39. Throw in the fact that they each look younger than they are, and these two actors would look perfect for a new Star Trek series that takes place after The Motion Picture.

A Better Way To Bring In New Fans

Aside from easy casting, such a series would be beneficial because it would, like Star Trek (2009) film, bring in new fans to the franchise. With respect to other shows, this franchise will always be associated with Kirk, Spock, and the classic Enterprise crew. A series focusing on their previously unknown adventures would likely bring in many more fans than some other concept

With my proposed new Star Trek series, Paramount could attract new fans while giving old ones something we’ve wanted to see for years: an onscreen version of the franchise’s “lost years” that better contextualizes where our characters are (physically and emotionally) in The Wrath of Khan.

Solving The Alex Kurtzman Problem

Given that Paramount has been busily scrapping everything related to the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds universe, it’s doubtful they will take our suggestion for a new series very seriously. However, this doesn’t have to be a spinoff of the existing universe. The look and style of this new show could be totally different. Hopefully, it would also involve a different creative team, one that’s not under the direction of franchise villain Alex Kurtzman.

This idea can work without the Kurtzman regime. Jettison Alex Kurtzman and everyone working with him. Bring in a totally new group (we suggest one headed up by Terry Matalas) and simply bring back those existing actors to play these new versions of the characters.

Matalas already pulled this off, by the way, with Star Trek: Picard season 3. The first two seasons of Picard were run by someone else and bear no resemblance at all to Picard season 3. Matalas took over in the third season, jettisoned everything the previous Picard team had done, and effectively created a brand new show while keeping a few key cast members.

That third season of Picard, despite featuring Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members, was heavily influenced by the look of Star Trek during this lost era. It’s why the season’s Neo Constitution-class ship looks so much like the Enterprise refit from The Motion Picture.

That’s what Star Trek needs. The entire franchise needs to be given the Picard season 3 treatment, and whether it’s Terry Matalas or someone else in charge, Star Trek’s lost years may be the best way to save it.