Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is the next show in the sci-fi franchise to premiere in 2022 and, while Picard Season 2 captivated viewers with its recent Jurati twist, I think the latest footage for the upcoming Paramount+ series will change the conversation. The first full-length trailer for the series is here, and it teases some truly wild locations and shows why fans needed a show with Anson Mount’s Captain Pike.
The previous trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds featured a scruffy and sad Christopher Pike, but there’s none of that in this latest look at the show. Instead, we see the calm, calculated, and somewhat cocky Pike on the bridge of the Enterprise alongside Ethan Peck’s Spock (who feels more like Leonard Nimoy than ever here) and the rest of the remarkable cast. This brief glimpse of Anson Mount back in action as the captain seems to have amplified all of the things I loved about his performance in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, and I’m so excited for his performance.
The other exciting element on display here is, of course, the plethora of wild planets and species. Strange New Worlds is living up to its name and looks like it’ll truly take viewers to some exciting and possibly familiar places. While other new Trek shows definitely still incorporate space travel and exploration, it’s fair to say the serialization of storylines makes it hard for a ton of that to happen while it still maintains its storyline. The episodic storytelling structure should provide this latest production with the freedom to hop from one radically different-looking planet to the next while still allowing for character arcs at the cost of smaller adventures.
Of course, I think it’s clear looking at this latest trailer that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds embraces the look, feel, and tone of modern Trek really well. The action looks to be as riveting as any past show of the Alex Kurtzman era, and I love that shot of the Enterprise flying into battle. I’m not sure what fans who expected SNW to be a direct recreation of the original series will have to say about this new footage, but I, for one, am definitely on board with what I’ve seen so far.
Those that enjoyed the latest look at the Anson Mount-led series will be thrilled to learn Season 2 is already in production. What’s even more exciting is that Paul Wesley is joining the next season as James T. Kirk, though it's unclear how the future captain will play into things. There’s speculation that before the show's end, Mount’s Pike will have the career-ending accident that leads to him being relieved as captain of the Enterprise. Of course, only time will tell if that will truly be the case. Plus, there’s plenty of ground for the Paramount+ series to cover regarding Kirk’s pre-Enterprise days, so anyone worried for Mount’s Pike shouldn’t get too concerned just yet.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premieres on Thursday, May 5th. Those that are still holding out on a Paramount+ subscription might want to consider hopping on board soon, especially with so much new content already having arrived on the streamer in 2022.
