Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunners Reveal Why the Beloved Series Is Ending – And What Could Have Been Next

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is coming to an end, but not without a promise from its showrunners that their version of the series could have gone on forever. The show, which explores the crew of the USS Enterprise before the events of the original 1966 Star Trek series, will wrap up with a shortened fifth season designed to catch up to the classic timeline.

The show was renewed for a fourth season while season 3 was still in production.
Paramount Plus announced the series will end with an abridged fifth season following major layoffs.
Showrunners aimed to reach the original series (TOS) timeline to fulfill fan expectations.
Season 3 premieres on July 17 with 10 episodes featuring diverse genres and new characters.
Legacy characters will continue to appear, but not all original series crew will be featured.

A series that could have lasted forever

Despite the recent news that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (SNW) will conclude after its fifth season, co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman made it clear the show’s creative team had no intention of stopping anytime soon. “That was the studio’s choice,” he said. “We would’ve gone on forever.”

The abridged final season is meant to bring the story up to speed with the original Star Trek series, often called TOS (The Original Series). Goldsman explained the goal: “We’ve got to reach TOS to fulfill the promise to the fans, which was ‘What happens to all these people? How do they start to become those characters we know, and what happens to the ones we don’t see in canon?’”

Familiar faces and new adventures

The show features key TOS characters such as Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), Spock (Ethan Peck), and Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), already aboard the Enterprise. James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) appears as a guest star, while engineer Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) joins the main cast in season 3, which premieres July 17.

However, some iconic characters like Dr. Leonard McCoy, Hikaru Sulu, and Janice Rand have yet to make an appearance. Goldsman confirmed, “You will not see [all] of the original series crew before this show wraps,” but promised that other legacy characters will join as the story progresses.

Mixing genres with episodic storytelling

SNW stays true to the episodic style of TOS, shifting between wildly different genres—from a terrifying encounter with the Gorn to a lighthearted wedding episode, zombie horror, and a murder mystery. This variety keeps things fresh and lets the cast explore different emotional and dramatic ranges.

Goldsman shared, “Our serialized character stories let you move from genre to genre, because we use genre as sort of a lens on emotion.” Co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers added, “We spend a lot of time for each episode trying to think of what we can have the actors try and do that they haven’t got a chance to try before, so it doesn’t feel like they’re just showing up to do the same thing every week. Things like romance really encapsulate that.”

Looking ahead in the Star Trek universe

While SNW ends, Paramount Plus is expanding the Star Trek franchise with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, set after Star Trek: Discovery and featuring some returning characters. Though Goldsman and Myers aren’t involved in that project, they hope it continues to grow the fandom and leave room for future opportunities.

“I would love to get a chance to do [the Star Trek: The Next Generation era], but honestly, getting to work around the original series has been the most fun,” Myers said. “Its future is very bright and interesting. I actually think that that POV is really nice in our current world climate, because it’s hopeful.”

Season 3 premiere details

The 10-episode third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds launches on Paramount Plus on July 17, with two new episodes dropping simultaneously. Following episodes will release weekly on Thursdays through September 11.