Star Trek: Lower Decks is technically over, but that doesn't mean it can never come back. Much like the original Star Trek and, more recently, Prodigy, fan efforts can save a canceled series and give it new life, whatever that may look like. Creator Mike McMahan confirmed to CinemaBlend that he has plenty of ideas for that if Paramount+ or others are interested, but has a plea for fans who want to do whatever to help make it happen.
As fans prepare for the 2025 TV schedule and all the upcoming Trek shows on the way, Mike McMahan wants the celebration of Lower Decks to continue. Streaming the show with a Paramount+ subscription is always helpful, but the showrunner had some ideas for all the things fans should and shouldn't do if they want to see more adventures with the crew after the finale:
I wanna do more seasons of Lower Decks. I wanna do a live-action spin off. I wanna do big animated movies. I have ideas for all of it. What I need the fandom to do is be respectful and be joyous. You get a show picked up because the fandom is roaring with enthusiasm and love, not when they're saying, ‘Fuck whoever canceled this,’ or, ‘You owe us more of this.’ I can go and make a case for more if I have stacks of posts and people sitting down and writing a personal letter to somebody at Paramount+ or CBS, I don't think people do that anymore. If everybody did that like they did to save Star Trek the first time, there's no guarantee, if I go in and go, ‘Man, I'd love to do it, and it seems like the fandom would love it too. Wouldn't you guys look like heroes if we pick this up again?’ As opposed to being like the fandom says they're gonna hit you with their car unless you do it. That doesn't make them pick up the show. That makes them not pick up the show and not walk down the street.
As someone who has been around the Star Trek fandom on social media since its big return, I have to emphasize Mike McMahan's point about minimizing negativity. When Star Trek: Discovery was canceled, as well as when Paramount didn't seem interested in doing a Star Trek: Picard follow-up, people were far more willing to flood projects with refusals to watch new content due to not giving them what they wanted. If Mike McMahan says those efforts hurt the franchise more than help it, believe him.
With Star Trek: Lower Decks officially canonizing multiple universes in the lore, there is a lot of potential for more adventures and guest stars like Jolene Blalock to return. Mike McMahan confirmed to CinemaBlend that he's open to returning to Paramount with more ideas and continued on with saying all the ways the fans could help him with his pitches:
I love our fandom. I really wanna do more and if anybody's looking to help out write a postcard, you know what I mean? Celebrate online and get more people to watch it. Buy the DVDs. Do the things that we all know deep down tell the people who hold the wallets in this industry what to do.
Money makes the world go round, and if people are spending money on Star Trek: Lower Decks merchandise and showing there's an appetite for more, it's going to go far with executives when someone pitches more adventures. In short, it's once again on the fans to prove that this show is worth saving and not just a handful of diehards doing most of the legwork. Hopefully we can all rise to the challenge and bring back the beloved animated series.
As for what Star Trek does have on tap for 2025, the release of the Section 31 movie comes on January 24th. We also know that Strange New Worlds will return for Season 3 at some point this year, and that the new Starfleet Academy series is on pace for a 2026 arrival. There's also a Star Trek origin movie coming to the big screen, and while it's not a fourth installment in the Kelvin universe, it'll be great to see the franchise back in theaters again. If it's a hit, maybe the Lower Decks movie will be greenlit?
We can only cross our fingers and maybe send a postcard to the good people at Paramount+. Continue to stream Star Trek: Lower Decks in the meantime to help support the series and help Mike McMahan build a case for doing more adventures.
