star trek timeline 2024

• April 26, 2024 | Michael Dorn Wanted Armin Shimerman To Play The Ferengi That Worf Killed In Star Trek Picard
• April 26, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Gets To Know The Breen In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ 505, “Mirrors”
• April 25, 2024 | Prep Begins For ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season 3 Finale; Cast And Directors Share BTS Images
• April 25, 2024 | Jonathan Frakes Sees Opportunities With Streaming Star Trek Movies, Weighs In On “Filler Episodes”
• April 25, 2024 | Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Reflects On Its Choices In “Mirrors”

Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

Related Articles

All Access Star Trek Podcast , Discovery , Lower Decks , Star Trek Origin Movie , Strange New Worlds

Podcast: All Access Faces The Strange On ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Star Trek Origin Movie , TNG

Watch: Did This Moment On ‘The View’ Just Accidentally Hint Whoopi Goldberg Is In The Next Star Trek Movie?

Star Trek 4

‘Star Trek 4’ Removed From Paramount Picture’s Release Calendar

Kelvin Universe , Star Trek 4

Paramount Studio Chief: ‘Star Trek 4’ Close To Starting Line; Says Audiences Want More Kelvin Crew

Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

Star Trek Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

Boldly go through the eons of Trek.

It began so simply: A man named Gene Roddenberry wanted to make a TV show set in the future, featuring characters who would represent the best of humanity, boldly going where no one has gone before. Now, Star Trek has become one of pop culture's most enduring touchstones, constantly evolving with the times.

It is not an easy thing to put together a coherent timeline for a franchise that consists of over 50 years of films and TV (nine series and 13 films, to be exact). Yet Star Trek , when you break it down, does hold together pretty well for a narrative that has been crafted by literally dozens of writers and directors over the decades. This is especially impressive given the amount of time travel that's been built into the story, as well as some conflicting dates (for example, the Eugenics War makes things complicated ).

Choosing the most important dates of Trek history to focus on was at times difficult, but an effort was made to pinpoint moments where the franchise’s relationship with time was most complicated — after all, the ultimate goal of this article is to take over 50 years of sci-fi adventure and make it relatively comprehensible. With that in mind, The timeline below is restricted to the film and TV entries in the Trek universe, in part because the books, comics, and other media are fascinating enhancements to the narrative (especially when they push forward into the future) but are not widely considered to be officially canon.

Given that many of these events take place on different planets — with, thus, different year cycles — some dates are approximated, especially when their placement in the timeline is based on statements like "a thousand years ago." (If Trek 's stardate dating system was easier to compute, then it would have been incorporated here. Alas.) But even when some dates don't quite line up, the franchise's central principles are rarely lost.

[Editor's note: This article was updated on September 14, 2021 to incorporate "Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 1.]

The Films and TV Shows (Combined)

The Age of Shatner and Nimoy

• Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 (1966-1967)
• Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2 (1967-1968)
• Star Trek: The Original Series Season 3 (1968-1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 1 (1973-1974)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2 (1974)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The Next Generation Begins

• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 (1987-1988)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 (1988-1989)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 (1989-1990)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (1990-1991)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 (1991-1992)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 (1992-1993)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1 (1993)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7 (1993-1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 (1993-1994)
• Star Trek Generations (1994)

The Next Next Generation

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 3 (1994-1995)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 1 (1994-1995)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 (1995-1996)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 2 (1995-1996)
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5 (1996-1997)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 3 (1996-1997)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 (1997-1998)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 4 (1997-1998)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 7 (1998-1999)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 (1998-1999)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 6 (1999-2000)
• Star Trek: Voyager Season 7 (2000-2001)

The Enterprise Era

• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 (2001-2002)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 2 (2002-2003)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 (2003-2004)
• Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 (2004-2005)

The Kelvin-verse

• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The CBS All Access Age

• Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 (2017-2018)
• Star Trek : Short Treks Season 1 (2018)
• Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 (2019)
• Star Trek : Short Treks Season 2 (2019-2020)
• Star Trek: Picard Season 1 (2020)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks Season (2020)

Note: Spoilers follow for all of the above, including the season premiere of Picard .

The Days Before Space

4.6 Billion BCE (or maybe even more):

• The birth/arrival/creation of the Guardian of Forever on its ancient planet (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever").

4 Billion BCE:

• An unknown humanoid species, to quote Geordi LaForge, "scattered this genetic material into the primordial soup of at least 19 different planets across the galaxy," explaining why most sentient species look the same (ST:TNG S6E20, "The Chase").

3.5 Billion BCE:

• The beginnings of life in the Alpha Quadrant are threatened by Q's anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things") .

400 CE (approximately):

• Approximate time when the Changelings founded what would become the Dominion, with the Jem'Hadar

900 CE (approximately):

• Kahless the Unforgettable slays the Qo'noS tyrant Molor and becomes the first Emperor of the Klingon Empire.
• First known sign of the Borg in the Delta Quadrant.

1600 CE (approximately):

• The beginnings of Bajoran space exploration leads to first contact between the Cardassians and Bajorans. (It does not go well for them.)

1800 CE (approximately):

• Establishment of the Cardassian Union.
• Picard, La Forge, Troi, Riker, and Crusher arrive in San Francisco after the discovery of Data's severed head in their century. Samuel Clemens (AKA Mark Twain) gets caught up in their efforts to save him (ST:TNG S5E26-S6E1, "Time's Arrow").
• Kirk and Spock chase a drugged and disoriented McCoy through the time portal known as the Guardian of Forever to New York City. While there, Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler, a social worker whose life McCoy saved, but Kirk must ultimately let die, in order to preserve the timeline and prevent Germany from winning World War II (ST:TOS S1E28, "The City on the Edge of Forever").
• The Briori abduct several hundred humans from Earth and bring them to the Delta Quadrant, including Amelia Earhart (ST:VOY S2E1, "The 37's") .

1944 (alternate universe):

• Jonathan Archer and the Enterprise NX-01 crew find themselves in an altered version of World War II, where the Nazis have invaded America (ST:ENT S4E1-E2, "Storm Front").
• Quark, Rom and Nog crash their ship in Roswell, New Mexico and have to escape from the U.S. Military (ST:DS9 S4E8, "Little Green Men") .
• The Enterprise travels back to this year to prevent an agent from interfering with events, because Starfleet had a record of them doing so. Time travel is fun that way (ST:TOS S2E26, "Assignment: Earth"). The Enterprise also went on a similar mission in 1969 (ST:TOS S1E19, "Tomorrow Is Yesterday") .
• Kirk and friends, in search of humpback whales to save the future, arrive in San Francisco, where they meet marine biologist Gillian Taylor, invent transparent aluminum, and teach Spock how to swear (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
• The Eugenics Wars rage on (at least, according to almost all sources ). When the Enterprise first discovers genetically enhanced Khan Noonien Singh (ST:TOS S1E24, "Space Seed") , Spock says that during these years, Khan had conquered most of the Earth, before fleeing the Earth with 84 of his followers to drift through space in the S.S. Botany Bay.
• In this version of 1996 (perhaps because they've just ended?), there's no sign of the Eugenics Wars in action when the Voyager is pulled to sunny Southern California by a 29th century time ship. Despite being featured on local news broadcasts, the Voyager and its crew manage not to damage the timeline before returning to the 24th century (ST:VOY S3E8-9, "Future's End") .

December 27, 1999:

• One of Captain Janeway's ancestors gets caught up in the controversy surrounding the construction of the Millennium Gate tower, a self-sufficient structure built in Indiana that would become the model for the colonization of Mars (ST:VOY S5E23, "11:59") .
• Archer and T'Pol arrive in Detroit to stop the Xindi from annihilating the human race with a bioweapon — they succeed (ST:ENT S3E11, "Carpenter Street) .

Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2024:

• Thanks to a transporter accident, Sisko, Dax and Bashir arrive in a very different San Francisco from the modern world, and get caught up in the Bell Riots, a historical event which eventually led to massive reform of America's social issues (ST:DS9 S3E11-E12, "Past Tense") .

2026 – 2053:

• World War III ravages Earth, killing six hundred million humans.

The Dawn of the Warp Era

April 4, 2063:

• The Enterprise-E arrives at Earth after chasing a Borg sphere from the 24th century, just as the Borg plan to disrupt the launch of Zefram Cochrane's extremely important prototype warp drive flight (Star Trek: First Contact) .

April 5, 2063:

• Thanks to the Enterprise-E, Cochrane successfully completes his flight and, later that day, a Vulcan ship arrives on Earth, initiating first contact and beginning humanity's journey to its future as an architect of the Federation (Star Trek: First Contact).
• Colonies on Mars are established.
• An elderly Zefram Cochrane vanishes, after heading out on one last space voyage (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
• The Enterprise NX-01, the first starship capable of traveling at Warp 5, begins its mission to explore the galaxy. A major part of its adventures have to do with the Temporal Cold War, in which the crew found itself caught up in time travel conflicts.

March 2153:

• The Xindi attack Earth, firing a blast that causes destruction from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million people. The NX-01 refocuses its mission on trying to stop the Xindi from causing further destruction.
• For the first time, Starfleet officers travel to the Mirror Universe, encountering a far darker version of their world (ST:ENT S4E18-E19, "In a Mirror, Darkly") .
• Discussion of uniting various planets for some sort of... federation, perhaps, begins (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .

2156–2160:

• A four-year war with the Romulans leads to the creation of the Romulan Neutral Zone.
• Captain Archer speaks to the Coalition of Planets about the need to create...
• The United Federation of Planets, which is officially born that year (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages...") .
• Starfleet Academy is also founded.
• In an alternate timeline, the crew of the Defiant was sent back in time to this year, crashing on a planet called Gaia. While Kira died, the survivors eventually built a society of eight thousand people. This society, however, was wiped out of existence when the Odo living on Gaia prevented the Defiant from replicating that journey into the past, to save Kira's life (ST:DS9 S5E22, "Children of Time") .

March 22nd, 2233:

• In the Kelvin Timeline, Kirk is born aboard a USS Kelvin shuttlecraft as time-traveling Romulan Nero attacks the ship now being captained by James' soon-to-be-deceased father George (Star Trek 2009) .
• In the Prime Timeline, Kirk is born (exact location unknown, but could have still been aboard the USS Kelvin, albeit under more peaceful circumstances), and eventually raised in Iowa by George and Winona Kirk.
• Michael Burnham's family was killed at Doctari Alpha, following which Sarek brought her into his home and made her Spock's adoptive sister (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
• The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, launches its second five-year mission to explore the universe.
• Captain Pike, Lieutenant Spock and the Enterprise visit the planet of Talos IV (ST:TOS S1E15-E16, "The Menagerie") .
• The USS Shenzhou is called to investigate damage done to an interstellar array on the edge of Federation space, which leads to the ship being overwhelmed by an onslaught of Klingon ships. In the conflict, Captain Georgiou is killed, and Lieutenant Michael Burnham not just committing mutiny, but triggering a war between the Federation and the Klingons (ST:DIS S1E1-E2, "The Vulcan Hello"-"Battle at the Binary Stars") .

November 2256:

• Michael Burnham is, via a roundabout set of circumstances, transferred from prison to the USS Discovery under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca (ST:DIS S1E3, "Context Is For Kings") .
• The Discovery arrives in the Mirror Universe thanks to Lorca, who had secretly snuck into the Prime Universe. The ship eventually returns home, but with the devious Mirror Universe version of Georgiou on board (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue").
• By making a pact with L'Rell and stopping an attack on the Klingon homeworld, Burnham is able to end the Federation-Klingon War (ST:DIS S1E13, "What's Past Is Prologue") .
• As the Enterprise needs repairs and the Discovery needs a (temporary?) captain, Captain Pike fills in the gap, introducing the mission to discover what's going on with the "Red Angel" who keeps appearing in multiple spots across the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DIS S2E1, "Brothers") .
• Burnham learns that the Red Angel is herself, from the future, and ultimately chases that predestination paradox (ST:DIS Season 2) .
• The Discovery, with a limited crew, travels to the year 3186. Those who stay behind, including Pike, Spock and Number One, adhere to the pact that speaking of the Discovery or its crew ever again is a treasonable offense (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2") .

2258 (Kelvin-verse):

• The Prime Universe version of Spock arrives from the future — which is just what Nero has been waiting for, for 25 years (Star Trek 2009) .
• James Kirk is just about to finish his time at Starfleet Academy when the planet of Vulcan is destroyed by Nero. Kirk and his new crew ultimately take down Nero, and end up taking over the Enterprise for a mission of exploration (Star Trek 2009) .

2259 (Kelvin-verse):

• Khan Noonien Singh arises to try to tear down the Federation. Kirk dies, but does not stay dead (Star Trek Into Darkness) .

2260 (Kelvin-verse):

• The Enterprise sets out on its five-year mission (Star Trek Beyond) .

2263 (Kelvin-verse):

• Three years into said mission, the Enterprise crew saves the space station Yorktown from destruction — destroying their ship in the process, but the Enterprise-A immediately gets commissioned (Star Trek Beyond) .
• The Prime Universe Spock, having lived in the Kelvin timeline for seven years, passes away at the age of 162 (Star Trek Beyond) .
• James T. Kirk takes command of the USS Enterprise for another five-year mission, encountering Klingons, con men and more.
• McCoy, after an unfortunate injection, rushes to the surface of an alien planet and escapes to the year 1930 thanks to the Guardian of Forever (ST:TOS S1E28, "The Guardian on the Edge of Forever") .
• The Enterprise experiences plenty of wacky experiences, but few as memorable as a trip to Deep Space Station K-7 to handle an agricultural situation aggravated by a tribble infestation (ST:TOS S2E13, "The Trouble With Tribbles") .
• After a time traveler tries to interfere with the events of DSS K-7, Captain Sisko and his crew arrive to make sure Kirk keeps the Klingons from sabotaging things (ST:DS9 S5E6, "Trials and Tribble-ations") .
• The Enterprise discovers Zefram Cochrane marooned on a remote planetoid, but ultimately leaves him behind with an alien consciousness with which he is in love (ST:TOS S2E9, "Metamorphosis") .
• At the end of the five-year mission, Kirk is promoted to the rank of Admiral, while Will Decker becomes captain of the USS Enterprise.
• When an alien-retrofitted version of Voyager returns to Earth, Kirk resumes control over the Enterprise to save Earth (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) .
• The Prime Universe Khan gets his chance at conquering the galaxy. Spock dies in the successful effort to thwart him (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) .
• Kirk steals the Enterprise, but Spock is successfully resurrected thanks to the planet Genesis's extraordinary properties. They return Spock to Vulcan so he can recuperate (Star Trek III: The Search For Spock) .
• An alien probe broadcasting humpback whale song doesn't get any response, and starts trying to destroy the planet Earth as a result. To prevent this, Kirk and his friends travel back in time (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
• Kirk is demoted to the rank of Captain, and thus he can return to being the Captain of the Enterprise (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) .
• The Enterprise crew goes on another adventure, which might be boiled down to this memorable incident: Captain Kirk asks the question "What does God need with a starship?" (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) .
• Hikaru Sulu becomes captain of the USS Excelsior.
• Kirk is framed for the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, and he and McCoy even go to prison for that presumed crime, but their friends rescue them in time to prevent another assassination. Kirk saves the peace talks and is told to bring the Enterprise back to Earth. He might end up taking his time getting there (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) .
• Tuvok serves under Captain Sulu aboard the Excelsior (ST:VOY S3E2, "Flashback") .
• Later that year, Kirk and other crew members are visiting the newly commissioned Enterprise-B. After an encounter with the Nexus that destroys a good part of the ship, Kirk is considered dead (Star Trek Generations) .
• Captain Rachel Garrett and the Enterprise-C are lost while defending a Klingon settlement, an event which proved pivotal to creating peace between the Klingons and the Federation — so pivotal that when it didn't happen in an alternate universe, it led to a far worse future (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
• War between the Federation and Cardassian Union begins, with conflicts tapering off in the 2350s.
• The USS Pegasus is considered missing after experimenting with phasing technology ( ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .

The Rise of Picard, Sisko, and Janeway

• Seven years later, Picard re-experiences this first mission, because it is revealed that the trial which Q began during the trip to Farpoint had never actually ended ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
• Lieutenant Natasha Yar is killed in action (ST:TNG S1E23, "Skin of Evil") .
• The Enterprise encounters the Borg for the first time, after being flung into the Delta Quadrant by Q (ST:TNG S2E16, "Q Who") .
• The Enterprise-C arrives in a very changed version of the universe, 22 years after it disappeared into a temporal rift. Captain Garrett and her crew eventually return to the point of their disappearance to preserve the original timeline, with Tasha Yar (who did not die in this new timeline) returning with them (ST:TNG S3E15, "Yesterday's Enterprise") .
• Jean-Luc Picard gets abducted by the Borg, and a battle he spearheads as Locutus of Borg, known as Wolf 359, is a brutal moment for the Federation. Benjamin Sisko's wife Jennifer is one of the many, many casualties (ST:TNG S3E26-S4E1, "The Best of Both Worlds"; ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
• With the ascension of Gowron as Emperor, the Klingon Civil War begins.
• The Klingon Civil War ends, with Gowron maintaining his control over the Empire (ST:TNG S5E1, "Redemption II") .
• Ambassador Spock travels to Romulus to try to reunite the Vulcans and Romulan people — unsuccessfully. (ST:TNG S5E7-8, "Redemption I-II") .
• Commander Benjamin Sisko arrives at the station Deep Space Nine, where he encounters the "wormhole aliens," AKA "the Prophets," and devotes himself to bringing local planet Bajor into the Federation as Bajor rebuilds after Cardassian occupation (ST:DS9 S1E1, "Emissary") .
• The Enterprise-D recovers long-lost Montgomery Scott from a transporter buffer, and Scotty sets out to go exploring the galaxy (ST:TNG S6E4, "Relics").
• Commander Riker, struggling to decide what to do when his old commanding officer Admiral Pressman asks for his help, uses the holodeck to look back at Captain Archer's big speech to the Coalition of Planets (ST:ENT S4E22, "These Are the Voyages..."; ST:TNG S7E12, "The Pegasus") .
• The Federation-Cardassian Treaty is signed, officially ending hostilities and creating a demilitarized zone that left several planets previously colonized by Federation citizens under Cardassian control. This leads to the creation of the Maquis, former Federation members who rebel against the Cardassians (ST:DS9 S2E20-21, "The Maquis") .
• Picard begins to shift in time, from his past to his future, which lead to him discovering that Q has spent the last seven years evaluating the human race, based on the adventures of Picard and his crew. Ultimately, Picard convinces Q of humanity's value ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
• Picard learns that his brother and nephew have ben killed in a fire at his family vineyard (Star Trek Generations) .
• The Enterprise-D gets caught up in Dr. Soran's attempt to reach the Nexus, a realm outside of space and time that can feel like paradise. Picard, inside the Nexus, meets Kirk, who he convinces to leave the Nexus with him to stop Soran. They succeed, but Kirk is killed and the Enterprise is destroyed (Star Trek Generations) .
• The USS Voyager departs Deep Space Nine to track down a missing Maquis ship, but both ships end up getting dragged 75,000 light years away from Earth. The Starfleet and Maquis crews end up working together to try to get back to the Alpha Quadrant (ST:VOY S1E1-2, "Caretaker") .
• The USS Defiant, a new ship to be captained by Benjamin Sisko, arrives at Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S3E1, "The Search, Part I") .
• Odo learns that his people, the Changelings, are the Founders of the Dominion, which controls the Gamma Quadrant, and now aims to take over the Alpha Quadrant (ST:DS9 S3E1-2, "The Search, Parts I/II") .
• The Enterprise-E is launched.
• Thanks to Changeling infiltration at the highest levels of government, war erupts between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Worf joins the crew of Deep Space Nine (ST:DS9 S4E1-2, "The Way of the Warrior") .
• After the Battle of Sector 001, in which the Borg gets close to attacking the Earth, the Enterprise-E launches into action, following a Borg Sphere back into the past (Star Trek: First Contact) .
• When the Changeling impersonating General Martok is revealed, war between the Federation and the Klingons ends (ST:DS9 S5E1, "Apocalypse Rising") .
• The Federation first learns about the existence of the non-corporeal Pah-wraiths, enemies of the Bajoran Prophets, when one of them takes over the body of Keiko O'Brien (ST:DS9 S5E5, "The Assignment") .
• Bashir, without anyone's knowledge, is replaced by a Changeling, which is not uncovered for a month (ST:DS9 S5E14-15, "In Purgatory's Shadow"/"By Inferno's Light") .
• The Dominion, as part of the deal, helps Cardassia completely eliminate the Maquis.
• To avoid war with the Dominion, the Bajorans sign a non-aggression treaty (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
• The Dominion takes over the Bajor sector as the Federation departs, beginning the Dominion War (ST:DS9 S5E26, "Call to Arms") .
• Voyager assists the Borg in fighting off Species 8472, and a drone known as Seven of Nine gets marooned on their ship (ST:VOY S4E1, "Scorpion, Part II") .
• Meanwhile, crew member Kes leaves the ship to explore her psychic abilities (ST:VOY S4E2, "The Gift") .
• The Dominion War is fought on multiple fronts, with Kira leading a resistance effort on Deep Space Nine while Sisko and the Defiant battle to eventually retake the station (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
• Gul Dukat's daughter Ziyal is killed by Damar during the battle over DS9 (ST:DS9 S6E6, "Sacrifice of Angels") .
• Worf and Jadzia Dax get married (ST:DS9 S6E7, "You Are Cordially Invited...") .
• First major appearance of Section 31 (in the Prime timeline), as an agent attempts to recruit Bashir (ST:DS9 S6E18, "Inquisition") .
• Thanks to Sisko working with the ruthless Garak, the Romulans join the war against the Dominion (ST:DS9 S6E19, "In the Pale Moonlight") .
• Dukat, having snuck onto DS9, kills Jadzia Dax and releases a Pah-wraith which closes the Bajoran wormhole permanently (ST:DS9 S6E26, "Tears of the Prophets") .
• The Dax symbiont is joined with a Trill named Ezri (ST:DS9 S7E1, "Image in the Sand") .
• After having left DS9 for a short time, Sisko recovers the Orb of the Emissary, and returns to reopen the wormhole (ST:DS9 S7E2, "Shadows and Symbols") .
• Dukat now leads a cult devoted to the worship of the Pah-wraiths (ST:DS9 S7E9, "Covenant") .
• The Enterprise-E crew, including Worf, work together to reconcile the Son'a and Ba'ku people after a century of distrust (Star Trek: Insurrection) .
• Sisko makes plans for life after the Dominion War, and also marries long-time girlfriend Kasidy Yates (ST:DS9 S7E18, "'Til Death Do Us Part") .
• Kira, Odo and Garak go to Cardassia to help Damar, now in open rebellion against the Dominion, lead a resistance movement. Odo learns that he has been infected by the virus killing the Changelings, which was created by Section 31 (ST:DS9 S7E21, "When It Rains...") .
• The Defiant is destroyed by the Breen, and a new ship is renamed in its honor (ST:DS9 S7E24, "The Dogs of War") .
• Odo, having been cured of Section 31's disease, returns to his people to spread the cure to them (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind").
• Dukat, having surgically altered himself to resemble a Bajoran, becomes a confidante of Kai Winn and manipulates her into helping him unlock the power of the Pah-wraiths in the Fire Caves on Bajor. Sisko arrives in time to stop him, but all three of them are considered dead (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
• The Dominion War ends (ST:DS9 S7E26, "What You Leave Behind") .
• The USS Voyager continues its journey home.
• Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres get married (ST:VOY S7E3, "Drive") .
• Neelix leaves Voyager to join a Talaxian community (ST:VOY S7E23, "Homestead").
• With the help of a time-travelling Admiral Janeway, Voyager successfully uses the Borg transwarp network to get back to Earth (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
• Miral Paris is born (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
• William Riker and Deanna Troi get married (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
• The Enterprise-E discovers that Data's creator, Dr. Soong, had created an early prototype of Data known as B-4, which is more primitive than Data. Data tries to help by transferring his memories into B-4.
• Picard comes to Romulus after a military coup puts Shinzon, a clone of Picard created by Romulans who ended up becoming the leader of the Remans. In the ensuing fight, Picard kills Shinzon, but Data is killed saving his crew (Star Trek: Nemesis) .
• Ensign Tendi joins Rutherford, Mariner, and Boimler to serve on board the U.S.S. Cerritos, a ship dedicated to "second contact" encounters with new civilizations (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E1, "Second Contact") .
• Boimler jumps at the chance of promotion to serve on board the U.S.S. Titan under the command of Captain William Riker, leaving behind his friends on the Cerritos (Star Trek: Lower Decks S1E10, "No Small Parts") .
• Thaddeus "Thad" Troi-Riker is born (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe").

The Future Is a Dark Place

• Jean-Luc Picard puts the Data's Daughter painting into storage at the Starfleet Archive Museum (ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
• Seven of Nne, working as a Fenris Ranger near the Romulan Neutral Zone, loses adopted son Icheb (a former Borg like herself) after Icheb is attacked by raiders looking for black market Borg implants (ST:PIC S1E5, "Stardust City Rag") .
• When a star near Romulus goes supernova, the entire planet is destroyed, despite Spock's attempt to stop the explosion by injecting the star with Red Matter and creating a black hole. The black hole instead brings both his ship and the nearby Romulan mining vessel containing Nero into the past (Star Trek 2009) .

2388-89 (approximate):

• In the wake of the destruction of Romulus, the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards of Mars are destroyed by rebellious synthetic workers on First Contact Day (April 5), killing thousands and leaving Mars ablaze for years to follow (ST:ST "Children of Mars," ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance") .
• The Troi-Riker family moves to the outlying planet of Nepenthe (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
• The original year that the Voyager returned to the Alpha Quadrant, prior to Janeway's temporal interference (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
• While the future that Picard saw during his final confrontation with Q was eventually rewritten, this would have been the year in which Picard reunited his old crew to work together to stop the anomaly ( ST:TNG S7E25-26 , "All Good Things").
• Thad Troi-Riker dies of mendaxic neurosclerosis at the age of 15 (ST:PIC S1E7, "Nepenthe") .
• Jean-Luc Picard, having left Starfleet years ago after the destruction of Romulus, meets Dahj, a frightened young woman with a mysterious connection to Data. She inspires him to leave retirement and investigate further ( ST:PIC S1E1, "Remembrance").
• Picard's search to understand Dahj's origins leads him to assemble a ramshackle crew and discover Dahj's synth twin Soji, but in the race to save her and her fellow synths, Picard's terminal brain condition catches up with him and he dies in the climactic battle. Fortunately, his consciousness is saved and transplanted into a synthetic body, meaning that Picard has potentially years worth of adventure ahead of him (ST:PIC S1E10, "Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 2") .
• Admiral Janeway, having spent years figuring out a plan, leaves her original timeline to travel to the year 2378 and change the past (ST:VOY S7E25, "Endgame") .
• The USS Discovery arrives in an uncharted future. What happens next is totally unknown (ST:DIS S2E14, "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2," ST:DIS Season 3) .

3200s (or potentially more):

1000 years into the future of the Discovery, the abandoned ship (run by a now-sentient computer) rescues an escape pod and forms a bond with its occupant (ST:ST "Calypso") .

2024 Is a Hell of a Year in Star Trek History

A year of hell, you might say. but not that one. this is a different kind of bad..

The year 2024 is shaping up to be solid for Star Trek in our own reality—we’ve got the final season of Discovery , work is underway on Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 film , and we’ve got the future of Strange New Worlds , Prodigy , and Lower Decks to look towards (and maybe even more ?). But in Star Trek itself, this year is... well, it’s not great.

A lot— a lot —happens historically in Star Trek ’s 2024 , crucially important events that go on to not just shape Earth as it is in the early 21st century, but form foundational pillars for the contemporary Star Trek timeline. It’s a year we’ve heard about, and visited, multiple times across several Trek shows. So what’s exactly wild about it? Well, let us take a look through Trek ’s past to find out... and perhaps, our future?

Irish Reunification

As mentioned by Data in TNG ’s third season episode “The High Ground,” the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland bring an end to a century of violence and British influence to become a united nation in its own right in 2024.

We’re probably closer to the chance of Scottish independence happening sometime soon rather than that in our own timeline, but according to Data, reunification wasn’t just a step on the path to a more globalized Earth in terms of a planetary society, the event was a notable example of terrorism as a successful political instrument.

Global Political and Environmental Upheaval

Beyond Irish Reunification, 2024 in Trek history is defined by a series of political and environmental crises. In Europe, France is rocked by a series of civil protests and political battles between Neo-Trotskyists and Gaullists over how to deal with them, seen by the wider world as an indicator of Europe’s descent into turmoil.

Climate change also continues to rock the world this year, with America ravaged by wildfires, polluted air, and other forms of climate displacement that see it wracked with a homelessness crisis that eventually leads to the establishment of Sanctuary Districts, walled sectors of major cities designed to combat mass displacement and economic downturn, but only leading to... well, we’ll get to that later.

Pretty Much the Entirety of Star Trek: Picard Season 2

And you thought the global political and environmental upheaval was bad! I kid, I kid.

Almost all of Picard ’s second season is set in 2024, as Q, attempting to help Jean-Luc reckon with the past of his family, sends the Admiral and his allies back to 2024 Los Angeles and mucks about with the timeline and Jean-Luc’s great-great-cousin, Renée Picard. Renée was a mission specialist on an interplanetary mission launched in 2024 called the Europa Expedition, an alliance between the United States and multiple world nations to send a shuttle to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

During the mission Renée discovers a sentient microorganism on the moon Io, and brings it back to Earth for study—setting the stage for vital research that would radically combat climate change, avoiding humanity’s impending extinction.

The Bell Riots

Extinction avoided is nice, but that doesn’t stop other bad things existing in Trek ’s 2024. Remember those Sanctuary Districts we mentioned earlier? They begin cropping up in major cities all over the United States, intended to provide free housing, healthcare, and job opportunities to people impacted by the wave of economic, climate, and political crises wracking the country. But Sanctuary Districts rapidly descended into totalitarian ghettos, with local police forces ruling the districts with iron fists, and local governments using the sanctuaries to corral poor civilians away from the upper classes, largely unaware of just how brutal the districts had become.

As depicted in the Deep Space Nine two-parter “Past Tense,” in the late summer of 2024 in San Francisco’s Sanctuary District A, a group of residents lead by Gabriel Bell staged a violent takeover of the district’s processing center, taking several federal employees and police officers hostage. The hostage situation was nearly diffused peacefully on Bell’s part (who was, in fact, Captain Benjamin Sisko, who created a paradox after a transporter accident led to him and several of his officers being sent back to 2024 and inadvertently causing the death of the real Graham Bell), with the plight of the Sanctuary Districts being broadcast across the U.S..

But the Governor of California ordered a violent crackdown on District A by the National Guard, leading to the massacre of hundreds of residents being broadcast as well. The Bell Riots, as they would come to be known, sparked a wave of public action against Sanctuary Districts—leading to campaigns for mass socioeconomic reform to replace the need for the districts.

The Advent of World War III

Okay so this doesn’t actually happen in 2024, but it’s important to note after last couple of events—turning points in human history for the better, without which a United Earth and the concept of Starfleet and eventually the Federation wouldn’t have existed—that things don’t immediately start improving. In fact, they get much, much worse: World War III breaks out two years later in 2026.

Continuing global unrest sees the United States enter thermonuclear war with a pan-nation alliance known as the Eastern Coalition. Lasting into the early 2050s, World War III sees the death of six hundred million million people, the eradication of almost every major city on Earth, and the complete destruction or dissolution of many national governments. Society as most of Earth had known it for hundreds of years collapsed entirely, and if not for the arrival of a group of Vulcans in 2063 to kickstart humanity’s ascent to the interstellar sphere, it likely would’ve stayed that way as the remnants of the species navigated the fallout of the post-apocalypse.

But Hey, the Baseball’s Pretty Good?

So the global thermonuclear war, ravages of climate change, and economic and political turmoil are all pretty bad. But baseball in 2024? Never been better .

A hilariously obscure factoid from Captain Sisko’s love of the ancient game , we learn in background ephemera from Deep Space Nine that 2024 is the year Harmon “Buck” Bokai, considered one of the greatest players of the game in human history, becomes the first solar system-wide batting champion while playing for Seibu in, presumably, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, before moving to the London Kings in 2025. Just how an Earth still in the nascent stages of interplanetary exploration has a solar system-wide professional sports body has never been explained—there was at least, eventually, a Planetary Baseball League on Earth—but good for him!

Bokai would continue to play baseball for a variety of teams for the next two decades, when the professional livelihood of the sport came to an end in 2042 with the final World Series. Don’t ask how they kept playing professional baseball during the near-total-devastation of Earth, either.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

• Newsletters

Site search

• Israel-Hamas war
• Home Planet
• 2024 election
• Supreme Court
• TikTok’s fate
• All explainers
• Future Perfect

Filed under:

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine accidentally predicted the 2020s by writing about the 1990s

Income inequality, homelessness, and other social ills of the 2020s — predicted by TV writers looking out their windows in 1995.

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Twitter
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine accidentally predicted the 2020s by writing about the 1990s

The idea that science fiction “predicts” the future is a misnomer.

Understandably, when a work of science fiction eerily and accurately seems to predict what happened in the world, there’s an unsettling feeling of magical prophecy to it. Back to the Future II didn’t nail everything about 2015, but it did get some things right , and isn’t that interesting? And that’s before we consider that film’s portrayal of the villainous Biff Tannen as a megalomaniacal casino magnate whose characterization drew plenty from one Donald Trump , which has made the movie feel even more prescient.

But the idea that a sci-fi story can “predict” the future misrepresents the genre’s strengths. Science fiction is almost never really about the future, and shouldn’t aim to be — it’s much more effective as a way to make sense of the present. A book like Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents (about a brutally racist, fascist United States, ruled by a president who ran on the campaign slogan “Make America Great Again”) doesn’t act as a crystal ball. It acts as a mirror. Butler wasn’t really writing about an imagined 2030s, when the book is set. She was using dystopian fiction to create a lens through which the readers of 1998 (when the book was published) could see the rot that had already taken hold in their own world.

Science fiction has been pointing toward a dystopian America, ruled by prejudice and often outright fascism, for decades now . But that trend hasn’t always made its way to television — especially not to the Star Trek franchise , which boasts a utopian worldview of a humanity that settled its many conflicts and united to explore the furthest reaches of space. Star Trek is not completely devoid of dystopias, but they typically pop up only in the form of one-off planets of the week.

And yet one of the pieces of science fiction that has best seemed to herald the 2020s is a two-parter from the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . The episodes are set in 2024, but they were filmed in 1994 and aired in early 1995. They depict an America where inequality has spun out of control, where homelessness is a problem that no one is particularly interested in tackling compassionately, and where divisions centered on race and income spiral into violence.

The “Past Tense” pair of episodes isn’t just remarkable for how uncannily it reflects the world we live in now. It’s remarkable for how it’s been sitting there for nearly 30 years, in plain sight, within one of the most popular TV franchises of all time.

“Past Tense” is all about a world where wealth inequality is out of control

“Past Tense, Part I” and “Past Tense, Part II” aired on January 2 and January 9, 1995. They’re part of a long line of Star Trek time travel episodes, but only a few of those time travel episodes visit an Earth that is in the characters’ distant past but the audience’s near future. As such, they are among just a handful of Star Trek stories that take place during the part of the Star Trek mythos where humanity had to overcome its differences to get to the utopia awaiting us in the 2300s.

Due to a transporter malfunction, three crew members of the Deep Space Nine space station are dropped in San Francisco in the year 2024. Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), both men of color, are deposited in what amounts to an internment camp. Chief science officer Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), who presents as a white woman, ends up hanging out with the mega-rich. (Dax is a Trill symbiote, meaning that while her body may seem human, her mind has been joined with sluglike alien that contains the memories of seven past lives. Just go with it. It’s Star Trek .)

Sisko realizes that they have been sent to the past mere days before what are now known in the Star Trek universe as the Bell riots, an event that will bring knowledge of the inhumane conditions within the “sanctuary districts” to a national audience, leading to an early flowering of social change. (Bashir, for his part, has never studied 21st-century history, dubbing it “too depressing.”)

Eventually, Sisko and Bashir meet Gabriel Bell, the man whose death will give the Bell riots their name. But by the end of “Past Tense, Part I,” Bell has died before the riots begin, altering the timeline irreparably. To preserve the timeline, Sisko must adopt Bell’s identity — with all the risk that entails.

While Sisko and Bashir are struggling to survive the frequent violence within the sanctuary district — which usually occurs at the hands of the police — Dax finds herself rubbing elbows with some extremely rich citizens of the Bay Area. As someone who seems to be a beautiful white woman, she is granted access to high society and luxury. That choice was intentional, says one of the writers who worked on the episodes.

Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who co-conceived of the story for “Past Tense” (with Ira Steven Behr) and wrote the teleplay for the first installment, pointed out to me in an interview that if there’s one thing these two episodes got desperately wrong about the 2020s, it’s the computers, which woefully lag behind what we have right now. And yet they seem to have anticipated the wealth disparities in Silicon Valley all the same.

Most notably, “Past Tense” reveals an extremely rigid caste system built atop race and class, a real-world problem that has taken on incredible urgency in recent years. Yet the impetus for its story, according to Wolfe, was the large unhoused population in Santa Monica, California, more than two decades ago.

“We weren’t being predictive. We were just looking out our windows in the ’90s,” Wolfe says. “My wife worked with homeless and mentally ill people as a psychotherapist. Ira [Steven Behr] said what convinced him to do the episodes was walking through Palisades Park in Santa Monica and seeing all the homeless people there. They’re still there. It hasn’t changed. We weren’t being predictive. We were just being observant.”

“Past Tense” also suggests that knowledge of brutal inequality will lead to a demand for it to change. So far, reality hasn’t borne this out.

Deep Space Nine is unique in the Star Trek franchise for the view it provides of the worst aspects of humanity’s present (or, within the Star Trek universe, its past). Sisko was the franchise’s first Black captain, and his knowledge of America’s long history of racism drove some of Deep Space Nine ’s best episodes, including the “Past Tense” two-parter. Wolfe told me that having Sisko paired up with the much less knowledgeable Bashir was deliberate, so that Bashir could learn, in real time, lessons that Sisko has always known, even though both exist in a more tolerant future.

But Sisko’s knowledge of his history only goes so far in helping us understand our present. Implicit in “Past Tense” is that so long as the Bell riots happen and so long as Gabriel Bell dies trying to defend hostages that the rioters have captured to ensure their safety, the world will learn just how bad conditions are in the sanctuary districts, and a grassroots groundswell will lead to sweeping social change.

Certainly, the scenes in “Past Tense” where the riots break out now read as reminiscent of last summer’s ongoing protests against police violence, after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In Star Trek ’s fictional world, as in our real one, a group of people who have been systemically oppressed rose up and caught the attention of those who might not normally have noticed. (In “Past Tense,” Dax is our link to the world of those who might ignore the sanctuary districts.)

But a point of view that looks optimistically toward real-world reform seems hopelessly naive in 2021, when presenting a coherent narrative that might lead to social change is harder than ever.

Deep Space Nine existed in a world with much more homogeneous media consumption. There were still only a handful of major television networks. Most towns of any size still had their own newspaper, and sometimes a radio station. A story like the Bell riots really might have garnered widespread frustration with the ruling class and spurred measurable change in a world with such a controlled media ecosystem. That world is not our world.

The protests of summer 2020 successfully directed Americans’ attention toward police violence against communities of color, especially Black communities. But the country’s media ecosystem has become so bifurcated in recent years that it was far too easy for anchors on Fox News to push the idea that protesters were a lawless mob, while left-leaning outlets too often focused on minute questions of whether the slogan “Defund the police” was too confrontational for the sorts of moderate voters who ultimately helped elect Joe Biden to the presidency. Finding a singular narrative amid all that noise ended up being impossible.

Since he wrote that episode of Star Trek , “the militarization of police has gotten even more advanced. They have even more weaponry and seemingly more willingness to use it,” Wolfe told me. “As the SWAT team was coming in [to the Sanctuary District during the riots], they were somewhat careful at least. Today, we probably wouldn’t portray that the same way.”

Yet even if “Past Tense” didn’t predict the future with 100 percent accuracy (which, again, shouldn’t have been its goal to begin with), it remains a chilling look at our present by a TV show looking out its own window in the past and seeing the problems we’re still dealing with today. In many cases, those problems have even gotten much, much worse.

“As a writer, all you can do is be a voice in the wilderness, sometimes. You can yell, ‘Fire!’ but you can’t put it out,” Wolfe says. “It’s disappointing that we’re still grappling with this problem. I certainly would have hoped it would be better by now, and people would be like, ‘Ha! Remember that Deep Space Nine episode that said homelessness would still be a problem in the 2020s? They were so gloomy!’ But one of the themes of the show is that paradise doesn’t come for free. Even if it does get handed to you, you have to continually work to protect it and renew it and advance it.”

Correction: The original version of this article implied that Dax is human, while her brain is joined to a Trill. The truth is that both Dax’s body and mind are Trill. She is a humanoid, but not human. I have never meant the phrase, “I regret the error” as much as I do now.

Will you support Vox today?

We believe that everyone deserves to understand the world that they live in. That kind of knowledge helps create better citizens, neighbors, friends, parents, and stewards of this planet. Producing deeply researched, explanatory journalism takes resources. You can support this mission by making a financial gift to Vox today. Will you join us?

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via

Next Up In Culture

Sign up for the newsletter today, explained.

Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day.

Thanks for signing up!

Check your inbox for a welcome email.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

Everything’s a cult now

We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives

How today’s antiwar protests stack up against major student movements in history

What the backlash to student protests over Gaza is really about

You need $500. How should you get it?

Food delivery fees have soared. How much of it goes to workers?

How Do Star Trek Stardates Actually Work?

There are few handier delivery mechanisms for "Star Trek" exposition than a Captain's log entry, crucial Starfleet records that mark time with "stardates" — an enigmatic calendar system integrating decimals into each date. Although based on a real-world astronomical dating system, the Starfleet version doesn't make a ton of sense because it was never meant to, which is why  the "Star Trek" timeline can seem confusing  the deeper you dig into it.

As outlined in a  1967 "Star Trek" writer and director's guide, "The progression of stardates in your script should remain constant but don't worry about whether or not there is a progression from other scripts." Still, understanding the Julian date system can be a good starting point for those who care to try.

Speaking with The Space Review  in 2019, "Star Trek: The Original Series" technical advisor Kellam de Forest explained that the futuristic calendar system was inspired by the Julian day — the solar day measurement used in the 365-day Julian solar dating system that predated the Gregorian calendar. Because the Julian day system creates a continued count of dates from the beginning of the Julian period, the ease of calculation between two dates without breaks has made it the preferred calendar for many scientific applications, including astronomical software. Julian dates are calculated by adding the Julian day — that is, the solar day since the beginning of the Julian calendar — and then adding a decimal point to indicate the fraction of the day that has passed since noon in Universal Time Code (UTC). Although the Julian date calculates days running into the millions, only the final five digits are commonly used by astronomers — and just four are used in "Star Trek."

Stardates are intentionally difficult to calculate

According to the "Star Trek" writer's guide, the Starfleet calendar system was invented to deemphasize the in-universe date. As the guide puts it, "We invented 'Stardate' to avoid continually mentioning Star Trek's century (actually, about two hundred years from now), and getting into arguments about whether this or that would have developed by then."

Speaking on the 1988 documentary  "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story," de Forest emphasized that this almost wasn't the case since the original script contained dates from the Gregorian calendar. Upon reviewing the script, de Forest felt this didn't feel right for the future spacefaring society. As a solution, he pitched the Julian-inspired concept, which the tech advisor felt had a futuristic vibe thanks to its use of decimals.

While  "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry  liked the concept as a jumping-off point, his version was always meant to be a little esoteric, as Samuel A. Peeples, who wrote the second pilot for "Star Trek: The Original Series," recounted in  "Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and Man Behind Star Trek."  According to Peeples, "We tried to set up a system that would be unidentifiable unless you knew how we did it." Conceptualizing the revised stardate system over drinks, Roddenberry and Peeples took into account the weirdness of space and relative time, ultimately concluding that any  date-related continuity errors in "Star Trek"  could be chalked up to these issues. Or as the "Star Trek" writer's guide put it, "Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode." In other words, don't think too hard about it.

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Balance transfer cards
• Cash back cards
• Rewards cards
• Travel cards
• Online checking
• High-yield savings
• Money market
• Home equity loan
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Options pit
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

2024 Is a Hell of a Year in Star Trek History

The year 2024 is shaping up to be solid for Star Trek in our own reality—we’ve got the final season of Discovery , work is underway on Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 film , and we’ve got the future of Strange New Worlds, Prodigy, and Lower Decks to look towards (and maybe even more ?). But in Star Trek itself, this year is... well, it’s not great.

A lot—a lot—happens historically in Star Trek’s 2024 , crucially important events that go on to not just shape Earth as it is in the early 21st century, but form foundational pillars for the contemporary Star Trek timeline. It’s a year we’ve heard about, and visited, multiple times across several Trek shows. So what’s exactly wild about it? Well, let us take a look through Trek’s past to find out... and perhaps, our future?

Ram Will Still Sell You A Brand-New, 16-Year-Old Truck

These Are The Black Celebs Who Were Named On Jeffrey Epstein's List

For 21 Minutes, This Fla. Inmate was Beaten to Death. The Reason Why Will Break Your Heart

Toyota Supra Sales Plummeted Last Year Because You All Have Terrible Taste

Wait, Ridiculous Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron (Who is Black) Wants to Wage War on What?

As mentioned by Data in TNG’s third season episode “The High Ground,” the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland bring an end to a century of violence and British influence to become a united nation in its own right in 2024.

We’re probably closer to the chance of Scottish independence happening sometime soon rather than that in our own timeline, but according to Data, reunification wasn’t just a step on the path to a more globalized Earth in terms of a planetary society, the event was a notable example of terrorism as a successful political instrument.

Global Political and Environmental Upheaval

Beyond Irish Reunification, 2024 in Trek history is defined by a series of political and environmental crises. In Europe, France is rocked by a series of civil protests and political battles between Neo-Trotskyists and Gaullists over how to deal with them, seen by the wider world as an indicator of Europe’s descent into turmoil.

Climate change also continues to rock the world this year, with America ravaged by wildfires, polluted air, and other forms of climate displacement that see it wracked with a homelessness crisis that eventually leads to the establishment of Sanctuary Districts, walled sectors of major cities designed to combat mass displacement and economic downturn, but only leading to... well, we’ll get to that later.

Pretty Much the Entirety of Star Trek: Picard Season 2

And you thought the global political and environmental upheaval was bad! I kid, I kid.

Almost all of Picard’s second season is set in 2024, as Q, attempting to help Jean-Luc reckon with the past of his family, sends the Admiral and his allies back to 2024 Los Angeles and mucks about with the timeline and Jean-Luc’s great-great-cousin, Renée Picard. Renée was a mission specialist on an interplanetary mission launched in 2024 called the Europa Expedition, an alliance between the United States and multiple world nations to send a shuttle to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

During the mission Renée discovers a sentient microorganism on the moon Io, and brings it back to Earth for study—setting the stage for vital research that would radically combat climate change, avoiding humanity’s impending extinction.

The Bell Riots

Extinction avoided is nice, but that doesn’t stop other bad things existing in Trek’s 2024. Remember those Sanctuary Districts we mentioned earlier? They begin cropping up in major cities all over the United States, intended to provide free housing, healthcare, and job opportunities to people impacted by the wave of economic, climate, and political crises wracking the country. But Sanctuary Districts rapidly descended into totalitarian ghettos, with local police forces ruling the districts with iron fists, and local governments using the sanctuaries to corral poor civilians away from the upper classes, largely unaware of just how brutal the districts had become.

As depicted in the Deep Space Nine two-parter “Past Tense,” in the late summer of 2024 in San Francisco’s Sanctuary District A, a group of residents lead by Gabriel Bell staged a violent takeover of the district’s processing center, taking several federal employees and police officers hostage. The hostage situation was nearly diffused peacefully on Bell’s part (who was, in fact, Captain Benjamin Sisko, who created a paradox after a transporter accident led to him and several of his officers being sent back to 2024 and inadvertently causing the death of the real Graham Bell), with the plight of the Sanctuary Districts being broadcast across the U.S..

But the Governor of California ordered a violent crackdown on District A by the National Guard, leading to the massacre of hundreds of residents being broadcast as well. The Bell Riots, as they would come to be known, sparked a wave of public action against Sanctuary Districts—leading to campaigns for mass socioeconomic reform to replace the need for the districts.

The Advent of World War III

Okay so this doesn’t actually happen in 2024, but it’s important to note after last couple of events—turning points in human history for the better, without which a United Earth and the concept of Starfleet and eventually the Federation wouldn’t have existed—that things don’t immediately start improving. In fact, they get much, much worse: World War III breaks out two years later in 2026.

Continuing global unrest sees the United States enter thermonuclear war with a pan-nation alliance known as the Eastern Coalition. Lasting into the early 2050s, World War III sees the death of six hundred million million people, the eradication of almost every major city on Earth, and the complete destruction or dissolution of many national governments. Society as most of Earth had known it for hundreds of years collapsed entirely, and if not for the arrival of a group of Vulcans in 2063 to kickstart humanity’s ascent to the interstellar sphere, it likely would’ve stayed that way as the remnants of the species navigated the fallout of the post-apocalypse.

But Hey, the Baseball’s Pretty Good?

So the global thermonuclear war, ravages of climate change, and economic and political turmoil are all pretty bad. But baseball in 2024? Never been better.

A hilariously obscure factoid from Captain Sisko’s love of the ancient game , we learn in background ephemera from Deep Space Nine that 2024 is the year Harmon “Buck” Bokai, considered one of the greatest players of the game in human history, becomes the first solar system-wide batting champion while playing for Seibu in, presumably, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, before moving to the London Kings in 2025. Just how an Earth still in the nascent stages of interplanetary exploration has a solar system-wide professional sports body has never been explained—there was at least, eventually, a Planetary Baseball League on Earth—but good for him!

Bokai would continue to play baseball for a variety of teams for the next two decades, when the professional livelihood of the sport came to an end in 2042 with the final World Series. Don’t ask how they kept playing professional baseball during the near-total-devastation of Earth, either.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

More from Gizmodo

Mess! The Billionaire Who Wanted Harvard's Claudine Gay Fired Has a Wife Who Plagiarized

Katt Williams Breaks the Internet By Dissing Everyone, and Michael Jackson's Mother Is Fighting in Court

Fan-Revived MMO Given Official License To Continue

Where Have All The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs Gone?

Watch The Giant Hammers Of Doom Cause Carnage In Real Life

Sign up for Gizmodo's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .

Click here to read the full article.

Recommended Stories

Nfl draft: packers fan upset with team's 1st pick, and lions fans hilariously rubbed it in.

Not everyone was thrilled with their team's draft on Thursday night.

NFL Draft: Bears take Iowa punter, who immediately receives funny text from Caleb Williams

There haven't been many punters drafted in the fourth round or higher like Tory Taylor just was. Chicago's No. 1 overall pick welcomed him in unique fashion.

NFL to allow players to wear protective Guardian Caps in games beginning with 2024 season

The NFL will allow players to wear protective Guardian Caps during games beginning with the 2024 season. The caps were previously mandated for practices.

NFL Draft: Spencer Rattler's long wait ends, as Saints draft him in the 5th round

Spencer Rattler once looked like a good bet to be a first-round pick.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones compared his 2024 NFL Draft strategy to robbing a bank

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made an amusing analogy when asked why the team selected three offensive lineman in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Michael Penix Jr. said Kirk Cousins called him after Falcons' surprising draft selection

Atlanta Falcons first-round draft pick Michael Penix Jr. said quarterback Kirk Cousins called him after he was picked No. 8 overall in one of the 2024 NFL Draft's more puzzling selections.

Korey Cunningham, former NFL lineman, found dead in New Jersey home at age 28

Cunningham played 31 games in the NFL with the Cardinals, Patriots and Giants.

NFL Draft: Brenden Rice, son of Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, picked by Chargers

Brenden Rice played the same position as his legendary father.

Based on the odds, here's what the top 10 picks of the NFL Draft will be

What would a mock draft look like using just betting odds?

NFL Draft fashion: Caleb Williams, Malik Nabers dressed to impress, but Marvin Harrison Jr.'s medallion stole the show

Every player was dressed to impress at the 2024 NFL Draft.

Star Trek timeline: Boldly go on a chronological journey through the Trek universe

From the Original Series to Discovery, here’s how the Star Trek timeline fits together

The Star Trek timeline becomes more sprawling every week. There's little chance Gene Roddenberry, when he created the series back in the '60s, could have guessed that there would be a new episode of Star Trek made available every week (sometimes even two!).

With hundreds of hours of television spread across several TV shows and over a dozen movies, knowing where to begin with the Star Trek timeline is something of a challenge. The events of the ongoing series Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard don't exactly fit in seamlessly at the end. And if you're wanting to include Voyager or Nemesis on a watch/rewatch, then you're in for some complications.

With that in mind, we’ve assembled all the key events that shaped Federation history into one massive Star Trek timeline. We’ve even included the parallel "Kelvin" continuity of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie and its sequels, an alternative sequence of events kickstarted when a rogue Romulan ship from the future destroyed the USS Kelvin – killing James T. Kirk’s dad, George, and forever altering Kirk and Spock’s destinies. 

That said, because the numerous spin-off Trek comics and novels aren’t traditionally considered part of the official Star Trek timeline, we’ve left them out. We’ve also steered clear of the Mirror Universe, so there isn’t quite so much timey-wimey stuff going on that you’d have to be Spock or Data to understand it. But before we engage the warp drive and explore the history of the future, here’s an at-a-glance guide to how the various movies and TV shows fit into the Star Trek timeline:

The Prime Star Trek timeline

• Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)
• Star Trek: The Cage (1965)
• Star Trek Discovery pre-time jump (2017-2019)
• Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (1984)
• Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (1986)
• Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (1989)
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek: Picard (2020-ongoing)
• Star Trek: Discovery post-time jump (2020-ongoing)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-ongoing)

The Kelvin Star Trek timeline

• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Star Trek timeline

Around 200,000 years ago:  An ancient alien species is wiped out by an uprising of synthetic beings. They leave eight stars in an implausible arrangement, the Conclave of Eight, to serve as a warning to future generations. (Star Trek: Picard) 

1893 - The time-travelling crew of the USS Enterprise-D encounters The Adventures of Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain in San Francisco. (Time’s Arrow, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

1930 - Having been sent back to 20th century New York by the malevolent ring the Guardian of Forever, James T Kirk is forced to allow peace campaigner Edith Keeler to die in order to save millions of lives in World War 2. (The City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: The Original Series)

Sign up to the SFX Newsletter

Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!

1947 - Ferengi Quark, Rom, and Nog crash land in 20th century Roswell, New Mexico, and are captured by US authorities who (correctly, to be fair) think they’re aliens. (Little Green Men, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

1986 - Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the original Enterprise crew kidnap a pair of humpback whales to save the future from an alien probe. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

1996 - Genetically enhanced tyrant Khan Noonien Singh and 84 of his followers escape the Eugenics Wars on Earth (remember those?), going into suspended animation on the SS Botany Bay. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

2024  – Picard and La Sirena crew arrive in the 21st century to fix the event that's created a dystopian alternative timeline. Along the way they meet a younger version of Guinan and an ancient ancestor of Data's creator. (Star Trek: Picard)

2063 - In the wake of World War 3, Zefram Cochrane makes Earth’s first successful warp flight, attracting the attention of some passing Vulcans who subsequently introduce Earth into the interstellar community – all while the crew of the Enterprise-E fight to stop the Borg assimilating the planet. (Star Trek: First Contact)

2151 - Suliban fighting in a Temporal Cold War shoot down Klingon warrior Klaang over Broken Bow, Oklahoma – bringing about humanity’s first contact with a Klingon. The prototype USS Enterprise (NX-01) sets off on a mission to return him to Qo’noS – against the wishes of the Vulcans and their massive superiority complex. (Broken Bow, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2153 - An alien probe fires a massive energy beam at Earth’s surface, causing destruction across the American continent. The Enterprise is redeployed to the Delphic Expanse to fight back against the perpetrators, the Xindi. (The Expanse, Star Trek: Enterprise) A group of Borg who survived the attempted invasion of Earth in 2063 are accidentally thawed by a research team in the Arctic. It doesn’t end well. (Regeneration, Star Trek: Enterprise)

2164 - The USS Franklin, commanded by Captain Balthazar Edison, goes missing – that might just prove important later… (Star Trek Beyond)

2230 - Spock is born on Vulcan.

2233 - James T Kirk is born. 

2233 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Kelvin is destroyed by time-travelling 24th century Romulan ship Narada, kickstarting the so-called the Kelvin timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

Every Star Trek Discovery Easter egg and hidden reference you might have missed

2230s (exact date unknown) - After her parents are killed in a Klingon attack, Michael Burnham is adopted by Sarek and Amanda Grayson on Vulcan. Her adoptive brother, Spock, has his first sighting of a “ Red Angel ”. (Will You Take My Hand?, Star Trek: Discovery)

2254 - The USS Enterprise, captained by Christopher Pike, discovers the survivors of crashed survey ship SS Columbia on Talos IV – though it turns out they’re an illusion created by the telepathic Talosians. (Star Trek: The Cage)

2256 - The USS Shenzou’s first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, defies the orders of Captain Philippa Georgiou, and is charged with mutiny. The Federation/Klingon War begins at the Battle of the Binary Stars. (The Vulcan Hello/The Battle at the Binary Stars, Star Trek: Discovery)

2257 - The Federation/Klingon War ends, with the hydro bomb Section 31 plant at the heart of Qo’noS helping maintain peace between feuding Klingon houses. (Will You Take My Hand, Star Trek: Discovery) With the Enterprise under repair, Christopher Pike assumes command of the Discovery on a mission to understand the so-called “Red Angels” – and track down his AWOL science officer, Spock. (Brother, Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 –  In order to save all life in the universe from a rogue Federation AI known as Control, Michael Burnham uses the Red Angel time travel suit (created by her parents) to carry data collected by a millennia-old alien probe into the future. The USS Discovery and its crew follow her on a one-way trip through the wormhole. (Star Trek: Discovery)

2258 (Kelvin timeline) - The Narada reappears and destroys Vulcan, as an act of revenge on Spock. The Enterprise (commanded by Christopher Pike) engages the Romulan ship, but with Pike incapacitated, James T Kirk eventually assumes command of the ship – and defeats the Narada. In the wake of Vulcan’s destruction, Admiral Alexander Marcus tries to increase Starfleet’s military capabilities – and subsequently discovers the SS Botany Bay years earlier than in the Prime timeline. Khan Noonien Singh is revived and recruited by shadowy spy branch Section 31. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2259 (Kelvin timeline) - Going under the name John Harrison, Khan wages a one-man war on the Federation – all in the name of recovering his crew from suspended animation. The Enterprise crew eventually defeat him and put him back into stasis, but Kirk dies in the process. Luckily Dr McCoy is able to use some of Khan’s blood to revive his captain – phew! (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2260 (Kelvin timeline) - The USS Enterprise begins its (other) famous five-year mission. (Star Trek Into Darkness)

2263 (Kelvin timeline) - Three years into the five-year mission (with things starting to get boring), the Enterprise is destroyed by Krall’s swarm ships, marooning the crew on an alien planet. It turns out Krall was the captain of the aforementioned USS Franklin, who’s spent the last century using alien tech to keep himself alive – and developing a colossal grudge against the Federation. He’s eventually killed on new Federation starbase, the USS Yorktown. James T Kirk and crew are assigned to a new ship, the Enterprise-A. The original Spock Prime – the one who travelled back in time – passes away on New Vulcan (Star Trek Beyond).

2266 - The USS Enterprise’s five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no one has gone before, begins under the command of Captain James T Kirk. (Star Trek: The Original Series)

2267 - After Spock mutinies, a gravely injured Christopher Pike is taken to the off-limits Talos 4, and lives out a “normal” life thanks to the illusions of the telepathic Talosians. (The Menagerie, Star Trek: The Original Series) The Enterprise discovers SS Botany Bay, and awakens Khan Noonien Singh from suspended animation. After he tries to take over the ship, Khan and his crew are exiled to Ceti Alpha 5. (Space Seed, Star Trek: The Original Series)

Early 2270s (exact year unknown) - The refitted USS Enterprise (commanded once again by Admiral James T Kirk) encounters V’Ger, a 20th century space probe (Voyager 6 under an alias) that has gained sentience and threatens to destroy planet Earth. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

2285 - While on a training mission, the USS Enterprise is critically damaged by Khan Noonien Singh, who has escaped exile on Ceti Alpha V and wants revenge on Kirk. The Genesis planet is created by detonation of the top secret Genesis torpedo, and Spock dies after sacrificing himself to save the Enterprise. (Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan) Kirk, McCoy and the rest of the surviving Enterprise crew defy Starfleet orders to commandeer the ship for a mission to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body. After they unexpectedly encounter a hostile Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Kirk self-destructs the Enterprise – but Spock is resurrected. (Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock)

2286 - A mysterious space probe appears in Earth orbit, attempting to make contact with now-extinct humpback whales. Kirk and co pilot their commandeered Bird-of-Prey back to 20th century Earth to find some whales. Admiral Kirk is demoted to captain as punishment for his insurrection, and the USS Enterprise-A goes into active service. (Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home)

Live long and prosper with the best Star Trek merchandise around

2287 - The new Enterprise is commandeered by Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, who plans to meet God (yes, really) at the centre of the galaxy. The question “What does God need with a starship?” has never felt so pertinent. (Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier)

2290 - Hikaru Sulu assumes command of the USS Excelsior, breaking up the Enterprise “dream team” – it was probably about time, to be fair.. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country)

2293 - Praxis, the Klingon moon responsible for most of the empire’s power production, explodes. With Kirk and the classic crew due for retirement, they set off on one last mission to escort the Klingon ambassador to peace negotiations with the Federation – and end up having to foil a complex plot to scupper the whole thing. (Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country) Captain James T Kirk is presumed dead when the Nexus energy ribbon has a close encounter with the newly launched Enterprise-B. Predictably, it’s not the end, though… (Star Trek: Generations)

2330s (exact year unknown) - Data is created by pioneering scientist Dr Noonian Soong. (Datalore, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2344 - The USS Enterprise-C answers a distress call from a Klingon outpost on Narendra III. Surrounded by Romulan Warbirds, it faces certain destruction until it disappears into a mysterious temporal rift… (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2356 - Future Seven of Nine Annika Hansen is assimilated by the Borg, along with her parents on their ship, The Raven. (The Raven, Star Trek: Voyager)

2364 - Commander William T Riker joins the crew of the USS Enterprise-D, under the command of Jean-Luc Picard. Omnipotent being Q appears and puts humanity on trial. (Encounter At Farpoint, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2365 - Q shows up again, and transports the Enterprise to uncharted space for Starfleet’s first encounter with the Borg. (Q Who, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2366 - The Enterprise-C emerges from that aforementioned temporal rift and creates a new timeline where the Federation is at war with the Klingons. (Yesterday’s Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation) The Borg show up in Federation space to start an invasion. Jean-Luc Picard is assimilated, becoming Locutus, and Starfleet is almost wiped out at the Battle of Wolf 359. (The Best of Both Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2368 - Now an ambassador, Spock turns up on Romulus trying to reunify the Vulcan and Romulan races. (Unification, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2369 - The Cardassians cease their occupation of Bajor and vacate their space station, Terok Nor. Starfleet moves in and renames it Deep Space Nine, with Benjamin Sisko taking command. It should be a relatively straightforward gig – until a wormhole opens to the Gamma Quadrant on the other side of the galaxy. (Emissary, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2370 - Starfleet makes first contact with the Dominion, an alliance of races led by shapeshifting Founders from the Gamma Quadrant. (The Search, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2371 - Turns out James T Kirk wasn’t dead after all – he was just living inside the Nexus energy ribbon where all your dreams come true. When El-Aurian scientist Dr Tolian Soran threatens to destroy entire worlds to get back inside the Nexus, Jean-Luc Picard enlists Kirk’s help to stop him – which doesn’t end well for Kirk, who ends up dead for the final time. The Enterprise-D also meets its end. (Star Trek: Generations) USS Voyager and a ship of Maquis freedom fighters are transported to the distant Delta Quadrant by an alien “caretaker”. The two crews become BFFs implausibly quickly – and for some reason, invite Neelix on board. (Caretaker, Star Trek: Voyager)

2373 - The Borg have another crack at invading Earth. Seemingly defeated, they launch a last ditch attempt to assimilate humanity in the past – so Jean-Luc Picard and crew take their shiny new Enterprise-E back in time to stop them. (Star Trek: First Contact) Meanwhile, back in the Borg’s home territory of the Delta Quadrant, Voyager forms an unlikely alliance with the Collective to battle Species 8472 from “fluidic space”. Borg drone Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01 (AKA, Seven of Nine) joins the Voyager crew. (Scorpion, Star Trek: Voyager) The Dominion War kicks off between the Dominion and the Federation. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)

2375 - The Dominion War ends. Benjamin Sisko, the Bajoran “emissary” moves into the wormhole to commune with its residents – aliens who have no sense of linear time. (What You Leave Behind, Deep Space Nine) The Enterprise crew uncovers a shady Federation plot to relocate the near-immortal inhabitants of a paradise planet, to harness its youth-giving properties. It’s difficult to care about any of it. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

2378 - USS Voyager finally makes it back to Federation space. After seven years away, Ensign Harry Kim is still an Ensign. (Endgame, Star Trek: Voyager)

2379 - Shinzon, a clone of Jean-Luc Picard, takes control of the Romulan senate – and his overtures towards peace with the Federation turn out to be a front for war. The Enterprise eventually stops him, but Data has to sacrifice himself to save the day… (Star Trek: Nemesis)

2380  – The crew of the USS Cerritos travel around the galaxy, specialising in "second contact" situations. (Star Trek: Lower Decks)

2385  – Members of the Romulan Zhat Vash experience the Admonition on the “grief world” of Aia, driving many to madness and suicide. Their leader, Commodore Oh, instigates the uprising of synthetic workers at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on Mars, leaving 92,143 people dead and the planet burning. Facing heavy losses, Starfleet abandons its rescue mission to help rescue the residents of Romulus from an upcoming supernoval. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard resigns in protest. (Star Trek: Picard) 

2387 - With a supernova threatening to destroy Romulus, Spock – still active after all these years, remarkably – attempts to save the planet by using “red matter” to create a black hole that will engulf the exploding star. He fails – and he, and Romulan ship the Narada, are sucked into the black hole, and back into the newly created parallel Kelvin timeline. (Star Trek, 2009)

2390  – Starfleet vessel the Ibn Majid encounters a pair of synthetic lifeforms. Under orders from Commodore Oh, the captain executes the two androids before taking his own life. First Officer Chris Rios is so traumatised by the experience – expunged from Federation records – that he leaves Starfleet six months later. (Star Trek: Picard)

2399  – The long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years living on the family vineyard. Having discovered that the late Data had a pair of ridiculously advanced twin daughters, the long-retired Jean-Luc Picard ventures back into space after years on the family vineyard. EXTRA BITS After some close encounters with rogue Romulans, militant AI, and a few Borg, Picard succumbs to his terminal Irumodic Syndrome – but is reborn in a new android body. (Star Trek: Picard)

2400 –  Now running Starfleet Academy, Picard finds himself back on a starship when a spatial anomaly appears, broadcasting his name in multiple languages. After ending up in a totalitarian alternative timeline – possibly with a bit of help from Q – he gathers up the crew of La Sirena to travel back to a pivotal event in 2024. (Star Trek: Picard)

3069  – The so-called Burn causes the cataclysmic destruction of dilithium across the galaxy. The Federation is involved in a Temporal War that leads to a galaxy-wide ban on time travel. During this period, Temporal Agent Daniels travels back to 2151 to infiltrate Captain Archer's Enterprise, and overthrow a Suliban plot. (Star Trek: Enterprise/Star Trek: Discovery)

3188 –  Michael Burnham emerges from the wormhole, and joins forces with courier Cleveland 'Book' Booker. (Star Trek: Discovery)

3189 –  DIscovery arrives in the 32nd century and discovers a universe where the Federation has been decimated by the Burn – the biggest power is now criminal syndicate the Emerald Chain. With the spore drive now one of the most important resources in the galaxy, Captain Saru and crew work to discover the cause of the Burn – and restore the Federation to past glories. (Star Trek: Discovery)

3190  – As numerous worlds sign up to rejoin the resurgent Federation, a mysterious Dark Matter Anomaly destroys Book's homeworld and threatens all life in the Alpha Quadrant. (Star Trek: Discovery)

All caught up? Great, now come and discover the best Star Trek episodes that every Trekkie should watch right now, or watch the video below for a complete guide to the Star Wars timeline – that other sci-fi galaxy far, far, away... 

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy. 

32 sci-fi movies that deserve a sequel

Alien: Romulus release date, cast, and everything else you need to know about the new movie

Following the success of Evil Dead Rise, the Sam Raimi franchise is getting *another* movie from an indie filmmaker

Most Popular

• 2 Stellar Blade review: "A good action-RPG that I enjoyed a lot despite several issues"
• 3 Manor Lords review: "Brimming with the potential to exceed its already broad horizons"
• 4 Medici board game review: "Friendly competition"
• 5 Arborea review: "Fascinating interplay"
• 2 Boy Kills World review: "A gleefully bonkers blend of The Hunger Games and The Raid"
• 3 Rebel Moon Part Two – The Scargiver review: "Zack Snyder’s sci-fi epic stumbles towards the finish line"
• 4 Abigail review: "A blood-bomb of fun that needs more narrative meat"
• 5 Sometimes I Think About Dying review: "Daisy Ridley demonstrates her star power"
• 2 X-Men ’97 episode 7 review: "Season one has finally hit a lull"
• 3 Knuckles review: "A confident trial run for Sonic 3"
• 4 Alien RPG Building Better Worlds review: "Carrying on the quiet momentum of one of the best TTRPGs out there"
• 5 X-Men '97 episode 6 review: "The heart of the X-Men has triumphantly returned, but at what cost?"

The Future of ‘Star Trek’: From ‘Starfleet Academy’ to New Movies and Michelle Yeoh, How the 58-Year-Old Franchise Is Planning for the Next Generation of Fans

“I can’t believe I get to play the captain of the Enterprise.”

Popular on Variety

In other words, “Star Trek” is not just a franchise. As Alex Kurtzman , who oversees all “Star Trek” TV production, puts it, “‘Star Trek’ is an institution.”

Without a steady infusion of new blood, though, institutions have a way of fading into oblivion (see soap operas, MySpace, Blockbuster Video). To keep “Star Trek” thriving has meant charting a precarious course to satisfy the fans who have fueled it for decades while also discovering innovative ways to get new audiences on board.

“Doing ‘Star Trek’ means that you have to deliver something that’s entirely familiar and entirely fresh at the same time,” Kurtzman says.

The franchise has certainly weathered its share of fallow periods, most recently after “Nemesis” bombed in theaters in 2002 and UPN canceled “Enterprise” in 2005. It took 12 years for “Star Trek” to return to television with the premiere of “Discovery” in 2017; since then, however, there has been more “Star Trek” on TV than ever: The adventure series “Strange New Worlds,” the animated comedy “Lower Decks” and the kids series “Prodigy” are all in various stages of production, and the serialized thriller “Picard” concluded last year, when it ranked, along with “Strange New Worlds,” among Nielsen’s 10 most-watched streaming original series for multiple weeks. Nearly one in five Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. is watching at least one “Star Trek” series, according to the company, and more than 50% of fans watching one of the new “Trek” shows also watch at least two others. The new shows air in 200 international markets and are dubbed into 35 languages. As “Discovery” launches its fifth and final season in April, “Star Trek” is in many ways stronger than it’s ever been.

“’Star Trek’s fans have kept it alive more times than seems possible,” says Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., who executive produces the TV series through Roddenberry Entertainment. “While many shows rightfully thank their fans for supporting them, we literally wouldn’t be here without them.”

But the depth of fan devotion to “Star Trek” also belies a curious paradox about its enduring success: “It’s not the largest fan base,” says Akiva Goldsman, “Strange New Worlds” executive producer and co-showrunner. “It’s not ‘Star Wars.’ It’s certainly not Marvel.”

When J.J. Abrams rebooted “Star Trek” in 2009 — with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña playing Kirk, Spock and Uhura — the movie grossed more than any previous “Star Trek” film by a comfortable margin. But neither that film nor its two sequels broke $500 million in global grosses, a hurdle every other top-tier franchise can clear without breaking a sweat.

There’s also the fact that “Star Trek” fans are aging. I ask “The Next Generation” star Jonathan Frakes, who’s acted in or directed more versions of “Star Trek” than any other person alive, how often he meets fans for whom the new “Star Trek” shows are their first. “Of the fans who come to talk to me, I would say very, very few,” he says. “‘Star Trek’ fans, as we know, are very, very, very loyal — and not very young.”

As Stapf puts it: “There’s a tried and true ‘Trek’ fan that is probably going to come to every ‘Star Trek,’ no matter what it is — and we want to expand the universe.”

Every single person I spoke to for this story talked about “Star Trek” with a joyful earnestness as rare in the industry as (nerd alert) a Klingon pacifist.

“When I’m meeting fans, sometimes they’re coming to be confirmed, like I’m kind of a priest,” Ethan Peck says during a break in filming on the “Strange New Worlds” set. He’s in full Spock regalia — pointy ears, severe eyebrows, bowl haircut — and when asked about his earliest memories of “Star Trek,” he stares off into space in what looks like Vulcan contemplation. “I remember being on the playground in second or third grade and doing the Vulcan salute, not really knowing where it came from,” he says. “When I thought of ‘Star Trek,’ I thought of Spock. And now I’m him. It’s crazy.”

To love “Star Trek” is to love abstruse science and cowboy diplomacy, complex moral dilemmas and questions about the meaning of existence. “It’s ultimately a show with the most amazing vision of optimism, I think, ever put on-screen in science fiction,” says Kurtzman, who is 50. “All you need is two minutes on the news to feel hopeless now. ‘Star Trek’ is honestly the best balm you could ever hope for.”

I’m getting a tour of the USS Enterprise from Scotty — or, rather, “Strange New World” production designer Jonathan Lee, who is gushing in his native Scottish burr as we step into the starship’s transporter room. “I got such a buzzer from doing this, I can’t tell you,” he says. “I actually designed four versions of it.”

Lee is especially proud of the walkway he created to run behind the transporter pads — an innovation that allows the production to shoot the characters from a brand-new set of angles as they beam up from a far-flung planet. It’s one of the countless ways that this show has been engineered to be as cinematic as possible, part of Kurtzman’s overall vision to make “Star Trek” on TV feel like “a movie every week.”

Kurtzman’s tenure with “Star Trek” began with co-writing the screenplay for Abrams’ 2009 movie, which was suffused with a fast-paced visual style that was new to the franchise. When CBS Studios approached Kurtzman in the mid-2010s about bringing “Star Trek” back to TV, he knew instinctively that it needed to be just as exciting as that film.

“The scope was so much different than anything we had ever done on ‘Next Gen,’” says Frakes, who’s helmed two feature films with the “Next Generation” cast and directed episodes of almost every live-action “Trek” TV series, including “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds.” “Every department has the resources to create.”

A new science lab set for Season 3, for example, boasts a transparent floor atop a four-foot pool of water that swirls underneath the central workbench, and the surrounding walls sport a half dozen viewscreens with live schematics custom designed by a six-person team. “I like being able to paint on a really big canvas,” Kurtzman says. “The biggest challenge is always making sure that no matter how big something gets, you’re never losing focus on that tiny little emotional story.”

At this point, is there a genre that “Strange New Worlds” can’t do? “As long as we’re in storytelling that is cogent and sure handed, I’m not sure there is,” Goldsman says with an impish smile. “Could it do Muppets? Sure. Could it do black and white, silent, slapstick? Maybe!”

This approach is also meant to appeal to people who might want to watch “Star Trek” but regard those 668 hours of backstory as an insurmountable burden. “You shouldn’t have to watch a ‘previously on’ to follow our show,” Myers says.

To achieve so many hairpin shifts in tone and setting while maintaining Kurtzman’s cinematic mandate, “Strange New Worlds” has embraced one of the newest innovations in visual effects: virtual production. First popularized on the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian,” the technology — called the AR wall — involves a towering circular partition of LED screens projecting a highly detailed, computer-generated backdrop. Rather than act against a greenscreen, the actors can see whatever fantastical surroundings their characters are inhabiting, lending a richer level of verisimilitude to the show.

But there is a catch. While the technology is calibrated to maintain a proper sense of three-dimensional perspective through the camera lens, it can be a bit dizzying for anyone standing on the set. “The images on the walls start to move in a way that makes no sense,” says Mount. “You end up having to focus on something that’s right in front of you so you don’t fall down.”

And yet, even as he’s talking about it, Mount can’t help but break into a boyish grin. “Sometimes we call it the holodeck,” he says. In fact, the pathway to the AR wall on the set is dotted with posters of the virtual reality room from “The Next Generation” and the words “Enter Holodeck” in a classic “Trek” font.

“I want to take one of those home with me,” Peck says. Does the AR wall also affect him? “I don’t really get disoriented by it. Spock would not get ill, so I’m Method acting.”

I’m on the set of the “Star Trek” TV movie “Section 31,” seated in an opulent nightclub with a view of a brilliant, swirling nebula, watching Yeoh rehearse with director Olatunde Osunsanmi and her castmates. Originally, the project was announced as a TV series centered on Philippa Georgiou, the semi-reformed tyrant Yeoh originated on “Discovery.” But between COVID delays and the phenomenon of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” there wasn’t room in the veteran actress’s schedule to fit a season of television. Yeoh was undaunted.

“We’d never let go of her,” she says of her character. “I was just blown away by all the different things I could do with her. Honestly, it was like, ‘Let’s just get it done, because I believe in this.’”

If that means nothing to you, don’t worry: The enormity of the revelation that Garrett is being brought back is meant only for fans. If you don’t know who the character is, you’re not missing anything.

“It was always my goal to deliver an entertaining experience that is true to the universe but appeals to newcomers,” says screenwriter Craig Sweeny. “I wanted a low barrier of entry so that anybody could enjoy it.”

Nevertheless, including Garrett on the show is exactly the kind of gasp-worthy detail meant to flood “Star Trek” fans with geeky good feeling.

“You cannot create new fans to the exclusion of old fans,” Kurtzman says. “You must serve your primary fan base first and you must keep them happy. That is one of the most important steps to building new fans.”

On its face, that maxim would make “Section 31” a genuine risk. The titular black-ops organization has been controversial with “Star Trek” fans since it was introduced in the 1990s. “The concept is almost antagonistic to some of the values of ‘Star Trek,’” Sweeny says. But he still saw “Section 31” as an opportunity to broaden what a “Star Trek” project could be while embracing the radical inclusivity at the heart of the franchise’s appeal.

“Famously, there’s a spot for everybody in Roddenberry’s utopia, so I was like, ‘Well, who would be the people who don’t quite fit in?’” he says. “I didn’t want to make the John le Carré version, where you’re in the headquarters and it’s backbiting and shades of gray. I wanted to do the people who were at the edges, out in the field. These are not people who necessarily work together the way you would see on a ‘Star Trek’ bridge.”

For Osunsanmi, who grew up watching “The Next Generation” with his father, it boils down to a simple question: “Is it putting good into the world?” he asks. “Are these characters ultimately putting good into the world? And, taking a step back, are we putting good into the world? Are we inspiring humans watching this to be good? That’s for me what I’ve always admired about ‘Star Trek.’”

Should “Section 31” prove successful, Yeoh says she’s game for a sequel. And Kurtzman is already eyeing more opportunities for TV movies, including a possible follow-up to “Picard.” The franchise’s gung-ho sojourn into streaming movies, however, stands in awkward contrast to the persistent difficulty Paramount Pictures and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot have had making a feature film following 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond” — the longest theaters have gone without a “Star Trek” movie since Paramount started making them.

First, a movie reuniting Pine’s Capt. Kirk with his late father — played in the 2009 “Star Trek” by Chris Hemsworth — fell apart in 2018. Around the same time, Quentin Tarantino publicly flirted with, then walked away from, directing a “Star Trek” movie with a 1930s gangster backdrop. Noah Hawley was well into preproduction on a “Star Trek” movie with a brand-new cast, until then-studio chief Emma Watts abruptly shelved it in 2020. And four months after Abrams announced at Paramount’s 2022 shareholders meeting that his 2009 cast would return for a movie directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”), Shakman left the project to make “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel. (It probably didn’t help that none of the cast had been approached before Abrams made his announcement.)

The studio still intends to make what it’s dubbed the “final chapter” for the Pine-Quinto-Saldaña cast, and Steve Yockey (“The Flight Attendant”) is writing a new draft of the script. Even further along is another prospective “Star Trek” film written by Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and to be directed by Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) that studio insiders say is on track to start preproduction by the end of the year. That project will serve as an origin story of sorts for the main timeline of the entire franchise. In both cases, the studio is said to be focused on rightsizing the budgets to fit within the clear box office ceiling for “Star Trek” feature films.

Far from complaining, everyone seems to relish the challenge. Visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman says that “working with Alex, the references are always at least $100 million movies, if not more, so we just kind of reverse engineer how do we do that without having to spend the same amount of money and time.”

The workload doesn’t seem to faze him either. “Visual effects people are a big, big ‘Star Trek’ fandom,” he says. “You naturally just get all these people who go a little bit above and beyond, and you can’t trade that for anything.”

In one of Kurtzman’s several production offices in Toronto, he and production designer Matthew Davies are scrutinizing a series of concept drawings for the newest “Star Trek” show, “Starfleet Academy.” A bit earlier, they showed me their plans for the series’ central academic atrium, a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space. To fit it all, they plan to use every inch of Pinewood Toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage, the largest in Canada.

But this is a “Star Trek” show, so there do need to be starships, and Kurtzman is discussing with Davies about how one of them should look. The issue is that “Starfleet Academy” is set in the 32nd century, an era so far into the future Kurtzman and his team need to invent much of its design language.

“For me, this design is almost too Klingon,” Kurtzman says. “I want to see the outline and instinctively, on a blink, recognize it as a Federation ship.”

The time period was first introduced on Season 3 of “Discovery,” when the lead character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), transported the namesake starship and its crew there from the 23rd century. “It was exciting, because every time we would make a decision, we would say, ‘And now that’s canon,’” says Martin-Green.

“We listened to a lot of it,” Kurtzman says. “I think I’ve been able to separate the toxic fandom from really true fans who love ‘Star Trek’ and want you to hear what they have to say about what they would like to see.”

By Season 2, the “Discovery” writers pivoted from its dour, war-torn first season and sent the show on its trajectory 900-plus years into the future. “We had to be very aware of making sure that Spock was in the right place and that Burnham’s existence was explained properly, because she was never mentioned in the original series,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise. “What was fun about jumping into the future is that it was very much fresh snow.”

That freedom affords “Starfleet Academy” far more creative latitude while also dramatically reducing how much the show’s target audience of tweens and teens needs to know about “Star Trek” before watching — which puts them on the same footing as the students depicted in the show. “These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before,” Noga Landau, executive producer and co-showrunner, says. “They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”

In the “Starfleet Academy” writers’ room in Secret Hideout’s Santa Monica offices, Kurtzman tells the staff — a mix of “Star Trek” die-hards, part-time fans and total newbies — that he wants to take a 30,000-foot view for a moment. “I think we need to ground in science more throughout the show,” he says, a giant framed photograph of Spock ears just over his shoulder. “The kids need to use science more to solve problems.”

Immediately, one of the writers brightens. “Are you saying we can amp up the techno-babble?” she says. “I’m just excited I get to use my computer science degree.”

After they break for lunch, Kurtzman is asked how much longer he plans to keep making “Star Trek.” 

“The minute I fall out of love with it is the minute that it’s not for me anymore. I’m not there yet,” he says. “To be able to build in this universe to tell stories that are fundamentally about optimism and a better future at a time when the world seems to be falling apart — it’s a really powerful place to live every day.”

More From Our Brands

Miranda lambert surprises stagecoach 2024 with reba mcentire, debuts new song ‘wranglers’, inside a $3.3 million one-bedroom condo in l.a.’s famed sierra towers, vince mcmahon lists final tko shares for sale, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, fire country: did luke’s bombshell blow up [spoiler]’s future michael trucco teases what’s ahead, verify it's you, please log in.

A Complete Timeline of Star Trek

From comparatively humble origins, Star Trek has grown into one of the most complex universes in pop culture. Here's how its bright future unfolds.

Star Trek stands as one of the most enduring and influential pop-culture franchises on the planet. From a comparatively humble cult TV series, it has expanded into an entire universe of speculative future history encompassing dozens of movies and TV shows. With more projects on the way, it doesn't look to slow down anytime soon. That can lead to a convoluted timeline, particularly in the early days when no one expected it to last as long as it has.

Star Trek: The Original Series producers didn't worry about what came before or after their show, and series creator Gene Roddenberry had a way of simply ignoring episodes he considered sub-par. Writers Michael and Denise Okuda are largely credited with firmly establishing a canonical Star Trek timeline during the expansion of the franchise following Star Trek: The Next Generation . That's resulted in a definable, if complicated, fictional history to chart the rise of the United Federation of Planets and its development through centuries of galactic history. Here's a breakdown of the Star Trek in-universe timeline, divided roughly by era.

The Early Years of Star Trek's Timeline Are Vague

Wrath of khan creates star trek's biggest plot hole, and the real-life explanation is hilarious.

The early years of Star Trek 's timeline run into a number of real-world continuity issues. This was most notable with the Eugenics Wars , which originally took place in the 1990s, but has since been retconned to an indeterminate point in the future. They're linked to the rise of genetically augmented humans who conquer and rule much of the planet, led by the notorious Khan Noonien Singh. The Eugenics Wars culminate in a Third World War, and the ensuing nuclear apocalypse all but destroys civilization. Khan and his followers escape the planet in a stasis ship, and await their rendezvous with Captain Kirk in The Original Series episode, "Space Seed."

The most important event after that arrives on April 5, 2063, subsequently known as First Contact Day. As depicted in Star Trek: First Contact , scientist Zefram Cochrane develops a faster-than-light engine and tests it in his vessel, the Phoenix . A Vulcan survey vessel notices the feat and makes first contact with Cochrane in Bozeman, Montana that evening. With the Vulcans' help, humanity quickly gets back on its feet. Hunger and poverty are eliminated by the early 22nd century, and even war itself has ended on the planet by 2113. A world government is established in 2150, uniting the globe under a single unifying body for the first time in human history.

Enterprise Reveals The Founding of the Federation

Why star trek: enterprise used shuttles instead of transporters.

The events of Star Trek: Enterprise begin just one year later, in 2151, as humanity launches its first earnest efforts to explore the galaxy. Captain Archer and the crew of the Enterprise spearhead the effort, resulting in key first contact with such important species as the Andorians and the Tellarites. It also comes with new conflicts, notably the Xindi crisis of 2153 which lasts for nearly a year. That is followed in 2156 by the Earth-Romulan War , which stretches out over four years. Humanity, Andorians, Vulcans, and Tellarites all join forces against the common threat, resulting in the defeat of the Romulans and the establishment of the Neutral Zone.

The victory leads immediately to the founding of the United Federation of Planets in San Francisco in the year 2161, organized by the four victorious species. Several decades of peaceful exploration and expansion follow, led by Starfleet vessels who set out to explore in the name of peace, coexistence, and scientific understanding. That marks the end of the events of Star Trek: Enterprise and a relative blank spot in the timeline for a little less than a century.

The 23rd Century Brings War, Peace, and The Original Series

The complete history of vulcans in the federation era of star trek.

With the exception of a few peripheral events, the next few decades are quiet as far as canon events go. The timeline picks up again properly with the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery as open war breaks out between the Federation and the Klingon Empire in the year 2256 . The war lasts for a year and proves costly to both sides, ending thanks to efforts of the USS Discovery to stabilize the political situation in the Empire. The Discovery vanishes approximately one year later during the battle with the rogue AI Control , jumping ahead in time to the 32nd century in the process.

With the end of the war comes another era of peaceful expansion and exploration. That encompasses the events of both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: The Original Series , as Starfleet "boldly goes where no one has gone before." As the 23rd century continues, the franchise shifts to the first six big-screen Star Trek movies. That culminates in the events of Star Trek VI in 2293, resulting in the Khitomer Accords and long-term peace with the Klingon Empire . Captain Kirk is presumed dead a short time later as depicted in the movie Star Trek: Insurrection , officially bringing The Original Series era to a close.

The Next Generation Kicks off The 24th Century

10 best star trek: the next generation characters.

The early decades of the 24th century are another blank spot in the Star Trek calendar, marked by a few notable events but otherwise leaving a good deal open for speculation. The most important development during that time is the Battle of Narendra III in 2344 , where the Federation vessel USS Enterprise-C sacrifices itself to defend a Klingon colony from Romulan attackers. This results in a formal alliance between the Federation and the Klingons.

Star Trek: The Next Generation officially begins in the year 2364, with the Federation enjoying a golden age of peace and prosperity. The Enterprise-D under Captain Picard serves as Starfleet's flagship, conducting missions of diplomacy and peaceful exploration. The Enterprise first encounters the Borg in 2366 , during The Next Generation's Season 2 episode "Q Who." The Borg invade the Federation a year later, and come within a hair's breadth of destroying the Earth before the Enterprise crew saves the day during the Season 4 premiere, "The Best of Both Worlds Part II."

The Dominion War and the Delta Quadrant Mark DS9 and Voyager

How star trek: the next generation disserviced this fan-favorite character.

In 2369, a stable wormhole to the unexplored Gamma Quadrant opens near the planet of Bajor, kicking off the events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . What at first seems a conduit to a whole new sector of space soon becomes an existential threat. The Dominion is a powerful totalitarian government in the Gamma Quadrant ruled by a species of shape-shifting Changelings. The Dominion sets its sites on the Alpha Quadrant , and launches an invasion in 2373. The Federation is forced to rally its long-time foes in the Romulan Empire to its side, who join with Starfleet and the Klingons to finally defeat the Dominion in 2375.

If that wasn't bad enough, the Borg launch another attack on Earth in 2373, and again come perilously close to assimilating the entire Federation before Jean-Luc Picard and his crew put a stop to them during the events of Star Trek: First Contact. Amid it all, the USS Voyager vanishes in the year 2371, having been flung into the far reaches of the Delta Quadrant and launching a seven-year journey to return to Federation space.

The 24th Century Ends with Peace and Old Enemies

Star trek: lower decks paid off a deep space nine character arc.

The end of the Dominion War marks the beginning of another extended period of Federation-led peace. Voyager returns from its long journey in 2378 , and the Enterprise averts a surprise attack from the Romulan Empire in 2379 during the events of Star Trek: Insurrection . Beyond that, peace prevails, which leads the way to lighter Star Trek series such as Star Trek: Lower Decks (which begins in 2381) and Star Trek: Prodigy (which begins in 2383).

That comes to an end with the implosion of the Romulan Empire, whose sun is doomed and whose most militant factions sabotage any chance at Federation aid by orchestrating the destruction of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards on April 5, 2385. Two years later, the Romulan sun goes nova, seemingly killing Mr. Spock, who was attempting to halt the explosion and creating the Kelvinverse timeline of the 2010s big-screen Star Trek movies. It renders the Romluans a scattered and defeated people. Jean-Luc Picard is able to repair some of the damage done to the two powers in Star Trek: Picard, Season 1, then rejoin with his crewmates in Season 3 to defeat a unified Dominion/Borg attack on the Federation in the year 2402.

The Far Future Beckons

'we broke barriers': star trek: discovery star celebrates show's diversity.

Star Trek canon comes to a halt at the beginning of the 25th century after the events of Picard Season 3. That leaves a vast stretch of centuries that have not yet been defined in Star Trek canon, and will presumably be filled in by series to come. In that time, the Federation continues to expand until it is more than double the size it was in the 24th century. Then disaster strikes in the form of an event called The Burn, which instantly renders all dilithium in the galaxy inert in the year 3069. Every active warp engine detonates, causing widespread disaster and rendering interstellar travel exponentially more difficult.

The arrival of the Discovery in the year 3188 -- beginning with the premiere in Season 3 -- changes all of that. After destroying the tyrannical Emerald Chain, Captain Michael Burnham and her crew set about restoring the shattered Federation, which leads to the events of Discovery's final three seasons. With the series bowing out at the end of Season 5, subsequent Star Trek projects will have a new final frontier in the 32nd century -- uncluttered by earlier shows -- thanks to the leap forward in time.

Star Trek is currently streaming on Paramount+.

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

• View history

The Bell Riots begin

The Bell Riots were a pivotal series of events on Earth that took place in September of 2024 . Started in San Francisco 's Sanctuary District A , they were named after protest leader Gabriel Bell . One of the most violent civil disturbances in all of American history , the riots and subsequent crackdown resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Sanctuary District residents. ( DS9 : " Past Tense, Part I ", " Past Tense, Part II ")

• 2 The spark
• 4 Aftermath
• 5.1 Background information
• 5.2 External link

Prelude [ ]

By the 2020s , the American government – reacting to serious problems of homelessness and unemployment – created special Sanctuary Districts (essentially walled-off sections of the city grid) in most major cities. Unfortunately – while established with the benevolent intent of providing free housing and food, as well as prospects for future employment – the Sanctuaries quickly degenerated into inhumane internment camps for the poor and mentally ill. Even though people with criminal records were not allowed inside Sanctuaries, it didn't take long for the homeless and unemployed to be joined by violent social outcasts. These groups were referred to by their slang terms – gimmies , dims , and ghosts .

By late 2024 , the twenty square blocks that made up Sanctuary District A had become overcrowded slums. With the records of people inside the Sanctuaries not uploaded to the planetary computer network (and therefore not accessible using an Interface ), the true conditions inside were unknown to the general public. American society believed that, despite the political upheaval affecting Europe at the time, the United States was stable and had found a way to successfully deal with the social problems that had been the genesis of the Sanctuaries. An "out of sight, out of mind" mentality had set in. People in the district started to believe that their needs were forgotten.

The spark [ ]

On August 30th , three Starfleet officers , Commander Benjamin Sisko , Doctor Julian Bashir , and Lieutenant Jadzia Dax , arrived in San Francisco from 2371 , due to a transporter accident . Knocked unconscious during the transport, Sisko and Bashir were awoken by security guards Vin and Bernardo Calvera , who mistakenly believed that the pair of newcomers were homeless. Sisko and Bashir lacked any form of identification and their combadges had been stolen so they were brought to Sanctuary District A, where they were processed by health official Lee . Inside, Sisko and Bashir, in accordance with Starfleet's temporal displacement policy , tried not to affect history while looking for a way out to find Dax.

Dax had meanwhile been awoken and befriended by Chris Brynner , who thought she had been mugged and who found her a place to stay.

On the night of the 31st, Bashir was assaulted by a gang of ghosts trying to take his ration card . In the ensuing scuffle, a man stepped in to help him but was stabbed to death by Biddle Coleridge (B.C.), who hurriedly vacated the scene. Sisko checked the victim's ration card and thereby discovered that the man who had died helping them was Gabriel Bell. Realizing they had changed the past, Sisko (assuming Bell's identity) and Bashir joined gimmie Michael Webb – whom they had met earlier – in gathering support for a rally outside the District Processing Center , the next day.

"Gabriel Bell" in the Sanctuary District A processing center

Early in the morning of September 1st, a fight between a guard and a dim sparked a riot, wherein the ghosts led by B.C. attacked the Sanctuary guards and quickly captured the Sanctuary Processing Center as well as the rest of the district. Armed with the weapons of the overpowered guards, the ghosts took six center employees hostage, including Vin, Calvera, and Lee. They were joined by "Gabriel Bell" and Michael Webb , who acted as the voice and face of the riot while dealing with police negotiator Detective Preston .

The hostages, in the processing center

Chris Brynner, who owned Brynner Information Systems (which operated Channel 90 on the net), was convinced by Dax to break the law and to reconnect the Processing Center after the police cut it off. Reconnected on September 2nd, many Sanctuary residents (such as Henry Garcia ) were able to tell their stories of imprisonment to the outside world. As a result, the American public became aware of the great injustice that had been hidden from them and further riots broke out in Sanctuaries across the US.

The San Francisco Police Department SWAT team enters the Sanctuary District A Processing Center

Despite protests from Detective Preston, the governor of California ordered National Guardsmen to retake the Sanctuary by force on September 3rd at 0500 hours. In the melee, hundreds of Sanctuary residents were killed, including B.C. and Michael Webb. "Gabriel Bell" was shot, protecting Vin and the other hostages (all of whom remained unharmed).

Aftermath [ ]

The main gate of the Sanctuary District is open after the conflict has concluded

Vin and Bernardo took Bell's and Bashir's ration cards after the riot, saying they would list them as casualties, and helped them return to their beam-in site, where Dax was waiting for them. Both Vin and Bernardo went on to tell other people what had happened in the Sanctuary, never knowing that Sisko had been Bell. The away team was rescued by Major Kira Nerys and Chief Miles O'Brien shortly thereafter.

In the wake of the riots, and the senseless death of so many people, public opinion turned against the concept of the Sanctuary Districts. The Districts were abolished as the United States finally began to face the serious social problems it had struggled with for over a century. Because Bell had played a crucial role in protecting the hostages, and in the negotiations prior to the government assault, he was remembered as one of the central figures in the events and his name became forever associated with them.

The Bell Riots were of such significance that their absence from Earth's history led to an alternate timeline , in which the United Federation of Planets was never created.

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

The conceptualization of the Bell Riots began after Robert Hewitt Wolfe suggested doing a DS9 episode about homelessness . Even though he and Ira Steven Behr tried several ways of doing the story, they were particular about what form the protest against homelessness would take. René Echevarria recalled, " We certainly didn't want to do a Martin Luther King , which would have been an obvious way to go. We didn't want to have Sisko leading a march or a protest. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 89)

Ultimately, the writers based the Bell Riots on two historical incidents, both of which took place in the early 1970s: the Kent State shootings of anti-war protesters in 1970 and the Attica Prison riot in 1971. Whereas the reactions to the former event had had a major impact on Ira Steven Behr, his idea of basing the protest on the Attica Prison riot was also a major influence on the DS9 story itself. Behr stated, " I was driving home one evening, and I suddenly thought, 'Attica.' I came in the next day and told Robert, 'I hope you like it, because I think this is the way we have to do it – we're gonna do concentration camps. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 196)) Of the Kent State shootings, Behr remembered, " Once they started shooting down American college students, everyone I knew who was still pro-war said, 'Maybe we should just end this damn thing.' And many of the counterculture kids, ironically, said, 'If they're gonna shoot us, screw the revolution. Let's become accountants.' It had a big impact on me, and I got the idea of doing a combination of Kent State and an Attica [prison]-type siege, starting with the question: What would happen if the government started putting these people in camps? How would society deal with that or rationalize it? How would the homeless people deal with it? " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , pp. 89-90)

The Watts riots of 1965 were also an inspiration. Jean-Luc Picard and Geordi La Forge traveled back in time to twentieth-century Los Angeles just before the Watts Riots in Wolfe's original story pitch. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , p. 282)

External link [ ]

• Bell Riots at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Upcoming Star Trek TV Shows: What's Ahead For The Sci-Fi Franchise

Here's what's ahead for Star Trek.

It’s a golden era for Star Trek tv shows, as the franchise is churning out more content than ever before. Fans with a Paramount+ subscription can stream a plethora of old and new content from one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time.

There’s a ton of new Star Trek content coming in the future, including the debut of a new show as well as the return of all the ones fans already know well. For those who need a breakdown of what all to expect, look no further because here’s where and when all the new Trek will arrive in 2023 and beyond. There’s even some information on planned shows that aren’t quite ready yet, but hopefully, we’ll see them soon enough. 

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 - Premiering On April 4th 2024

Captain Michael Burnham and the crew are back, and based on what we've seen and heard about Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 so far, some changes are on the way. Season 5 will see the crew race against others in an attempt to secure an ancient power, and will apparently have a tonal shift that will skew more toward action and adventure. We also learned that this coming season will be the final adventure , as Paramount+ decided to end the series after this coming season. The final season will kick off in April and, fingers crossed, leave an avenue open for more stories with these characters in the 32nd century. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 - In Production

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is coming back for Season 3, and is currently filming for the upcoming season. It's likely the season will kick off with the second part of the adventure started in the Season 2 finale . Pike must decide whether or not he's going to listen to Starfleet and retreat to avoid further conflict with the Gorn or to stay and try to save the kidnapped crew members. I have a hunch I know what decision he'll make, but I'm also very invested in seeing if Scotty will remain with the crew and what other adventures will come as well. 

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 - Coming In 2024

Paramount+ originally renewed Star Trek: Prodigy for Season 2, but announced later that it had been canceled alongside other shows on the platform. While the news was a bummer to many and encouraged responses from stars like Kate Mulgrew , there is a silver lining. After some talk with other companies, Paramount managed to negotiate a deal where the series will transition over to Netflix , and Season 2 will release over there. At this time, it's unknown whether or not this will lead to more seasons of Prodigy , but fans are thankful they'll at least get to see the season that was being worked on coming up in 2024. 

Section 31 Movie - Production Underway

Section 31 was one of the first Star Trek spinoffs announced after Discovery , and yet it took the longest to get off the ground. The series was supposed to Michelle Yeoh ’s Phillipa Georgiou and her efforts in the secret ops Starfleet faction that does the jobs that others in the organization would rather not know about. Other former Discovery stars, like Shazad Latif, were involved at one point, but some believed the odds of it happening aren't great after Michelle Yeoh's Oscar win .

It turns out Yeoh was interested in making it happen, and Paramount+ decided to alter the idea to a movie . Fans are excited about the project all the same, and ready to see Michelle Yeoh back in her role. Production on the film is officially underway, and it's looking like a premiere sometime in late 2024 to 2025 is likely.

CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER

Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News

Starfleet Academy - Production Starting In 2024

Alex Kurtzman revealed not long ago that Star Trek is actively working on another new live-action series , and it’s going to be set at Starfleet Academy. Of course, we don’t know exactly what era this series is set to take place during or who is going to star in it yet. We don’t really know much of anything, though it’s worth noting that Star Trek: Discovery did write off its character Tilly when she took an offer at Starfleet Academy. The episode where that happened seemed like it could be a backdoor pilot for the show, but again, we have no idea. We do know that the writer's room is underway, but details are scant beyond that.  

As shown above, there’s still a ton of Star Trek on the way in 2024, and beyond. The only way to watch these shows is with a Paramount+ subscription , which is totally worth picking up with the increasing amount of shows and movies available to watch. 

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2: What We Know So Far

That Time Joseph Quinn Realized He Was Getting Famous Thanks To Stranger Things, And How Jack Black Was Involved

After New Details About Game Of Thrones’ Scrapped 10,000 Ships Spinoff, Here’s How Faithful It Would Have Been To George R.R. Martin’s Source Material

Most Popular

• 2 Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2: What We Know So Far
• 3 Billie Eilish Opens Up About Sexuality After Being Outed On A Red Carpet: ‘The Whole World Suddenly Decided Who I Was’
• 4 As James Gunn Celebrates The Joker's 84th Anniversary, I Have Ideas For Who Should Play The DCU's Clown Prince
• 5 The Masked Singer’s Miss Cleocatra Was Recovering From Major Accident During Performances: ‘I Was Still On A Little Morphine’

• Reviews / News
• Pocket Books Trek Novels

2024 Releases

• Published by IDW
• Release date: January 3, 2024
• Kindle: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

• Release date: January 10, 2024

• Release date: January 17, 2024

• Release date: January 24, 2024

• Release date: January 31, 2024

• Release date: February 7, 2024

• Published by Titan
• Release date: February 13, 2024
• Hardcover:  Amazon.com  |  Amazon.ca  |  Amazon.co.uk

• Omnibus collection of  Deep Space Nine: The Dog of War  comic series
• Paperback: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

• Release date: February 21, 2024

• Hardcover, e-book, and audiobook release
• Published by Gallery Books
• Release date: February 27, 2024
• Hardcover: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk
• Audiobook: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

• Published by Titan Books

• Release date: February 28, 2024

• Omnibus collection of  Star Trek: Day of Blood  comic series
• Release date: March 12, 2024

• Release date: March 13, 2024

• Release date: March 20, 2024

• Omnibus collection of  Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Echoes  comic miniseries
• Release date: March 26, 2024
• Paperback:  Amazon.com  |  Amazon.ca  |  Amazon.co.uk

• Release date: March 27, 2024

• Published by Titan Magazines
• Release date: April 9, 2024

• Release date: April 17, 2024

• Release date: April 24, 2024

• Release date: May 1, 2024

• Release date: May 15, 2024
• Kindle:  Amazon.com  |  Amazon.ca  |  Amazon.co.uk

• Trade paperback, e-book, & audiobook release
• Release date: May 21, 2024

• Release date: May 22, 2024

• Release date: May 29, 2024

• Published by White Owl
• Release date: May 30, 2024

• Omnibus collection of  Strange New Worlds: The Scorpius Run  comic miniseries
• Release date: June 4, 2024

• Release date: June 5, 2024

• Omnibus collection of issues 8-11 and the annual issue of the  Star Trek: Defiant  comic series
• Release date: June 18, 2024

• Release date: June 19, 2024

• Release date: June 26, 2024

• Release date: July 3, 2024

• Trade paperback, e-book release, & audiobook release
• Published by Simon & Schuster
• Release date: July 23, 2024

• Omnibus collection of the Star Trek: Picard's Academy  miniseries

• Release date: July 30, 2024

• Published by Rizzoli Universe
• Amazon.com  |  Amazon.ca  | Amazon.co.uk

• Omnibus collection of  Star Trek: Holo-ween  comic miniseries
• Release date: August 6, 2024

• Release date: September 3, 2024

• Paperback adaptation of the audio drama
• Release date: September 24, 2024

• Collect's IDW's Alien Spotlight , Star Trek: Year Four , and The Enterprise Experiment
• Release date: October 1, 2024

• Published by Insight Editions

• Interactive graphic novel
• Release date: October 15, 2024

• Omnibus collection of issues 13-18 of the  Star Trek  comic series
• Hardcover, e-book, & audiobook release
• Release date: November 5, 2024
• Audiobook:  Amazon.com  |  Amazon.ca  |  Amazon.co.uk

• Omnibus collection of issues 1-4 of the  Sons of Star Trek  comic miniseries
• Release date: November 12, 2024

• Omnibus collection of issues 12-16 of the  Star Trek: Defiant  comic series
• Release date: December 10, 2024

No comments:

Post a comment.

Star Trek's New "Non-Linear" Threat Confirms 1 Weapon Can Damage the Entire Timeline

• Star Trek #19, by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Megan Levens, shows the true, horrifying extent of the damage Kahless' crusade against the gods has caused.
• Kahless' rampage threatens not only the universe, but the entire timeline as well.
• Finally, Kahless' campaign could lead to the destruction of the multiverse too.

Kahless’ crusade against the galaxy’s god-like beings has been a key part of IDW’s revitalized line of Star Trek comics, and now the damage he has done could threaten the entire timeline. In Star Trek #19, T’Lir, the enigmatic Vulcan who is revealed to be Organian, reveals just how much damage Kahless has caused to existence. Thanks to Kahless, time itself could come unraveled.

Star Trek #19 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. In the Theseus’ Ready Room, T’Lir briefs Captain Sisko and the crew on what happened to their fellow Organians. They tell Sisko that Kahless’ weapon has “tore at the very fabric of space-time.” T’Lir then goes on to reveal that the damage Kahless did was “non-linear” and it killed the Organians over 20 years prior.

T’Lir uses this as part of their case to convince Sisko to travel to the Pleroma, the newly revealed dimension of the gods.

Star Trek's God War Threatens More Than Just the Gods

Now, the entire star trek timeline is at risk of being destroyed.

In late 2022, IDW gave their Star Trek comics a shot in the arm, creating an epic, multi-year, multi-title story. The seeds were planted in Star Trek #400, when a mysterious force killed Gary Mitchell. The Bajoran Prophets sent Benjamin Sisko back to stop whoever was behind the slaughter of god-like beings. It was revealed to be the cloned Klingon Emperor Kahless. Seeking to fulfill the promise of his namesake, who allegedly slaughtered the Klingon gods, Kahless embarks on a campaign of terror. Both the Crystalline Entities and the Organians fell to Kahless.

It was made clear from the get-go that Kahless’ actions had the potential to seriously destroy the fabric of the universe. Both T’Lir and Spock arrive at this conclusion. While they were believed by Sisko and Starfleet, the exact amount of damage Kahless was causing was unknown. The gods Kahless was fighting were crucial to the smooth functioning of the universe, and now Kahless has thrown that into disarray. Sisko, T’Lir and the Theseus must now travel to the Pleroma to set things right. Kahless is still on the loose, and the Pleroma could be his next target.

Star Trek's Writers Have Promised Even Bigger Things to Come

Could star trek get its own version of secret wars.

It is crucial that Sisko and company stop Kahless, because now it seems that the destruction he has wrought is spreading through the timeline. Kahless’ actions have rippled across the time stream, killing the Organians and others like them. Kahless’ actions not only threaten the prime Star Trek universe, but the entire multiverse as well. In a recent interview with ScreenRant , writers Lanzing and Kelly revealed “The Pleroma” storyline sets up even bigger things for the title. Kahless posing a threat to the entire Star Trek multiverse would be the perfect capstone for the series.

Star Trek #19 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Apr 24, 2024

Stuck in a Loop: The Best of Star Trek's Time-Jumping Episodes

From The Next Generation to Discovery, going around and around is sometimes very revealing.

StarTrek.com

In the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 episode, " Face the Strange ," Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner find themselves both stuck in a loop, but also, jumping all around the timeline of the titular starship. From the point before the U.S.S. Discovery was launched, to pivotal moments in Season 4, Season 3, Season 2 and even very early in Season 1, Rayner notes at one point that, "We’ve gone back in time to when you went forward to the future. That’s a little confusing."

Throughout all of Star Trek 's history, time travel has been just as propulsive to the narratives as space travel. But, within the various time travel stories of Trek , there is a special kind of time-skipping episode — the time loop story. Discovery has recently shaken-up this formula with "Face the Strange," but many elements of this episode pay homage to a proud Star Trek tradition. Here’s the history of the best time loop, and time-jumping episodes across the entire Final Frontier.

" Cause and Effect ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 5, Episode 18)

"Cause and Effect"

Perhaps one of the greatest science fiction episodes of all time, The Next Generation set the gold-standard for how to do time loop episodes.

When the Enterprise collides with another starship in the first scene, this episode poses one question right off the bat: What happens after you blow up the ship — and everyone on it — before the credits roll? The answer is mostly connected to whether or not we can even remember when we're stuck in a loop. Without actually spoiling this classic episode, let's just say thank the stars for Dr. Crusher and Data.

The brilliance of "Cause and Effect" cannot be overstated, but the 21st Century legacy of this episode is utterly appropriate. When Geordi reveals how the time loop works, Riker says, "You mean we could have come into this room, sat at this table and had this conversation a dozen times already?" This scene has become a popular meme format across various social media platforms, satirizing the time loop of some aspects of the internet experience.

" Parallels ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Parallels"

Arguably, when Worf starts slipping between realities in "Parallels," the story is more focused on other dimensions, rather than a true time loop. But, each time he pops into a new reality, Worf does tend to reply to his own personal log, which is what began the episode.

Obviously, in each new timeline, Worf's personal log is different, and because he checks it so often in the episode, this gives "Parallels" the feeling of a time loop story, even though Worf is technically moving both forward in time, and also, side-to-side.

On top of all of this, "Parallels" feels time-loopy because so many ideas and plot points from previous seasons of The Next Generation are revisited here. From references to " The Best of Both Worlds ," to the return of Wesley Crusher, "Parallels" brings all the good things of TNG back around again for another look, from a different point of view.

" All Good Things... ," Star Trek: The Next Generation (Season 7, Episode 25)

"All Good Things..."

Speaking of the best of The Next Generation , the immortal series finale is, from a certain point of view, one big time loop. As Jean-Luc Picard shifts between past, present, and future, the biggest mystery of "All Good Things…" is what caused the anomaly in the Devron system? Eventually, we learn that the ending and the beginning of this story are inextricably connected, a paradox that creates a kind of loop that must be broken.

Twenty-nine years later, in the Star Trek: Picard episode, " Imposters ," Captain Liam Shaw references this moment, and notes that Picard and Riker have a "real chicken and egg thing going on." It doesn’t get any more time-loopy than that!

" Visionary ," Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Season 3, Episode 17)

"Visionary"

When O'Brien starts seeing another version of himself appearing randomly throughout the station, Dr. Bashir briefly floats the idea that he's just having really boring hallucinations. But, as the episode goes on, it becomes clear that O'Brien is actually seeing brief moments in the future, and then, catching up to those moments in the present.

"Visionary" messes with what we expect from a time loop episode, because in all instances of future occurrences, there are literally two O'Briens present, and, when the past O'Brien catches up to the future moment, the duplication effect happens again, creating a kind of visual loop for the audience. The funny thing is, in several instances, the future doesn't play out exactly the way past O'Brien saw the first time, making this one of the wobblier time loops in all of Star Trek .

" Relativity ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 5, Episode 24)

"Relativity"

In a move very similar to Discovery 's "Face the Strange," this unforgettable episode of Voyager briefly takes us back to a point before the series even begins, showing us Janeway's first moments on Voyager before the ship left the Utopia Planitia Shipyards on Mars. (In "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner see Discovery in a drydock on Earth well before the events of Season 1.)

But, Voyager 's jaunt into its own prehistory is just the beginning of a very specific type of time jumping episode. Here, Seven of Nine isn't exactly repeating a loop, but, making several attempts at different times, to prevent a bomb from destroying Voyager . As Tuvok aptly puts it when encountering one version of Seven from the future, "Like many time paradoxes, it's improbable, but not necessarily illogical." Because this episode features multiple versions of Seven, and leaps to various eras of Voyager , it pairs very nicely with Burnham and Rayner's similar jumps in "Face the Strange." Especially the moment where Seven meets herself.

" Shattered ," Star Trek: Voyager (Season 7, Episode 11)

"Shattered"

Does Voyager have the best timey-wimey episodes in all of the Trek franchise? It's hard to say, but if there's another Trek episode that feels like an older sibling of Discovery 's "Face the Strange," it's almost certainly "Shattered," a fan-favorite episode from Voyager 's final season. Here, the captain and the first officer — Janeway and Chakotay — find themselves on a version of the ship that has been split into different time periods.

"Shattered" is one of Star Trek 's greatest retrospective episodes, touching on moments across all of Voyager 's story, and teaming past versions of characters with ones closer to the present. It's a touching story, and, structurally, it's wonderfully homaged in Discovery .

" Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad ," Star Trek: Discovery (Season 1, Episode 7)

"Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad"

One of Discovery 's stand-out moments from Season 1 fully set the stage for "Face the Strange" in Season 5. In "Magic to Make The Sanest Man Go Mad," Harry Mudd sets the ship on a true time loop, in which only Stamets can truly remember what is going on. Like in "Face the Strange," Stamets has a perception that exists outside of time, thanks to taking on the Tardigrade DNA in "Choose Your Pain."

This detail comes in handy in "Face the Strange," where Burnham and Stamets again have to re-team to get Discovery out of a time loop caused by nefarious enemies using time travel technology as a weapon. In Season 1, Burnham and Stamets barely knew each other, much like Burnham and Rayner's relationship in Season 5. But, if there's one thing a time loop or time-jumping episode can do, it’s make people who are just colleagues into best friends for life.

Get Updates By Email

Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Den of Geek

Discovery Season 5 Episode 5 Easter Eggs Reveal the Fate of a Classic Star Trek Ship

From the Mirror Universe and the ISS Enterprise to a big reveal about the Breen, Discovery season 5 just referenced a a huge swath of the Star Trek timeline.

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers.

As both a prequel and sequel to various versions of the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Discovery often includes unexpected easter eggs and references to the entire saga. The latest episode, “Mirrors,” is no exception, as it brings back a famous Star Trek ship, as well as answers questions about a mysterious alien species, which has been around since the 1990s.

From references to the goatee version of Spock, to some deep-cuts from Deep Space Nine , and even a tribble joke, Discovery ’s easter eggs in season 5, episode 5 aren’t messing around. Here are the best references and how these shout-outs solve a few mysteries, while suggesting a possible future development for the next Star Trek show.

“Classic Work on Kellerun”

Early in the episode, Rayner and Burnham talk about which stories are considered classics on the planet Kellerun. Rayner is a member of the Kellerun species, which were established in the DS9 episode “Armageddon Game.” We actually know very little about the Kellerun species, so Discovery is inventing new canon here, rather than referencing anything from previous Trek shows.

Ad – content continues below

Wormhole and the Burn

The wormhole that Book and Burnham have to enter is unstable, which describes most wormholes featured in Star Trek . But, in this case, it’s suggested that the matter/anti-matter reactions in this wormhole were caused by the Burn.

The Burn was that galaxy-changing event in the backstory of Discovery season 3, when, in 3069, every warp core in the galaxy detonated. Warp cores use matter/antimatter reactions to do their thing.

ISS Enterprise 

Inside the wormhole, Book and Burnham encounter the ISS Enterprise , and Book says right away “ISS, that’s Mirror Universe.” When he says this we hear the Mirror Universe music from Discovery season 1.

The existence of the ISS Enterprise in this episode is a massive easter egg, which contains various other smaller easter eggs. These include the following:

• The ISS Enterprise was last seen, in-canon, in the TOS episode “Mirror, Mirror.” So, chronologically, in both our world, and the Trek timeline, this is its second appearance. 
• The bridge and sickbay of the ISS Enterprise are just the sets from the Strange New Worlds version of the Enterprise . Discovery season 5 filmed in between SNW seasons.
• Several versions of the Terran Empire logo are seen throughout the ship. These match with the Terran Empire logo from Discovery season 1 and season 3, and differ from the logo from The Original Series . 
• Does the redesign make sense in terms of the timeline? Well, Akiva Goldsman has suggested that on some level, the visual canon of Strange New Worlds relative to The Original Series isn’t the true canon. In 2023, he said that the aesthetic choices of the more modern Strange New Worlds don’t change the story as seen on TOS , but it doesn’t mean modern Star Trek will ever reveal a rubber-suited Gorn. “You will never see the Gorn like that…This is the Gorn as we perceive them,” Goldsman said. So, analogously, Discovery didn’t need to make the TOS Mirror Enterprise like the retro 1960s version. Plus, who knows what the Terran Empire did in between “Mirror, Mirror” and the moment this crew escaped? 

Mirror Spock 

Burnham mentions that the science station on the Enterprise was “my brother’s station.” This, of course, refers to Spock, who, in this universe, did, briefly, work at this exact station. Burnham says, “I’m sure he was just as ruthless as the rest though,” which, as we know, is not true. Mirror Spock spared Prime Kirk in “Mirror, Mirror,” and then became the leader of the entire empire.

In fact, when Book reads the story of this version of the Enterprise , he says, “The Terran High Chancellor was killed for trying to make reforms.” In the Deep Space Nine episode “Crossover,” we learned that the leader of the Terran Empire was Spock. And that Spock trying to reform the Terran Empire led to Earth being taken over in the 24th Century by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. 

So, the episode references Spock, twice, without actually naming him, and the second time, neither Book nor Burnham even knows that Mirror Spock was a low-key hero.

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Saru and the Mirror Universe From Discovery Season 3

Book mentions that the crew of the ISS Enterprise escaped with the help of a “Kelpien slave turned rebel leader.” This seems to reference the events of “Terra Firma Part 2,” from Discovery season 3. In that episode, Georgiou went back into the Mirror Universe and created a kind of pocket timeline in which she died at a different time, and Saru was freed to become a rebel leader. At the time, it wasn’t clear if this changed the timeline of the Mirror Universe — or the timeline of Discovery season 1 — but the mention of a Mirror Saru who is a rebel suggests that some version of that timeline might have occurred after all.

The Breen Revealed!

First mentioned in The Next Generation , the Breen eventually appeared in person in the 1995 Deep Space Nine episode “Indiscretion.” But, from that point, until now, they’ve only appeared inside their suits, and under those helmets. There’s been a ton of speculation for decades about what the Breen look like under their helmets, and now, we’ve finally seen the answer. 

In “Mirrors” — during the flashbacks that explains Moll and L’ak’s relationship — we finally see that the Breen have not one face, but two . Apparently, one face exists under their helmet, while another, more stable face can emerge when they have their helmets off. This seems to suggest that the Breen hiding their faces has more to do with a cultural tradition than any environmental requirement. Moll has been running around without a helmet this entire season, and apparently, that’s what a Breen can look like, too.

Smuggling Tribbles

In one of the flashbacks, Moll jokes about making sure she “didn’t smuggle any tribbles on board.” This seems to suggest that yes, even in the 32nd Century , tribbles are still possibly hazardous, because they breed so quickly, and overrun spaceships and space stations. Famously, the tribbles first appeared in the TOS classic, “The Trouble With Tribbles.” Though, in Picard season 3, we did see a genetically engineered “attack tribble” with vicious teeth, stored away in a Section 31 black ops lab. It’s possible this “attack tribble” was created during the Dominion War, which means, it might have been designed to fight the Breen, who were Dominion allies back then.

As Book is navigating the ISS Enterprise out of the wormhole, he says, “Should we hit it?” Book has no idea that “hit it” was Pike’s catchphrase to send a ship into warp. Burnham smiles sheepishly and responds, “Feels weird. Let’s just fly.” She feels weird because she doesn’t want to steal Pike’s catchphrase, and so she uses her own catchphrase, “let’s fly,” instead.

The ISS Enterprise in the Prime Universe 

The episode ends with the ISS Enterprise being fully intact in the Prime Universe. We’re told that Detmer and Owo are flying the ship back to Federation HQ on their own. Scotty was able to fly the classic Enterprise with just himself and Sulu in The Search for Spock , so we have to assume that Detmer and Owo have done something similar. We don’t know if a new, 32nd Century Enterprise exists in this era of Star Trek , but as of now, Discovery just brought a classic version of the ship into the future. 

Because the upcoming Starfleet Academy series is set in the 32nd Century, it feels possible that Discovery just created a way for the students of future Starfleet to hang out on the bridge of the classic Enterprise — again!

Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…

• About WordPress
• Get Involved
• WordPress.org
• Documentation
• Learn WordPress

Historic Timeline: Star Trek’s LGBTQ History

Published by Erica Leff on April 17, 2024 April 17, 2024

Star Trek’s LGBTQ History

I chose to make a timeline regarding one of my favorite things,  Star Trek . It has a messy but increasingly positive history with LGBTQ issues. I would break  Star Trek ‘s LGBTQ history into 3 “eras”:

• The Original Series Era (1966-1987), where there’s no real depictions onscreen of LGBTQ issues, although fans in the late ’60s started writing Kirk/Spock fan fiction because of the characters’ relationship subtext. This is the start of the “slashfic” subgenre of fan fiction, depicting male/male relationships.
• The Reboot Era (1987-2016), where the shows  The Next Generation ,  Deep Space Nine ,  Voyager , and  Enterprise  are released, as well as the TOS reboot movies Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). During this time,  Star Trek occasionally touched on issues of gender and sexuality and were usually slightly ahead of the times on these issues. There is a lot of gay subtext in this era, as well as the controversial first female/female kiss in 1995.
• The Second Reboot Era (2016-present), starting with Star Trek Beyond , the third reboot movie, where this version of Hikaru Sulu is revealed to be gay. After this, we get the shows  Discovery ,  Picard ,  Lower Decks ,  Prodigy , and  Strange New Worlds . Here we get explicitly LGBTQ characters and stories.

It should be noted that for decades, actors playing  Star Trek  captains and other characters voiced their desire for more representation. Scott Bakula, who played Captain Jonathan Archer on  Enterprise , said “I haven’t heard anything coming down the pipeline, but I would be in favor of it. … It would be wonderful … if it was not such a huge issue, but was just there” (Starr, 2002). Fifteen years later, LGBTQ characters became a regular part of the  Star Trek  universe. While  Star Trek  is known for always having been a progressive franchise, the lack of true LGBTQ representation until after  the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States is troubling.

Initially, when making this timeline, I simply found photos of the most important scenes. I realized that images on Imgur don’t upload very well into TimelineJS, so I decided to find videos on YouTube, which also made more sense, since a video can tell more of a story than a still image. I included the Original Series Era to make it visually clear where the eras begin and end, despite not including any points in time from that era. The timeline’s large gaps speak volumes about how afraid  Star Trek  and its owner, Paramount, were about including LGBTQ representation. I had a little trouble getting my timeline to work because I misunderstood the “publish to web” step. I thought I had to click out of window and copy the URL from the published version, not the spreadsheet itself. Once I figured out what I was doing wrong, it worked perfectly.

Starr, M. (2002, January 17). Starr report.  New York Post .

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

The act of commenting on this site is an opt-in action and San Jose State University may not be held liable for the information provided by participating in the activity.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related Posts

What is an archivist, anyway.

“I’m getting a masters in library and information science. I want to be an archivist.” This is typically how I respond if someone asks me about my education. More often than not, people have little Read more…

Ted Carlson Scope & Container List

Scope and Content Note The collection of Eric Theodore “Ted” Carlson’s papers dates from 1944-1946 and consists of his personal correspondence, military documents, and academic documents. The majority of the collection is personal correspondence between Read more…

Ted Carlson Abstract & Biographical Note

Abstract Eric Theodore “Ted” Carlson served in the United States Corps of Engineers during World War II. His papers include documents related to his military service, as well as personal, professional, and educational correspondence. Some Read more…

Screen Rant

The flash vanishes today in the cw's 'future' & i am not ready to accept it's been a decade.

It's been nearly a decade since The Flash premiered and, according to the pilot episode, April 25, 2024 is the day Barry Allen vanishes in Crisis.

• Today, April 25, 2024, marks the day when The Flash was originally meant to disappear during Crisis on Infinite Earths.
• The Flash's pilot episode tease of the Crisis event came to pass earlier than originally expected in the Arrowverse timeline.
• Despite the end of The Flash series, its legacy continues with the TV show being the defining adaptation of DC's speedster hero.

In the final scene of The Flash pilot episode, the front page of a future edition of The Central City Citizen newspaper reports "Flash Missing: Disappears In Crisis," and today, April 25, 2024, is the date of that report. The scene was exciting for a few reasons — not only did it tee up The Flash season 1 's time-travelling villain Reverse-Flash, it also teased the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline five years before it came to pass. However, now that the date of Barry Allen's (Grant Gustin) disappearance has come, it's difficult to believe it's been almost 10 years since The Flash premiered.

In the last decade, the Arrowverse expanded greatly, growing from only The CW's flagship DC TV show, Arrow , to include multiple spinoffs like The Flash , DC's Legends of Tomorrow , Supergirl , Black Lightning , Batwoman and Superman & Lois . The franchise was known for its annual crossovers, which brought heroes from multiple series together to battle massive threats, all culminating in the five-episode Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover that aired in late 2019 and early 2020. Now, more than a decade after Arrow premiered, the Arrowverse has essentially ended, and real life is catching up with the future that The Flash teased in its very first episode.

Superman & Lois is the last remaining Arrowverse show, with its final season set to air in 2024. However, in the season 2 finale, it was confirmed to take place in a different universe to the franchise's Earth-Prime, so the main timeline ended with The Flash in 2023.

All The Flash Seasons, Ranked Worst To Best

The flash's pilot episode tease never truly came to pass, crisis on infinite earths happened earlier in the arrowverse than 2024.

One rule of time travel established in The Flash season 1 is that the future can always be changed, and the present can be impacted by going back in time — this was especially explored in The Flash season 3 when the series loosely adapted the Flashpoint storyline from the comics. As such, the newspaper seen in the pilot episode underwent a few changes throughout The Flash series' run . Partway through season 1, the author of the story changed to become Iris West-Allen, confirming her future marriage to Barry and career as a journalist.

Moreover, the Crisis referenced in the newspaper arrived five years earlier than the Arrowverse's originally teased timeline. The Flash season 5 finale hinted that the events of the show had sped up Crisis's arrival, which was confirmed in the season 6 premiere. Instead of 2024, The Flash would vanish on Dec. 10, 2019 , the date that the show's episode in the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover aired in real life. However, it turned out not to be Gustin's version of Barry Allen who died in Crisis. Rather, it was the Earth-90 version of The Flash, played by John Wesley Shipp from the 90s TV show, who sacrificed himself .

The Flash Remains Active In Arrowverse Canon Until 2049

The flash series finale teased new speedsters joining barry allen's legacy.

Although The Flash season 9 ending concluded Gustin's run as the Scarlet Speedster, in Arrowverse canon, Barry Allen continues operating as The Flash until at least 2049 . This makes sense since the tease of his disappearance was already resolved during the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. By the time The Flash season 9 premiered, the show had already paid off its biggest pilot tease, though Barry Allen still faced off with Reverse-Flash once more during that final season.

One other future tease in The Flash's pilot episode, Wayne Tech's merger with Queen Inc, also never occurred in the Arrowverse.

However, the ending of The Flash also set the stage for more speedsters to join the Arrowverse, with Barry sharing his connection to the Speed Force with three new heroes: Avery Ho, Max Mercury and Jess Chambers . All three are speedsters in the comics, and the first two were either introduced or hinted at during The Flash season 8. This means that not only did The Flash not vanish on April 25, 2024, in the Arrowverse, but even more speedster heroes are running around helping Barry Allen protect the DC universe.

A Decade Later, The Flash Remains One Of The Arrowverse's Biggest Successes

It became the longest-running arrowverse series with 9 seasons.

Though it was the second DC TV series to join the Arrowverse, The Flash became the longest-running show in the franchise with nine total seasons and 184 episodes. It was also critically well-received throughout its run, holding an average 89% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes - which is only bested by Black Lightning's score of 92%. All told, The Flash has cemented its place as one of the Arrowverse's best series and its biggest successes.

Which is why it's so bittersweet that today is a reminder of how much time has passed since The Flash premiered. It marked a turning point for the Arrowverse, proving the then-burgeoning TV franchise could become an interconnected universe and going on to become so well-developed, it's only true rival was the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At the time, it would've been impossible to predict that from 2014-2024, not only would superhero fans see the rise and fall of the Arrowverse, but even the DCEU and MCU would face their own struggles — the former moreso than the latter.

The Flash TV Show is the gold standard against which all other adaptations will be measured.

Now, it's also worth appreciating everything the Arrowverse, and The Flash specifically, achieved during its time. The Arrowverse pulled off a massive feat in delivering a truly spectacular event with its Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, and produced a number of well-liked DC TV shows. Additionally, Gustin's Barry Allen is so beloved, that his has become the defining performance of The Flash. All told, though there have been adaptations of Barry Allen before and since, The Flash TV Show is the gold standard against which all other adaptations will be measured. And even 10 years later, it remains to be seen when, if ever, a better adaptation of The Flash will be produced.

*Availability in US

Not available

After witnessing his mother's murder, and his father wrongly convicted, Detective West and his family take in Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). Becoming a forensic scientist, Allen tries to uncover the truth about his mother's murder, which leads him to Harrison Wells' particle accelerator. When the accelerator causes an explosion, Allen is struck by lightning and enters a coma. When he wakes up, he learns he has the ability to move at superhuman speeds, though he is not the only meta-human created in the wake of the explosion. Based on one of the most popular characters from DC Comics, the TV adaptation of The Flash was developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns. The series ran for nine seasons on The CW and is one of the most popular shows in the network’s “Arrowverse.”