star trek picard kelvin timeline

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained

We've remodulated our tricorders to help you make sense of the Star Trek Kelvin timeline from the recent Star Trek movies.

Our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article is here to tell Spock from Spock.

How do you reboot a franchise that’s been around more than 50 years old and whose fan base is, shall we say, passionate about the accuracy of its canon? If you wipe the slate completely clean and start afresh, you lose the benefit of five decades of lore from which to draw inspiration and characters. If you keep the continuity, you’re shackled to decades of details from which you can’t escape. What can you do? If you’re Star Trek, you create the Kelvin Timeline.

The Kelvin timeline, or "alternate universe Trek", creates a new environment in which the events of the more recent Star Trek films (Star Trek, Into Darkness, Beyond) won’t contradict those that came before. It’s also how Spock ended up meeting himself. 

If you want to rewatch the new Star Trek movies, our Star Trek streaming guide will show you where to watch them all online. And if you're curious to see how the new movies stack up against the classics, check out our Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best article. Now, let's dive into the Star Trek Kelvin timeline.

Event One: Nero Travels Through Time 

According to Star Trek (2009), the planet Romulus was destroyed by a supernova in the year 2387. Ambassador Spock attempted to use "red matter", a substance so powerful that a single drop can destroy a planet, to save Romulus by destroying the supernova. He did indeed manage to destroy the supernova, but not in time to prevent the planet’s destruction. To make matters worse, both his ship, the experimental Jellyfish, and the Romulan mining ship Narada were pulled into the black hole’s wake and sent hurtling backwards in time. Spock emerged in 2258 while the Romulans landed in 2233. 

The Narada’s captain, Nero decides to use this opportunity to take out his grief on the organization he holds responsible for the ruin of Romulus and, by extension, the death of his family: the Federation. One of his first acts is to destroy the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained heroically to the very last minute by George Kirk, who lives just long enough to name his newborn son James.

And thus begins the Kelvin timeline. 

Spock, Meet Spock 

Jim Kirk grows up as a rebellious punk constantly trying to outrun his father’s long shadow. Christopher Pike sees something of value in him and urges him to join Starfleet, which he eventually does. Through a contrivance of events, he ends up aboard the Enterprise along with Spock, Bones McCoy, Uhura, and the rest of the Original Series crew. 

It’s now 2258 and Ambassador Spock emerges from the black hole just in time to be scooped up by Nero, who keeps the Jellyfish — and its cache of red matter — for himself while abandoning Spock on the frozen planet of Delta Vega. He wants Spock to bear witness as the Narada drills a hole into the center of Vulcan and releases red matter at the planet’s core. The Enterprise tries to stop him and fails, though they do manage to rescue Spock’s father, Sarek. Nero is eventually defeated, and Spock's young and old take a moment to reflect on their coexistence

Enter Khan, Exit Kirk 

Nero’s too-close-to-success-for-comfort attempt to destroy Earth shifts Starfleet’s ethos from one of discovery to one of protection. They still want to "seek out new life forms," but only to find out how dangerous they are. In Into Darkness (2013), Alexander Marcus, leader of the secretive Section 31, finds the SS Botany Bay, stuffed to the rafters full of augmented humans in cryostasis. He wakes one of them up — Khan Noonien Singh — and forces him to build weapons that Earth could use to defend itself against alien threats. 

Huge surprise, Khan betrays Marcus, exacting vengeance on various Starfleet targets. In doing so, he kills Kirk’s father figure Christopher Pike. Marcus tries to leverage Kirk’s hot-headedness by sending Kirk after Khan, who has fled to the Klingon homeworld of Kronos. He figures Kirk will kill, not capture, Khan, thus removing a threat and evidence of Marcus’ secret project.

Kirk goes off script and keeps Khan alive, much to the chagrin of Admiral Marcus, who tries to blow them all the heck up. The sacrifice that leads to victory happens just as in the original, except in the Kelvin timeline it’s Kirk who gives his life to save his crew. In the prime timeline, Genesis brought Spock back to life, but here it’s Khan’s blood that gets the job done.

That bit of ugliness behind them, the Enterprise receives its five-year-mission. You know the one.

Farewell to Spock 

In Star Trek: Beyond (2016), the Enterprise discovers the USS Franklin, a Federation ship that had been lost for decades. Here’s what’s fun about that: the Kelvin timeline doesn’t start until 2233. The Franklin disappeared before that, so it exists in both timelines, which means a different version of it could theoretically pop up in Star Trek media that doesn’t adhere to the Kelvin timeline. 

In Kelvin, however, the Franklin is half-buried after crashing into the surface of the planet Altamid. Few of its former crew remain, and those that do are unrecognizable, having been transformed by technology they’ve used to keep themselves alive. The Franklin’s captain, Balthazar Edison, now known as Krall, rejects Starfleet ideals of peace. He’s a soldier and he believes that he should be allowed to do what he does best. He returns to starbase Yorktown with the goal of commandeering it to launch an attack on the Federation, but first he’ll have to kill every living thing in residence. Kirk et al save the day, of course. 

This is also the point at which Ambassador Spock leaves the timeline due to the passing of the peerless Leonard Nimoy. Kelvin Spock had been planning to rejoin what remains of the Vulcan people, but instead chooses to honor his other self by remaining in Starfleet.

Crossover With the Prime Timeline 

Keeping track of the Kelvin timeline is important because there are still Star Trek properties operating in the prime timeline, such as Picard . However, there has been a little bit of crossover between the two. Picard takes place long after the titular character has quit Starfleet, and early on we discover the destruction of Romulus was why. 

Picard wanted to launch a rescue mission to save as many Romulans as possible before the detonation of the supernova, but Starfleet pushed back. He went forward with it anyway, but when his ships were decimated by a fleet of rogue synths, Starfleet gave up all rescue efforts. Picard resigned in disgust. Everything that happens after that — and therefore everything taking place in the show — is part of the prime timeline, despite being kicked off by Event One.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

Dune: What the climate of Arrakis can tell us about the hunt for habitable exoplanets

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 104 — The Artemis Accords, Ecuador, and You

NASA's mini moon rovers go for a test drive ahead of 2025 private lunar launch (photos)

Most Popular

By Fran Ruiz January 29, 2024

By Fran Ruiz January 26, 2024

By Conor Feehly January 05, 2024

By Keith Cooper December 22, 2023

By Fran Ruiz December 20, 2023

By Fran Ruiz December 19, 2023

By Fran Ruiz December 18, 2023

By Tantse Walter December 18, 2023

By Robert Lea December 05, 2023

By Robert Lea December 04, 2023

By Robert Lea December 01, 2023

• 2 We asked over 50 women space leaders for words of inspiration. Here's what they told us
• 3 Dune: What the climate of Arrakis can tell us about the hunt for habitable exoplanets
• 4 This Week In Space podcast: Episode 104 — The Artemis Accords, Ecuador, and You
• 5 April 8 total solar eclipse: Why this eclipse repeats itself every 54 years

Here's How Star Trek: Picard Fits Into The Fractured Franchise Timeline

Patrick Stewart and showrunner Alex Kurtzman delve into the details of Jean-Luc Picard's new life.

During a panel at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Sunday (January 12), showrunner Alex Kurtzman offered some clarification on the show's timeline, where it sits within the ever-expanding Trek universe.

"We are in the Prime timeline," Kurtzman confirmed, referring to the original series timeline as opposed to the alternate "Kelvin" timeline established in JJ Abrams' 2009 Star Trek movie. "Events from the Kelvin timeline impacted Picard , but if you look at that movie, the destruction of Romulus was in the Prime timeline. It is what enabled the Kelvin timeline jump to happen. So that is very consistent with canon." In other words, the fall of Romulus is the inciting incident for both the Kelvin timeline, and for Star Trek: Picard, which is the first onscreen Trek story to explore the aftermath of that event.

It's fair to say that things are a little bleak for Picard as the series picks up – per Stewart, "Picard's life has changed. He's troubled, disturbed, lonely, and with feelings of strange, unnatural guilt." But there is one extremely significant piece of good news about Picard's new life: he has a really, really excellent dog named Dinero. Even better? Dinero was Stewart's idea.

"To just see him with a dog seemed to me to write a lot of things that didn't have to be said," Stewart explained, "because the presence of the dog alone means that he's looking for some form of comfort, which he cannot find anywhere else, but he finds it in the dog." Stewart pushed for the dog to specifically be a pit bull, he added, "because I'm passionate about these dogs, and they are abused and treated appallingly all over the world. I'm now campaigning in the UK for the laws to be changed and for them to be allowed into the country. So it's terrific to have Dinero in the sequel, and I hope we see much more of him." Hard same.

Later in the panel, Kurtzman shared some insights on how the show compares to other current Star Trek series, particularly CBS All Access's Discovery and Lower Decks . "I think the proposition is that every time you watch a Star Trek show, it has to feel and look totally very different from every other show," he said, adding that Picard will spend substantially more time on our planet than is typical for Trek . "The first chapter is really earthbound. It's very rare that you see a lot of time spent on the planet Earth in the world of Star Trek , and we did not want to rush that. We wanted to take the time to show the condition of Picard's life, and to watch him evolve to taking off into the stars, and we were not in a hurry to do that."

@media(max-width: 73.75rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.4375rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1ktbcds:before{margin-right:0.5625rem;color:#FF3A30;content:'_';display:inline-block;}} TV

The Best Netflix Series of 2024 (So Far)

Crimson Sky Only Means One Thing in 'Shōgun'

Shōgun: Your Guide to Understanding the Characters

The 40 Best Shows on Netflix Right Now

Oda Nobunaga’s Unbelievable Story Inspired ‘Shōgun

‘Shōgun’ Episode 6 Declares War on Everything

The Future of 'Euphoria' Is Increasingly Uncertain

‘Shōgun’ Is One of the Best TV Series of the Year

What Happened to Will in '3 Body Problem'?

Jovan Adepo Is Never Coming Back Down to Earth

Let’s Break Down the ‘3 Body Problem’ S1 Finale

• Entertainment
• How <i>Picard</i> Fits Into the <i>Star Trek</i> Timeline

How Picard Fits Into the Star Trek Timeline

I t’s been 26 long years since Star Trek: The Next Generation graced the small screen. But beginning Jan. 23, a new series centered around that show’s captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), will “boldly go” to the network’s streaming service, CBS All Access. Star Trek: Picard is about our titular captain’s life many years after his last fateful mission for Starfleet.

But how does Picard fit into the larger Star Trek timeline? The CBS series is set where no Trek has gone before, well past the events of TV’s Star Trek: Voyager and the last film of the Picard era, Star Trek: Nemesis. Many fan favorite characters are expected to return, including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Seven-of-Nine (Jeri Ryan).

For Trek nerds out there, this means Picard takes place in the “prime” timeline, which is where each of the television series and the original films live. In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with the film Star Trek, creating a new timeline for the already confusing Trek universe. In the film, a bad guy travels back in time and destroys the USS Kelvin, killing Captain Kirk’s father, George Kirk, in the process. All three of J.J. Abrams’ movies take place in this alternate timeline called the “Kelvin Timeline,” after the annihilated ship.

To familiarize yourself with the Trek universe, here are the two timelines:

Prime Timeline

Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2161)

Airdate: 2001-2005

Plot: Set 100 years before the Enterprise ‘s mission in the original Star Trek , this series traces the adventures of the first Warp 4 capable Starfleet ship, also called Enterprise . Scott Bakula starred as the human captain Jonathan Archer, and Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan officer T’Pol.

Star Trek Discovery (2255)

Airdate: 2017-

Plot: Sonequa Martin-Green plays officer Michael Burnham, a human who was raised by Spock’s parents, Amanda and Sarek. Burnham has suppressed her human tendencies in order to assimilate into the hyper-logical Vulcan society but tries to reconnect with her emotional side when she serves Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and then Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).

Star Trek (2265-2269)

Airdate: 1966-1969

Plot: The original Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry featured Captain James Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and the other Starfleet members on a mission of exploration and self-improvement. One of the most diverse shows on television at the time, Star Trek ran for three seasons and inspired future space sagas like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica .

Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

Airdate: 1973-1974

Plot: After the original series went off the air, Roddenberry created an animated series that continued the stories of Star Trek and reunited much of the same cast to do voice work for cartoon versions of their characters.

Original Star Trek movies (2273-2293)

Airdate: 1979-1991

Plot: Roddenberry leveraged the massive success of the syndicated series into a number of feature films starring Shatner and Nimoy. Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Star Trek V: The Finale Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country continued established storylines.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

Airdate: 1987-1994

Plot: Set 100 years after the events of the original Star Trek , this series followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew (Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis, among them) on the fifth iteration of the Enterprise , USS Enterprise-D .

Next Generation Movies (2293-2379)

Airdate: 1994-2002

Plot: In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Captain Picard teams up with the once-presumed-dead Captain Kirk. The story unites the casts from the two Star Trek series at the time, effectively passing the baton from Shatner to Stewart. The Next Generation cast went on to star in three more movies, sans the original cast: Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis .

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Airdate: 1993-1999

Plot: Set on a space station rather than a starship, Deep Space Nine focuses on the adventures of the people charged with guarding the opening to a wormhole at the end of the galaxy. Deep Space Nine was helmed by Trek’ s first black captain, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). It was also the first Trek series created without Roddenberry, who gave the concept his approval before he passed away in 1991.

Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Airdate: 1995-2001

Plot: After the ship Voyager gets stranded in the Delta Quadrant (the far side of the Milky Way galaxy) while searching for a renegade ship, they must make the 75-year journey home. Voyager was fronted by Trek’ s first female captain, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

Star Trek: Picard (2399-?)

Airdate: 2020 — ? (A second season is already in the works)

Plot: Many years after a daring mission to save a dying planet, Captain Picard — now an Admiral — has left Starfleet (or, more accurately, Starfleet has left him). But when a mysterious young woman with a potential connection to a certain beloved android shows up at his doorstep, it sets in motion events that lead Picard back into space — albeit with a crew that’s more swashbuckler than Starfleet.

Kelvin Timeline

Star Trek (2233-2258)

Release date: 2009

Plot: A bad guy named Nero (Eric Bana), angry that his planet is destroyed in the future, travels back in time and kills Kirk’s father (in 2233). He then hangs out for a long time to destroy Vulcan (in 2258) in front of old Spock who has also traveled back in time (and is played by Leonard Nimoy) because Spock failed to save the baddie’s home planet. Current-day Kirk (Chris Pine) encounters old Spock who explains all the confusing time-jump mechanics to him. Together, current-day Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) become begrudging friends and save the universe.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Airdate: 2013

Plot: The second J.J. Abrams film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain that the marketing team really tried to convince people was not genetically-engineered superhuman Khan. (He was Khan.) Kirk leads a mission to capture Khan after her murders a bunch of Starfleet officers.

Star Trek Beyond

Airdate: 2016

Plot: Justin Lin took over for the third reboot film and threw in some motorcycles because he has a thing for fast vehicles. In this one, a baddie named Krall (Idris Elba) kidnaps part of Kirk’s crew in hopes that Kirk will exchange a powerful McGuffin for their safety.

More Must-Reads From TIME

• Jane Fonda Champions Climate Action for Every Generation
• Biden’s Campaign Is In Trouble. Will the Turnaround Plan Work?
• Why We're Spending So Much Money Now
• The Financial Influencers Women Actually Want to Listen To
• Breaker Sunny Choi Is Heading to Paris
• Why TV Can’t Stop Making Silly Shows About Lady Journalists
• The Case for Wearing Shoes in the House
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Write to Eliana Dockterman at [email protected]

You May Also Like

How Star Trek Connected the Kelvin Timeline to the Prime Universe

The most recent Star Trek movies take place in the so-called Kelvin Timeline, but how do they connect to the Prime Universe and franchise canon?

The Star Trek universe encompasses over two dozen films and series spanning 57 years. There are real-world reasons the trilogy of films, beginning with 2009's Star Trek, separates the continuity. One of them was so that modern-day storytellers wouldn't be hamstrung trying to fit their stories into the canon. Yet, after the film series petered out and companies merged, they all connected.

Rather than simply trying to tell a prequel story or reboot the continuity entirely, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman crafted a way to connect the film to what came before. Leonard Nimoy appeared as an older Spock in the film, despite Zachary Quinto playing a younger version of that character. The premise was that the Romulan Sun destabilized, and before Spock could save his alien cousins, the planet was destroyed. With the help of some sci-fi stuff called "Red Matter," Spock and a giant Romulan mining vessel captained by Eric Bana's Nero traveled back in time. When Kurtzman was eventually tapped to kick off the third wave of the Star Trek series , he stuck to what's known as the "Prime Universe" partly because of rights issues. Still, by the time Picard debuted, the Kelvin Timeline and Prime Universe were loosely connected.

RELATED: Strange New Worlds Explores the Lingering Trauma of War With M'Benga

The Kelvin Timeline Is One of Many Alternate Realities in Star Trek

Between 2006 and 2019, CBS Television and Paramount owners Viacom were separate companies. While CBS retained the rights to Star Trek on TV, Paramount was able to hold on to the film rights thanks to the 2009 film. The characters and situations in the movies were off-limits for TV. When CBS and Viacom merged (again), all the rights to Star Trek were under the same corporate umbrella. While there are many alternate timelines and realities in Star Trek , they usually disappear by the end of a specific episode. The Kelvin Timeline persists , and the events in the Prime Universe that inspired it have been canonized. In the run-up to the 2009 film, IDW released a prequel comic series featuring many of The Next Generation characters. While things like Geordi La Forge building the Jellyfish ship may not be canon, the events mentioned in the film are.

When Picard debuted in 2020, one of the reasons he effectively retired from Starfleet was because of the destruction of Romulus. He organized a massive fleet to rescue the Romulan people, but an attack (orchestrated by Romulan spies) prevented it from happening. So, at the end of the 24th century, the planet Romulus is destroyed. This also means Spock disappeared into the alternate past, where he died, as mentioned in Star Trek: Beyond . However, what happened to him and Nero's ship is likely a mystery to Starfleet at that time. But it's not a mystery to the Starfleet of the future.

In the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, the titular ship and her crew traveled 900 years into the future. By the end of that season, an operative from the shady intelligence agency Section 31, played by David Cronenberg of all people, revealed that an alien Starfleet officer from the Kelvin Timeline crossed into their timeframe. The uniform suggested they were from the mid-24th century, around the time of The Next Generation series . This officer revealed the major events of the Kelvin Timeline to the Starfleet of the Prime Universe. They are also aware of the Mirror Universe, where Michelle Yeoh's character was from.

RELATED: The Biggest Threat to Star Trek: Legacy Is Losing Terry Matalas

How Does the Kelvin Timeline Affect Star Trek Canon?

While The Kelvin Timeline is as canon as anything else in Star Trek , it doesn't apply to any other series. As a concept in big franchises, canon is more guidelines for the writers of future stories than for fans. It gives the universe consistency. In fact, even though Star Trek: The Animated Series isn't itself canon, many concepts introduced in the show became essential parts. This means the Kelvin Timeline is as much a part of the canon as the Mirror Universe. It is a separate reality with its own history or future, depending on the storytelling perspective. Still, the events of the Prime Universe mentioned in the films are canon and have affected the shows produced after the movies.

Unfortunately for the Kelvin Timeline, it is stuck in limbo. Should storytellers want to revisit it or perhaps do a big-old multiverse crossover like The Flash movie , it might become relevant. As it stands now, the Prime Universe is still the one Star Trek fans need to care about the most. For now, the three films released in the early 21st century are as Star Trek as it gets while remaining a little pocket universe for folks to enjoy on its own merits.

The Cultured Nerd

“Star Trek: Picard” referenced the Kelvin Timeline in a big way

Star Trek: Picard has given us a look at the 25th century, and along with it, a glimpse into an alternate timeline — one that was established back in 2009 with Star Trek .

The J. J. Abrams directed reboot film initially begins in the same timeline as Picard; known as the Prime Timeline – but then continues into the alternate timeline; known as the Kelvin Timeline, after a time travel incident.

The key moment that connects these two timelines is the destruction of Romulus. In Star Trek , this is caused by the sun in the Romulan solar system exploding in a supernova.

It is this moment that leads to the creation of a new timeline – shortly before the supernova was projected to occur, Ambassador Spock of Vulcan, feared the supernova could expand to destroy the entirety of the Milky Way Galaxy, concocted a plan to use ‘red matter’ to create a black hole to absorb the exploding star’s energy, and promised to do so in time to save Romulus.

However, the supernova began before Spock could arrive. Romulus and its remaining population were destroyed. Among those killed were the wife and unborn child of Nero, who swore vengeance against Spock, Vulcan, and the Federation for letting his world die.

Spock managed to release the ‘red matter’, causing the planned black hole to swallow the supernova and halt any further destruction. Both the Narada and the Spock’s ship were drawn into the black hole, with Nero’s vessel travelling back in time and arriving before Spock – encountering the U.S.S Kelvin and destroying it, and proceeding with the plan to eradicate Vulcan. Spock is unable to stop Nero and witnesses the annihilation of his home and family.

Star Trek: Picard indicates the basis of Jean-Luc’s reasoning for leaving Starfleet is rooted in the destruction of Romulus, and the severe lack of motivation and action from Starfleet to help save the millions of endangered lives threatened by the planet’s destruction.

Romulus and its people have been long time enemies of the Federation in the lore of Star Trek , and it is only because of the failure to save the planet is the link between the two timelines established, even though the protagonists in each are two centuries apart in their respective stories.

Share this:

Published by Shaun Tyr-El

Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, Explained

The latest run of Star Trek movies, starting in 2009, gave rise to a whole new timeline in the canon. Here's what that means within the franchise.

Star Trek first graced the small screen way back in the late 1960s, and since then it has been a staple in the science fiction adventure genre. Over the years it has not only come up with some of the most incredible depictions of what further lies ahead for mankind, but also influenced modern day technology . This all came to a rather disappointing stop, however, back in 2005 when the Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air, leaving a large void for the first time in years. Eager to bring Star Trek back into popular culture and re-invigorate the franchise Paramount Pictures set about creating not only a new, never seen before action adventure Star Trek film, but to create an entirely new timeline: The Kelvin Timeline.

Paramount wanted a prequel film, showing what led Captain James T. Kirk and the much loved, much memed, Spock to where audiences see them in The Original Series. Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci were hired to create this story, but they quickly ran into conceptual problems. Their biggest problem was that audiences already knew the story of these characters and what happens to them. Unless purely new people were watching the film, there would not be the same amount of drama or suspense, especially when they know how these characters die (and thus know that they don’t die in the new film). The other issue was that Kirk’s life before the events of The Original Series were not particularly film-worthy. That's not to say they were not interesting or exciting, but there wasn’t much canonically there to explore.

RELATED: Star Trek: The Klingon Language, Explained

Keeping to the canon was something Kurtzman and Orci were especially interested in. They had an opportunity to rewrite the story, make changes here and there that broke with the history Star Trek had established so well over the years. Instead, they decided to do something interesting, and use time travel to create a whole new timeline . With this device, they were able to incorporate new and fresh ideas and narrative, but left the original “prime” timeline in place. This is one of the main story elements of the 2009 film Star Trek , which starts in the year 2380 in, interestingly, the “prime” timeline. This is the same universe audiences know and love, the one that gave them heartbreaking moments on DS9 , and the enigmatically wonderful Captain Picard.

The Romulan sun is about to go supernova, which would destroy not only Romulus, but countless other nearby worlds. Cutting a long story short, Ambassador Spock used a red matter device to stop the disaster, but he failed to save the home world, leading him to be chased and attacked by a lone Romulan mining ship, the Narada, captained by a Romulan named Nero. This is where things start to get complicated. During the chase, the two get caught in the gravitation pull of a black hole, which flings them back in time to the year 2233, over 150 years in the past. Being a Romulan , Nero, despite his confusion, seeks out and attacks the nearest Federation ship, which just so happened to be the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained by none other than First Officer George Kirk — James T. Kirk's father. In an effort to save the countless shuttles escaping the destruction wrought by Nero, which included a shuttle containing the newborn James Kirk and his mother, George Kirk sacrifices his ship. As the Kelvin is destroyed, it sets about the start of the new timeline, named in honor of the ships' sacrifice.

From this point onwards, things follow a fairly similar chain of events to those who know the “prime” timeline, but things are all slightly different. Audiences are shown a different Kirk, one who is rebellious, and far away from the fairly conventional pre-enterprise Kirk mentioned earlier. Bar fights and stolen car joyrides are a few of his newfound hobbies, but as things progress, the old Kirk attitude comes through. Eventually he finds himself fighting alongside Starfleet (after a bit of fibbing) aboard the iconic USS Enterprise . Yet despite his similar trajectory, there are bigger differences in the wider universe. One of these, which came as a shock to many first time viewers, was that the 2009 film ended with the destruction of Vulcan by the hands of Nero as penance for the destruction of his own home world, having blamed Spock.

The similarities and differences continue into the second film Star Trek: Into Darkness where audiences are introduced (or perhaps re-introduced) to the one and only Khan Noonien Singh. In the prime timeline, Kirk is the one who awakens him from the cryogenic stasis, and starts a whole series of events that end in one of the best Star Trek films ever made, The Wrath of Khan. However, in the Kelvin timeline, it is Admiral Alexander Marcus who wakes Khan from his slumber.

After the destruction of Vulcan, Starfleet is no longer the same utopian Starfleet audiences have grown to know and love ( ignoring their problematic tendencies ) from the previous iterations into the franchise. It had adopted a much more militaristic persona, breeding warlike minds like that of Admiral Marcus. In secret, he blackmails the reawakened Khan to help develop powerful weaponry, as well as warships for the federation. Audiences are treaded to the same characters and baseline story, but from the perspective of an all new timeline.

The Kelvin timeline is rather hit-and-miss among fans of the Star Trek franchise. Some like to ignore its existence, but in a way that’s exactly what the writers wanted. They wanted to retell a story that everyone knew and do it differently, all without breaking the well-respected canon that fans have grown so attached to. Creating the Kelvin timeline was a stroke of genius in a way, and while not being directly linked to the “prime” timeline, the films have still influenced proceeding additions to the franchise. The destruction of Romulan, an event that the 2009 Star Trek states takes place ion the “prime” timeline, plays as major context to the events of 2020s Picard . The Kelvin timeline is a great example of how one small event can cause major ripples within the universe, changing events to near unrecognizable levels, all while producing four ( to count the upcoming 2023 film ) half-decent Star Trek films.

MORE: How Star Trek: The Next Generation Explored Blindness & Accessibility With Geordi LaForge

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") .

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
• Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

Jenn Tran's 'Bachelorette' Season: Everything We Know About Season 21

'The Bachelor' Season 28 Finale Recap: Did Joey Graziadei Get Engaged To...

'The View' Audience Groans After Kathy Griffin Compares Herself To...

Holly Madison Says There Was Demand For Her to Pose Nude on OnlyFans in...

Kate Middleton Conspiracy Theories Rage On As TikTok Debates If Her Cancer...

Fans Fear 'Euphoria' Season 3 Has Been Canceled After HBO Announces Yet...

'The View' Apologizes To Whoopi Goldberg For Going Down Kate Middleton...

Watch Kate Middleton's Heartbreaking Cancer Video Announcement, Told In...

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to copy URL

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Timeline: From ‘Next Gen’ to J.J. Abrams’s Film, Here’s How The Series Fits In

Where to Stream:

• Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard pushes the Star Trek franchise into the future when it comes to prestige storytelling. Instead of following a crew of do-gooders exploring the fringes of space, Star Trek: Picard follows a disillusioned Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) as he is roused out of retirement to help a young woman… who might be Data’s daughter ?

Star Trek: Picard is a lot to unpack, not merely because it futzes with the storytelling conventions of Star Trek. The series also uses the supernova that destroyed Romulus (and helped create an alternate timeline) as a major cultural flashpoint for the Federation. We learn that Picard led efforts to ferry refugees away from Romulus and to safety and that an android insurrection led to draconian new rules about synthetic life forms in the Federation. Because Starfleet would not consider bending the rules and letting androids aid in the Romulan rescue mission, Picard quit.

All this leads us to ask…what happened when? What is the deal with Star Trek’s timeline — or is it timelines? When does Star Trek: Picard take place? How long ago did Data “die”? When did the Romulan supernova happen? And what does Star Trek: Picard have to do with J.J. Abrams’s 2009 Star Trek film with Chris Pine?

WHEN DOES STAR TREK: PICARD TAKE PLACE? WHAT YEAR IS STAR TREK: PICARD SET?

Star Trek: Picard takes place in the year 2399. That’s 14 years after Picard retires, 20 years after Data’s death, and almost 30 years after the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation .

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION AND STAR TREK: PICARD ? WHEN DID DATA DIE AND ROMULUS GET DESTROYED BY A SUPERNOVA?

Okay, okay, okay…so a lot of random dates and years get thrown around in Star Trek: Picard and it might be a little bit difficult to figure out what happened in what order in the Star Trek Prime timeline. Between an official video timeline on StarTrek.com and what we learn about the android ban in Star Trek: Picard Episode 2, we believe this is the order of major events brought up in Star Trek: Picard :

2364-2370 – The Events of Star Trek: The Next Generation 2365 – Starfleet Makes First Contact with Borg Late 2366 – Early 2367 (circa) – Data Creates His First “Daughter,” Lal  2369 – Data Paints the Twin Oil Paintings entitled “Daughter” 2379 – Data Sacrifices Himself and Dies in Star Trek: Nemesis 2385 – Androids Rebel on Mars, Sparking a Ban on “Synthetic” Life 2387 – Romulus Destroyed by a Supernova (Alternate Kelvin Timeline created in J.J. Abram’s Star Trek Film) 2399 – The Events of Star Trek: Picard

HOW DOES STAR TREK: PICARD TIE IN WITH THE ALTERNATE KELVIN TIMELINE IN STAR TREK (2009)

Before Star Trek: Discovery (which is a prequel set in the years before the original Star Trek , sheesh), there hadn’t been any new additions to Star Trek canon…except the film trilogy. J.J. Abrams’s 2009 film was not merely your standard reboot; it was set in a canonical alternate timeline created by the same supernova that destroyed Romulus in Picard’s 2387.

Patrick Stewart Was Asked To Wear A Wig At His 'Star Trek' Audition — A Wig That Flew By Itself From Heathrow To LAX

Tom hardy "never said 'good morning'" or "good night" while filming 'star trek: nemesis,' says patrick stewart, stream it or skip it: ‘star trek: lower decks’ season 4 on paramount+, featuring the continuing (mis)adventures of starfleet’s proudest platoon members, best star trek gifts for trekkie fans in 2023.

When Jean-Luc Picard heard that Romulus would soon be destroyed in a supernova, he pushed for a massive rescue effort. However, another Starfleet great, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) tried to stop the supernova altogether. He developed something called “Red Matter,” aka that red spinning ball thing, to shoot into the supernova to stop it. However, he was late, and the planet was still destroyed. His attempt to stop it, though, created a space time rift sending him and some Romulans from 2387 back in time to 2233. The Romulans, led by Eric Bana’s Nero stranded Spock on an ice planet and crossed paths with a Federation ship called the USS Kelvin . This sparked a new timeline, called the Kelvin timeline, and it’s the one with Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, and the Enterprise that looks like it was made by the Apple store.

So the Romulan supernova created the Kelvin timeline, but Star Trek: Picard ‘s timeline isn’t aware of this. Does that make sense? No, take it up with the Star Trek people, then.

Where to stream Star Trek: Picard

• CBS All Access

Is 'The Chosen' Season 4 Available To Stream?

Maya Rudolph On The Fake ‘Golden Girls’ Remake Poster: “I Just Want To Say For Amy: Whoever Did This, F*** You”

'The View' Apologizes To Whoopi Goldberg For Going Down Kate Middleton Rabbit Hole Despite Her Warnings: "We Should've Listened"

Why Isn't 'The Bachelor' Finale On Hulu?

'The Accountant 2:' Release Date, Plot, and Everything We Know About the Ben Affleck Sequel

What Time Is 'The Bachelor' On Tonight? How To Watch The Season 28 Finale On ABC And Hulu

Star Trek timeline in complete chronological order, explained

Check our complete list of the Star Trek timeline in chronological with all movies and TV series to date, including the Kelvin timeline and Prime timeline.

Tom Percival

Published: Oct 24, 2023

Let’s journey through the Star Trek timeline in full chronological order . Ever since it began almost 60 years ago, Gene Roddenberry’s vision of humanity’s future shown in Star Trek has been igniting imaginations.

Now a sprawling franchise, Star Trek focuses on the human desire for exploration seen through the lens of Starfleet’s travels through the depths of space. But with 13 Star Trek movies and 60 years worth of Star Trek series , the expansive franchise has gotten pretty complex, with multiple and alternate timelines all being involved too, and a jumble of prequels and sequels and timelines. So, to clear things up, we’ve broken down every single movie and season of TV to create a clear image of the timeline in chronological order.

The complete Star Trek timeline so far

The current main Star Trek timeline begins in the year 2151, with the first season of Enterprise, and concludes over a millennium later in 3190 with the upcoming Star Trek Discovery season 5 .

After Enterprise kicked things off in 2151, the TOS-era begins in 2259, with the TOS prequel Strange New Worlds. It ends nearly 40 years later in 2293 with the final TOS movie, The Undiscovered Country.

Nearly 100 years later, the adventures of the USS Enterprise-D begin with Captain Picard in 2369. Over the next decade, the Dominion War begins and ends, and the USS Voyager is stranded in the Delta Quadrant and makes it back to Earth in 2378. This era of the Star Trek timeline concludes in 2379 with the final TNG movie, Nemesis.

Lower Decks and Prodigy round out the late 24th century, with the former being set around 2381 and the latter 2383. Then Star Trek Picard brings it into the 25th century, with the events of season 3 and the Borg attack on Frontier Day occurring in 2401, and the Captain Seven on Nine’s Enterprise-G beginning its service history a year later in 2402.

Finally, we have the latter seasons of Star Trek Discovery which have been set in the far-flung future of 3188 onwards after the huge time jump at the end of season 2.

A full list of the Star Trek timeline in chronological order:

• Star Trek: Enterprise seasons 1-4 (Year set in: 2151-2161)
• Star Trek (2009) ( Kelvin timeline – Years set in: 2233-2259)
• Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1-2 (Year set in: 2252)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds seasons 1-2 (Years set in: 2259-2260)
• Star Trek: Into Darkness ( Kelvin timeline – Years set in: 2259-2260)
• Star Trek: Beyond ( Kelvin timeline – Year set in: 2263)
• Star Trek: The Original Series seasons 1-3 (Year set in: 2265-2269)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series seasons 1-2 (Year set in: 2269-2270)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Year set in: 2270s)
• Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (Year set in: 2285)
• Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock (Year set in 2285)
• Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (Year set in 2286)
• Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (Year set in: 2287)
• Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (Year set in: 2293)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation seasons 1-5 (Year set in: 2364-2369)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine seasons 1-2 (Year set in: 2369-2371)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation seasons 6-7 (Year set in: 2369-2370)
• Star Trek: Generations (Year set in 2371)
• Star Trek: Deep Space 9 seasons 3-4 (Year set in 2372-2373)
• Star Trek: Voyager seasons 1-2 (Year set in: 2371-2372)
• Star Trek: First Contact (Year set in: 2373)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine seasons 5-6 (Year set in 2373-2374)
• Star Trek: Voyager seasons 3-4 (Year set in: 2373-2375)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (Year set in: 2375)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 7 (Year set in: 2375)
• Star Trek: Voyager seasons 5-7 (Year set in: 2376-2378)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (Year set in: 2379)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks seasons 1-3 (Years set in: 2380-2381)
• Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 (Years set in: 2383-2383)
• Star Trek (2009) (Partly in the Prime timeline – Year set in 2387)
• Star Trek: Picard seasons 1-3 (Years set in: 2399-2402)
• Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3-5 ( Years set in: 3188-3190)

Every Star Trek series and season in the timeline in chronological order

Star Trek: Enterprise (Seasons 1-4)

The mainline Star Trek timeline begins with Star Trek: Enterprise. The four seasons of the show are set in the 22nd century, the earliest point in the Star Trek timeline and a hundred years before The Original Series.

Enterprise deals with the earliest days of humanity’s journey out into the stars, with the crew of the first starship to bear the name Enterprise, led by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). The show covered everything from the first contact with the Klingons to the foundation of The Federation and Starfleet, the Federation’s space force.

Star Trek: 2009, Into Darkness, Beyond (The Kelvin timeline)

The Kelvin timeline is an alternate timeline created by Spock which runs parallel to the events seen in the prime Star Trek timeline. Here, we have the three Chris Pine Star Trek movies in which we’re treated to different versions of Kirk and co. with their adventures playing out in a reshuffled order of events.

Chronologically speaking, the Kelvin timeline fits in approximately alongside TOS as it follows Kirk’s first adventures with the Enterprise, but as it begins with his childhood it technically precedes Discovery. It’s all pretty self contained, so if you just want to stick to the Prime timeline you can skip these for now.

Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 1-2)

Set ten years before the original series, this prequel show follows the adventures of the USS Discovery and her crew as they use their unique spore drive to zip around the Alpha Quadrant (our section of the galaxy). The first season deals with war breaking out between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingons.

Meanwhile, in the second season, the crew (now joined by Captain Pike and a younger Spock) investigates strange signals and a mysterious figure known as the Red Angel. Ultimately the ship and crew are thrown forward in time (don’t worry, you’ll see them again) and presumed dead, while the event itself is covered up by Section 31.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Seasons 1-2)

Following on the adventures of Captain Pike, Spock, and Number One in the aftermath of Discovery season 2, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is another prequel to The Original Series, as it builds up to the events depicted in The Cage.

Strange New Worlds has taken Star Trek in a slightly new direction, and it has much more in common with, for example, The Next Generation, than is does with Discovery. This is because the sci-fi series is taking an episodic approach to storytelling, with each episode largely focussing on one member of the crew while adventures abound. Fun!

Season 2 of Strange New Worlds has continued on in this vein, bringing in Paul Wesley’s Kirk with a recurring role. It’s all leading up to Pike’s accident, and whereupon the command of the Enterprise will be handed over to Captain Kirk on a full-time basis for his five-year mission.

Star Trek: The Original Series (Seasons 1-3)

The original series, the definitive article, if you will, and probably the most recognisable of the Trek series. Set in the 2260s, the show follows the crew of the USS Enterprise on a five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, and boldly go where no man has gone before.

This is the show that defined what Star Trek is in the public consciousness as a progressive force, introducing the world to Kirk ( William Shatner ), Spock ( Leonard Nimo y), and Dr . Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (DeForest Kelley), as well as several iconic Star Trek villains, including the Klingons (although they didn’t have the bumpy foreheads), Romulans, and a genetically altered super soldier called Khan (he’ll become important later).

Star Trek: The Animated Series (Seasons 1-2)

Following the cancellation of the original series, Star Trek was resurrected as an animated show, with most of the cast returning to voice their respective characters. While the series was popular in its day, there are some questions about its canonicity.

Officially, the series isn’t canon. However, the events as seen in the show are increasingly being brought into series like Strange New Worlds, slowly making it canon by proxy.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A direct continuation of the original series, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, picks up after the events of Kirk’s five-year mission, in the 2270s. Now an admiral, Kirk and the gang assume command of the recently refitted Starship USS Enterprise to investigate and stop a mighty alien known as V’Ger, which is threatening to destroy the Earth.

A somewhat cynical attempt to cash in on the popularity of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Star Wars, The Motion Picture received mixed reviews from critics who didn’t enjoy the movie’s slow pace and lack of drama.

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

Finally, we get to the good stuff. One of the best science fiction movies ever, The Wrath of Khan is Moby Dick in space, and it’s brilliant. Set in 2285, an older Admiral Kirk gets the Enterprise crew back together once again to stop the ruthless tyrant Khan (told you he’d come back) from getting his hands on the Genesis device, a machine capable of both terrible destruction and creating new life.

Wrath of Khan is perhaps best remembered for being ‘the one where Spock dies’, but it also introduces several other important plot beats, including the Genesis Device, and Kirk’s previously unknown son David,

Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock

Picking up right where The Wrath of Khan ends, the film deals with the fall out of Khan’s attack and the death of Spock. When Kirk learns that Spock’s Katra (his soul basically) is held in the mind of Bones, he and the crew steal the Enterprise and head off to return Spock’s body to the planet Vulcan so they can bring him back to life.

Things are complicated, though, by Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), a Klingon who wants to get his hands on the Genesis device to use as a weapon. The Search for Spock is famous for three things, destroying the original Enterprise, bringing back Spock, and killing off Kirk’s son David, which gives Kirk a serious dislike of the Klingons which will get him in trouble three movies from now.

Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home

Following the events of The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home sees the crew of the Enterprise return to Earth to face their punishment for stealing (and destroying) the Enterprise. Before they can get back home, though, a colossal alien probe arrives in Earth’s atmosphere and starts wreaking havoc.

Realizing that the probe is trying to communicate with the now-extinct humpback whales, the crew travels back in time to the ‘80s to try and find some whales in order to bring them forward in time to save Earth from the probe.

Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier

Probably the worst of the original film series, The Final Frontier sees the crew of the USS Enterprise as they confront Spock’s evil half brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill). The villainous Vulcan wants to travel to the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree which lies behind the Great Barrier, a seemingly impenetrable energy field near the galaxy’s centre.

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country

The Undiscovered Country has the Enterprise crew working to figure out who’s trying to sabotage a potential peace treaty with The Federation’s longtime enemy, the Klingon Empire. Along the way, Kirk (who hates Klingons after the events of The Search for Spock) is framed for killing the Klingon chancellor and must escape a frozen penal colony.

Notable for being the final film to feature the entire original crew, the film ends with Kirk musing about a new generation crew continuing their legacy in an apparent reference to…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)

The Next Generation, the best Star Trek series, focuses on the crew of the Enterprise-D. Led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his senior staff William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Data (Brent Spiner), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and Worf (Michael Dorn), the show was far more of an ensemble than the original series but all the better for it.

During the first five seasons, the crew of this new Enterprise would encounter new species like the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, and more. It also introduced two of Star Trek’s best-known villains, the mischievous trickster Q, who became a series staple and the terrifying Borg, a race of cybernetic zombies obsessed with assimilating other societies and cultures into their own who took an unhealthy interest in the technical might of The Federation.

The Next Generation is the quintessential Star Trek series, and is the franchise at its finest hour. Everyone has their personal preferences, but if you look for Star Trek in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of Captain Picard, in his ready room with an Earl Grey, aboard the Enterprise-D.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Seasons 1-2)

The first series not set on a starship, Deep Space Nine took place on a space station, the titular Deep Space Nine. Drawing upon the conflict between the Bajorans and the Cardassians introduced in The Next Generation, the series opens with the Bajorans inviting The Federation to run the station in the hopes they’ll protect them from the ruthless Cardassians who previously enslaved their people.

Led by Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), the station’s crew discovers a stable wormhole close to Bajor that offers a way between the Alpha Quadrant and the unexplored Gamma Quadrant. The first two seasons dealt with the tensions between the Bajorans, Cardassians and Federation, while also teasing a greater threat lurking in the Gamma Quadrant known as The Dominion.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (Seasons 6-7)

The last two seasons of TNG run parallel with season 1 and 2 of Deep Space Nine. The writers used this in season seven to further explore the tensions between the Cardassians and Federation when the Bajoran Ensign Ro joins a group of resistance fighters known as the Maquis, a terrorist group who opposed the Cardassian Union and were first introduced in DS9’s second season.

The conclusion of The Next Generation, All Good Things… is a perfect finale balancing a look back through the past with an eye on the future.  If the Star Trek franchise had ended there, no one could have had any complaints.

Star Trek: Generations

The adventures of the crew of the Enterprise-D didn’t end with All Good Things… though, and the series led directly into a slew of films. This started with Generations, which saw the crossover Star Trek fans were waiting for, and the original crew meet the next generation gang.

Opening in the year 2293, way before the events of TNG, the film begins with the death of Captain Kirk, except not really he actually transported to the Nexus, an interdimensional realm that exists outside of normal space-time where all your dreams come true.

Fast forward to the 24th Century, and Picard is trying to deal with the villainous Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), who plans on destroying a planetary system to get into The Nexus. Shockingly he succeeds, and Picard is trapped in the Nexus with Soran, forcing him to team up with Kirk to save the day.

Some people, apparently, love Generations because they get to see these two Starfleet goliaths working together. But, in truth, Generations is up there with the worst Star Trek movies. In a dreadfully dull film, the movie’s biggest claim to fame is Kirk’s anti-climactic death (he falls off a bridge and then Picard buries him under some rocks) as well as the destruction of the beloved, iconic Enterprise-D.

Star Trek: Deep Space 9 (Seasons 3-4)

Continuing the plot beats introduced in seasons one and two, DS9’s third season introduces the USS Defiant, Starfleet’s first warship, designed to fight the growing threat of the Borg. The Marquis become more of a threat, with more and more Starfleet officers leaving to join their cause.

Meanwhile, The Dominion makes themselves known to The Federation, a tyrannical race of shapeshifters that seek to impose order across the galaxy by subjugating species they see as lesser. It’s here we learn they’ve already infiltrated all the major governments in the Alpha Quadrant. The series ends with war breaking out between the Klingon Empire and The Federation once again thanks to their machinations.

Star Trek: Voyager (Seasons 1-2)

Star Trek: Voyager was a bit of a different show – the series opened with the USS Voyager and her crew being transported to the Delta Quadrant (a remote, unexplored region of the galaxy) while chasing a Marquis ship.

Trapped and with no other options, the crew of Voyager led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and their Marquis enemies are forced to unite to survive and begin the long journey home (77 years at maximum warp). Along the way, they encounter new threats like the Kazon and Vidiians while a few familiar faces, like Q, make an appearance.

Star Trek: First Contact

The best Next Generation movie, First Contact picks up soon after the events of Generations with Picard and the crew in a brand-new ship, the Enterprise-E. Their new ship is put to the test almost immediately, though when the Borg launch an attack on Earth. While Starfleet manages to repel the attack, the Borg go back in time and assimilate Earth before they can ever achieve warp speed, effectively wiping out The Federation before it even began.

Thankfully the Enterprise-E manages to go back in time as well and put right what once went wrong. First Contact has the dubious honour of introducing the Borg Queen, who’d go on to become a recurring villain in Star Trek: Voyager.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Seasons 5-6)

Season five of DS9 picks up where the fourth left off with the Klingon’s declaring war on The Federation. Thankfully Sisko and the crew manage to expose the shapeshifter who started the whole thing and broker peace over the course of the season, but it’s all for nought.

The Cardassians join the Dominion and give the tyrannical despots a foothold in our part of the galaxy. The Dominion then wipe out the Marquis, and the cold war spills out into open conflict. The Dominion War has begun…

Star Trek: Voyager (Seasons 3-4)

Voyager’s third and fourth seasons are notable for revealing that the Delta Quadrant is actually the home of the Borg, and from this point on, they become something of a recurring foe for the Voyager crew. Although season three and four do briefly see the two enemies team up to fight off an even worse threat, the multidimensional beings known as Species 8472.

Inevitably though, the Borg betray our heroes, and in the scuffle, Voyager ends up with a new crewmember 7 of 9, a former Borg drone. We also get the interesting if slightly pointless Year of Hell during season four.

Star Trek: Insurrection

Set during the Dominion War, the Enterprise-E is being kept away from the front lines to perform diplomatic duties. This changes when the crew become aware of a plot to steal a planet with rejuvenating properties from its peaceful inhabitants, the Ba’ku. The gang go rogue and manage to save the Ba’ku while also dispatching the evil admiral and his alien allies.

Star Trek Deep Space Nine season 7

The final season of Deep Space Nine sees all the Alpha Quadrant powers, The Federation, Klingons, and Romulans, unite to finally win the war against The Dominion. All involved suffer catastrophic losses, and it’s only thanks to the Cardassian rebellion against their masters that the day is saved.

Star Trek: Voyager (Seasons 5-7)

The Voyager crew continues their long journey home, meeting various antagonistic alien species along the way. Finally, in season seven, the crew make it back to Earth thanks to an alternate version of Captain Janeway, and they cripple the Borg at the same time.

Star Trek: Nemesis

The last Next Generation movie, Nemesis, sees a clone of Picard, named Shinzon (Tom Hardy), overthrow the Romulan Empire and declare war on The Federation. A box office bomb, the film’s only noteworthy contributions to Trek lore is the death of Data, who sacrifices himself to save Picard, and Riker and Troi finally tying the knot before leaving the Enterprise-E to command the USS Titan.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (Seasons 1 – 3)

An animated comedy set on the least important starship in Starfleet, the U.S.S. Cerritos in the year 2380. While most Trek series center around a captain and their senior staff as they go on daring adventures, Lower Decks flips the usual formula on its head and instead focuses on low-ranking officers doing the grunt work.

While the nature of the show is incredibly funny (the ship’s unimportant in the grand scheme of things), it has little bearing on the series continuity, aside from frequent cameos. Still, it’s often very entertaining and the animated series is a worthy (if, very different) addition to the Star Trek timeline.

Star Trek: Prodigy (season 1)

Everyone wanted to see the return of Captain Janeway and explore where her life was taken after her ship’s return to Earth. Well, Prodigy gives us half of that, as a holographic Janeway tutors a group of young rascals who commandeer the abandoned USS Protostar.

Prodigy utilizes its position in the timeline by focusing a lot on Starfleet’s development of new technology, unimaginable even a few decades prior. Star Trek Prodigy season 2 will pick up the mantle.

Star Trek (2009)

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot mostly takes place in an alternate timeline called the Kelvin Universe. That said, it does actually let us know what happened to the galaxy after the events of Nemesis.

Apparently, the Romulan sun went supernova, and the best efforts of The Federation and Starfleet weren’t enough to save them, resulting in the destruction of their homeworld. This is what causes Nero, the film’s main bad guy, to go back in time in the first place and alter the timeline.

Star Trek: Picard (Seasons 1 – 3)

Set 20 years after the events of Nemesis, Picard’s first season deals with both the fallout from the destruction of Romulus and The Federation’s ban on building androids.

From there, there are mysteries around every corner which are only exacerbated when Q returns in Star Trek Picard season 2 to send Picard and his new-found crew back in time to 21st century Earth.

Star Trek Picard season 3 brought things to a close by reuniting the TNG crew and making the jump to the 25th century, promising more adventures still to come with a potential Star Trek Legacy series.

Star Trek: Discovery (Seasons 3 – 5)

The crew of USS Discovery arrive in the far-flung future (32nd Century) and find a galaxy in ruins with The Federation on its knees. The cause of this chaos? An event known as The Burn, during which most of the galaxy’s dilithium exploded, destroying almost every starship in use and making warp travel nearly impossible.

With The Federation reduced to just a handful of planets, the crew of The Discovery use their unique warp drive, the spore drive, to spread hope, rebuild The federation, and work out what caused The Burn.

Discovery season 4 continued the adventures on the frontier of the Star Trek timeline, and Star Trek Discovery season 5 release date promises to bring it all to a conclusion.

That’s it on the Star Trek timeline so far. For more on Star Trek, check out our guide to the Star Trek 4 release date , and see our rankings of the best Star Trek captains and best Star Trek characters. Or, read our  Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 review  as well as  our interview with Anson Mount and Rebecca Romijn .

You can also find our choices for the  best science fiction movies  of all time, and the  best sci-fi series  too before seeing what’s  new on Paramount Plus  this month. Alternatively, keep up to date with what’s going on by taking a look at our guide to every new movie coming out in 2023 and all the best streaming services to watch them on.

Tom Percival After graduating with an MA in journalism from the University of Salford, Tom set out to make a career for himself in the heady world of entertainment journalism. After spending six years working at UNILAD (and moonlighting at the BBC) where he interviewed the likes of Hugh Grant, Hugh Jackman, and Hugh Bonneville (plus other people not called Hugh) he left to find his fortune as editor at The Digital Fix where he spends his days trying to guess if the MCU's Doctor Doom will be in Avengers Secret Wars, thinking about Spider-Man , and watching Game of Thrones in a desperate attempt to untangle the Targaryen family tree . 

Hi, what are you looking for?

TREKNEWS.NET | Your daily dose of Star Trek news and opinion

First Photo from Star Trek: Section 31 revealed, legacy character confirmed

New Star Trek: Discovery posters revealed ahead of final season premiere

Revisiting “The Lost Era: Serpent Among the Ruins” Retro Review

Star Trek: Discovery’s final season begins April 4

Star Trek: Section 31 production begins, cast revealed

Revisiting “Star Trek: Legacies – Captain to Captain” Retro Review

‘U.S.S. Cerritos Crew Handbook’ Review: A must-read Star Trek: Lower Decks fans

‘Making It So’ Review: Patrick Stewart’s journey from stage to starship

The Wrath of Khan – The Making of the Classic Film Review: A gem for your Star Trek reference collection

Strange New Worlds director Jordan Canning talks “Charades,” the versatility of the series & Star Trek fandom

‘Star Trek Online’ lead designer talks the game’s longevity, honoring the franchise, and seeing his work come to life in ‘Picard’

Gates McFadden talks Star Trek: Picard, reuniting with her TNG castmates, InvestiGates, and the Human Condition

Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating talk ‘Enterprise’, their relationship with Star Trek in 2023 and their first live ‘Shuttlepod Show’

John Billingsley discusses what he’d want in a fifth season of Enterprise, playing Phlox and this weekend’s Trek Talks 2 event

57-Year Mission set to beam 160+ Star Trek guests down to Las Vegas

Veteran Star Trek director David Livingston looks back on his legendary career ahead of Trek Talks 2 event

ReedPop’s Star Trek: Mission Seattle convention has been cancelled

56-Year Mission Preview: More than 130 Star Trek guests set to beam down to Las Vegas convention

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 trailer teases Burnham & crew’s final mission

2023: A banner year for Star Trek — here’s why [Op-Ed]

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 to premiere in April + watch a brand new clip from CCXP

54-Disc Picard Legacy Collection, Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Complete Series Blu-ray box sets announced

Star Trek: Picard series finale “The Last Generation” Review: A perfect sendoff to an unforgettable crew

‘The Next Generation’ cast is back on the bridge of the Enterprise-D in new ‘Star Trek: Picard’ photo gallery

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrives on Blu-ray, 4K UHD and DVD this December

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Hegemony” Review: An underwhelming end to the series’ sophomore season

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 finale “Hegemony” preview + new photos

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 209 “Subspace Rhapsody” Review: All systems stable… but why are we singing?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Subspace Rhapsody” preview + new photos

Star Trek Day 2021 to Celebrate 55th Anniversary of the Franchise on September 8 with Live Panels and Reveals

Paramount+ Launches with 1-Month Free Trial, Streaming Every Star Trek Episode

Paramount+ to Officially Launch March 4, Taking Place of CBS All Access

STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS Season 2 Now Streaming For Free (in the U.S.)

[REVIEW] STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS “Children of Mars”: All Hands… Battle Stations

New photos from this week’s Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4 finale

Star Trek: Lower Decks “The Inner Fight” Review: Lost stars and hidden battles

New photos from this week’s episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy begins streaming December 25th on Netflix

Star Trek: Prodigy lands at Netflix, season 2 coming in 2024

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 sneak peek reveals the surprise return of a Voyager castmember

Star Trek: Prodigy canceled, first season to be removed from Paramount+

The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to continue in new IDW miniseries “Echoes”

Star Trek: The Original Series “Harm’s Way” Book Review

William Shatner’s New Book ‘Boldly Go: Reflections on a Life of Awe and Wonder’ Review: More of a good thing

Star Trek: Infinite release date + details on Lower Decks­-themed pre-order bonuses

‘Star Trek: Infinite’ strategy game revealed, set to be released this fall

Hero Collector Revisits The Classics in New Starfleet Starships Essentials Collection

New Star Trek Docuseries ‘The Center Seat’ Announced, Coming This Fall

Star Trek Designing Starships: Deep Space Nine & Beyond Review: a Deep Dive Into Shuttlecraft of the Gamma Quadrant

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Illustrated Handbook Review: Terok Nor Deconstructed in Amazing Detail

Robert Beltran Is Officially Returning to Star Trek as Chakotay on ‘Prodigy’ + More Casting News

Robert Beltran Says He’s Returning to Star Trek in ‘Prodigy’

John Billingsley Talks Life Since Star Trek: Enterprise, Going to Space and Turning Down Lunch with Shatner and Nimoy

Star Trek: Enterprise Star John Billingsley Talks Charity Work, Upcoming TREK*Talks Event

New Star Trek: Picard Prequels, Kelvin Timeline Books Announced

Avid readers will get the chance to not just read new Star Trek: Picard stories as they wait for the show’s release, but also read new stories set in the Kelvin Timeline.

As announced at Star Trek Las Vegas , two Star Trek: Picard prequel stories are coming from CBS Consumer Products in association with Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books and IDW. The first, Star Trek: Picard – Countdown , is coming in November. It’s a three-issue comic book miniseries written by Mike Johnson and Kirsten Beyer that focuses on the mission that “would go on to change the life” of Picard, according to the StarTrek.com .

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard (CBS)

The second story, The Last Best Hope , is a novel written by Una McCormack , who previously wrote eight Star Trek novels. This novel, set to release next year, will lead directly into the show and spotlight some of the new characters featured in the series.

“From the moment we announced this series, we’ve seen a groundswell of support from our fan base who are thrilled to have Jean-Luc Picard back on their screens,” said Veronica Hart, EVP Global Franchise Management in the press release. “Having this brand new original backstory play out through both comic book and novel formats will set the stage for the new series in an exciting way while also showcasing the work of our talented partners at Simon & Schuster and IDW.”

Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock in Star Trek 2009 (Paramount Pictures)

Other Star Trek publishing news coming out of STLV is that the Kelvin Timeline – seen in the three most recent Star Trek movies – is getting its own set of novels. The two books are The Order of Peace by Alan Dean Foster and More Beautiful Than Death by David Mack . Both are no strangers to writing Star Trek.

In fact, Mack noted on social media that he originally wrote a Kelvin Timeline book 10 years ago, but that his book, as well as three other Kelvin Timeline books, were cancelled.

“I’m very excited by this news, because I have always been pleased by how that book turned out,” Mack said on a Facebook post . “I felt that it was a faithful continuation of those characters’ stories, one that could not be possible in the original series incarnation of Trek. Next year, fans of the films and the books will get to decide for themselves whether I succeeded, and if the book was worth the wait.”

The Order of Peace is due out in April 2020, and More Beautiful Than Death is due in August 2020.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on the new Star Trek: Picard series and for live coverage of Star Trek Las Vegas . Connect with us on social media: @TrekNewsNet on Twitter , @TrekNews on Facebook , and @TrekNews on Instagram .

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

August 22, 2019 at 8:30 pm

Don’t give a crap about STP or any of that but I can’t wait for the Kelvin books.

Why are some people still trying to push the kelvin time line on us, the fan base as a whole have rejected it. that is why the last movie was a bust.Stick with the time line Gene Roddenberry created the prime time line which unite the fan base and not divide it. We can not bring new fans in if we are divided. Get rid of the kelvin time line. LIVE LONG AND PROSPER

Jason Wright

Looking forward to all of this. Very excited about the “Picard” prequels and the Kelvin Timeline stuff. But I do wish we got more Trek books in general, like we used to. I just finished the new Discovery book about where Pike and the Enterprise were during the Klingon war and enjoyed it a lot.

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

Trending Articles

An article celebrating the longevity of the Star Trek franchise has given us our first look at Michelle Yeoh’s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31...

With the launch of the final season of Star Trek: Discovery right around the corner, Paramount+ has released an official trailer for the series’...

Back to the Stars: Rediscovering Star Trek’s Legacy with Captain to Captain – A Retro-Review There are near-countless Star Trek novels out there. Unlike...

Rediscovering The Lost Era: Serpent Among the Ruins – A Retro-Review Captain John Harriman, seen only for a brief period in Star Trek: Generations,...

• Comic Books
• Comic Book Films
• Gaming News
• Table Top Gaming

Select Page

STAR TREK: Is PICARD In The Kelvin Timeline?

Posted by ThatHashTagShow | Jan 9, 2019 | Sci-Fi , Star Trek | 0 |

New details have emerged about the CBS All Access series focusing on Jean-Luc Picard several years after the events of the last film featuring the Next Generation cast, Star Trek: Nemesis . The new information is the first major story details we’ve received about the series and is sure to divide the fan base yet again.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Alex Kurtzman revealed that the events of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) are now official prime universe canon and that Picard will pick-up the story after Romulus has been destroyed and the Romulan Empire has been dissolved. Having been a huge proponent of trying to bridge the gap between the Federation and the Romulans, the destruction of their homeworld and the subsequent fallout had a profound effect on Jean-Luc.

So is Picard in the Kelvin Timeline or Prime Timeline?

I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s in the Prime timeline. Being that the series takes place after Romulus is destroyed and Nero and Spock are sent back in time, it would stand to reason the series take place in that same timeline, not the newly created one.

Picard’s Tone

Kurtzman added that Patrick Stewart insisted that if he were to return, the series would have to do something new. That he wanted it to be “both what people remember but also not what they’re expecting at all”. I hope that they’re expecting people to bitch and moan that anything from the JJ film is being included, because that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

Personally, it doesn’t bother me at all, as long as the show is good, I’ll be happy. When Discovery was released and even before that with the JJ movies, there were so many people complaining “this isn’t my Star Trek ” and you know what? They’re right. It’s not “their” Star Trek .

Star Trek does not belong to them, while the people behind the shows and the movies have to try to appeal to the old fans, they also have a responsibility to appeal to a new audience as well. Audiences in 2019 are not the same as audiences in 2001, 1987, or 1966. Audiences aren’t even the same as we were 2 years ago. The fandom always gets riled up about something new and different. People didn’t like TNG , people didn’t like DS9 or Voyager or Enterprise .

Maybe I won’t like Picard, but that won’t retroactively destroy TNG for me. . . and there’s plenty of other projects in the works that I might like instead. . . I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy it though. We’ll just have to wait and see. While there’s no firm release date just yet, Picard is expected to release towards the end of the year.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

About the author.

ThatHashTagShow

Related posts.

The Stars of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Disclose What It’s Like Navigating the Monsterverse

December 13, 2023

BREAKING: Paramount Releases Official ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Photos

April 4, 2019

Say Something Nice: Doctor Who – Missy Comics At SDCC

July 23, 2021

The Mandalorian: Death Watch Black Series Helmet First Look From Boba Fett Fan Club

August 19, 2021

Sign Up For Paramount +

What are you looking for?

Recent reviews.

• ‘Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire’ – Small Problems, Titanic Fun [Review] Score: 85%
• Renegade Nell: Charming Outlaw Action With A Magical Twist [REVIEW] Score: 80%
• Solo Leveling Ep. 11 “A Knight Who Defends An Empty Throne”: Optional Boss Fight [Review] Score: 85%
• Sasaki And Peeps Ep. 12 “Real Life, Fantasy, And The Fourth World”: Book Ends…Not [Review] Score: 100%
• The Listener: Tessa Thompson Shines In Subdued Drama About A Helpline Volunteer [Review] Score: 65%
• Late Night With The Devil – A Sense Of Dread To The End [Review] Score: 94%
• Dune: House Corrino #1 ~ A Game Of Interstellar Intrigue [Review] Score: 90%
• MMPR Green Ranger Legends In 3D Bust From Diamond Select Toys [Review] Score: 80%
• Immaculate: Sydney Sweeney Shines in a Fantastic Horror Film with a Divisive Ending [REVIEW] Score: 93%
• ‘Palm Royale’ Makes Socialite Scheming Flashy & Fun, If Too Simple [Review] Score: 65%

Star Trek's Kelvin Timeline Could Still Get One More 'Final Chapter' Movie

There's more "Star Trek" television right now that Trekkies know what to do with. Whether you prefer it when the franchise is philosophical yet whimsical in the manner of Gene Roddenberry's original ground-breaking series ("Strange New Worlds"), a mix of raunchy humor and emotionally mature sci-fi storytelling ("Lower Decks"), or embracing a "warm, flashy, 'heart dangling on the sleeve with such force that you might as well brace for an aerial spray' ethos" (as /Film's own Jacob Hall put it in his review of the "Discovery" season 5 premiere ), there's something for "Trek" enthusiasts of ever shade right now — again, on the small screen. Unfortunately, if you enjoy it when the property stretches its wings and takes flight in theaters, you've been plumb out of luck since 2016.

Indeed, the last eight years have been a never-ending cycle of news about "Star Trek" films being put into development, only to fall apart faster than the USS Enterprise's hull in ... well, take your pick, the ship's been trashed in a whole lot of movies and shows by this point. From "Fargo" and "Legion" showrunner Noah Hawley to Quentin Tarantino , "WandaVision" director Matt Shakman , and even "Madame Web" mastermind S.J. Clarkson (yes, we're referring to Clarkson as a "mastermind" now, I've just decided), a whole lot of people have tried their hand at reviving the "Star Trek" films to no avail. Now, Variety is reporting that Steve Yockey — who developed the acclaimed Max series "The Flight Attendant" based on Chris Bohjalian's original novel — will take a roll of the dice himself by becoming the latest writer to take a stab at what's simply being called "Star Trek 4" (i.e. the fourth movie set in the "Star Trek" Kelvin timeline).

The budget's the thing

Here we go again. (I'm quoting the wrong sci-fi franchise , I'm aware, but stay with me.) In a massive cover story titled "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," Variety revealed that Paramount is once again trying to make what it's referring to as a "final chapter" in the Kelvin timeline film series. Like the previous attempts, the earliest of which had Chris Hemsworth reprising his role as George Kirk from J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" thanks to a bit of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey business (again, wrong sci-fi property, I know), this one would see Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and John Cho (minus the late Anton Yelchin) reprising their roles as the alternate universe/Kelvin timeline versions of the Enterprise's beloved crew once more.

So, what's got Paramount convinced this attempt will succeed where the others did not? According to Variety, the studio is said to be really focused on "rightsizing" the price tag after 2016's "Star Trek Beyond" saw its budget sky-rocket to $185 million, a number far too big for a franchise that's only ever been modestly successful at the box office. Pine himself previously criticized the studio's strategy of " trying to compete with the Marvels of the world " (as he put it), and most Trekkies would surely agree that scaling things back would serve the project well, arguing that "Star Trek" has never benefitted from trying to be a splashy action franchise . This would also be a chance to finally give the Kelvin timeline a proper ending more in keeping with the core values of "Star Trek," assuming Paramount likes what Yockey brings to the table.

Keep it tuned to /Film for all your future "Star Trek" updates.

• The A.V. Club
• The Takeout
• The Inventory

Star Trek 's Future Includes More Movies, More TV, and More Michelle Yeoh

A wide-ranging look at the future of star trek gives us major updates on section 31 , starfleet academy , and trek 's hopes for a return to the box office..

Star Trek ’s streaming revival finds itself at a bit of a crossroads. Discovery , the series that brought the show back to its current heights, is preparing to begin its final season next week—and Picard , arguably one of its biggest successes, came to an end last year. But things ending has never stopped Star Trek from looking ahead to what’s next, and there’s plenty on the way.

As part of a wide ranging feature for Variety , Paramount has revealed a swath of hints about what to expect as Star Trek transitions from the stable of shows it has developed in the years since Discovery revived the franchise in 2017 (for what was then CBS All Access, now Paramount+), to a franchise looking to push itself on screens big and small once again.

Several of the shows that form Star Trek ’s current streaming era will of course continue—like the smash-hit success Strange New Worlds , currently filming its third season; the animated series Lower Decks ; and the kids-focused 3DCG series Prodigy , which has found a new streaming home at Netflix after being suddenly and controversially axed from Paramount+ last year. But now Star Trek ’s future beyond them is anchored in not just at least one more new TV show—the upcoming Starfleet Academy , now explicitly confirmed to be set in the 32nd Century setting established by Discovery ’s last three seasons—but experimentations in film in both theatrical and streaming formats.

The most major of these is Section 31 , the Michelle Yeoh-helmed series-pitch-turned-streaming film that follows her Discovery character, Phillipa Georgiou (actually the Mirror Universe variant of Yeoh’s character, who perished in its opening episodes) as she finds herself involved in the titular shady Starfleet secret police division introduced in Deep Space Nine . It’s now seemingly been confirmed that Section 31 will be set in the time period between Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: The Next Generation , as a major character joining Yeoh in the film will be a young Rachel Garrett, played by Kacey Rohl—the captain of the Enterprise -C introduced in the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” Also floated as a potential continuation of this streaming movie format beyond Section 31 is more from the world of  Star Trek: Picard —apparently not the so-called Legacy spinoff cast and crew have been asking for since the series concluded last year, but a movie previously teased by Patrick Stewart that would, presumably, continue to focus on Picard after the events of the show.

Paramount+ is not the only home for future Star Trek film content however. Plans are still underway to make a fourth and final film with the remaining cast of the Star Trek 2009 reboot movie—known as the alternate “Kelvin Timeline” continuity—with The Flight Attendant ’s Steve Yockey drafting the latest script for the latest iteration of the film, which has been trying to get off the ground in various forms since 2018, having most recently lost director Matt Shakman to Marvel’s The Fantastic Four . Further along the line than Star Trek 4, however, is another tentpole Trek movie: first reported on earlier this year as being written by Seth Grahame-Smith and directed by Andor ’s Toby Haynes, this film is now explicitly described as “an origin story of sorts” for, not as previously assumed, the aforementioned Kelvin timeline, but the “Prime” Star Trek canon, suggesting a return to the time period first explored in Star Trek: Enterprise .

All this, of course, remains in flux— Star Trek has few rivals in the Hollywood world when it comes to announced projects not actually making it out to audiences in one form or another (the galaxy far, far away says hello to its fellow Star franchise). But suffice to say Paramount has big, big plans for Star Trek in a bunch of forms across TV and film, and they’re unlikely to slow down any time soon.

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 .

Potential Continuation of Star Trek’s Kelvin Timeline with a Concluding Movie

T he possibilities remain alive for the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline to receive a concluding installment. A new development has surfaced, as noted in a comprehensive article by Variety titled “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”. It appears that Paramount is exploring the idea of creating a ‘final chapter’ movie to wrap up the Kelvin timeline saga. This timeline burst into existence with J.J. Abrams’ reboot of “Star Trek” in 2009 and potentially could see the star-studded cast comprising Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and John Cho come together once again, albeit without the sadly missed Anton Yelchin.

Why does Paramount believe they can succeed now, after previous stalled endeavors? The studio is reportedly looking to recalibrate the film’s budget to a more manageable figure, especially in the wake of “Star Trek Beyond,” which ballooned to a hefty $185 million and did not achieve the desired box office returns to warrant such investment. The goal seems to be a shift away from trying to emulate the larger-than-life spectacles of blockbuster franchises, returning instead to the unique essence of Star Trek. Chris Pine has voiced support for this shift, indicating a preference for a less bombastic approach. This new potential chapter would aim to honor ‘Star Trek’s’ original spirit, pending approval of the presented concepts by Paramount.

For the latest news and updates on this and other “Star Trek” related developments, stay informed with /Film.

FAQ Section

The potential for a new movie to round off the Kelvin Timeline in the Star Trek franchise holds promise for fans looking for closure and a return to the series’ roots. With Paramount attempting to right-size the budget and the original cast poised to return, excluding the irreplaceable Anton Yelchin as Chekov, this prospective ‘Final Chapter’ could end the alternate universe journey on a high note that honors the longstanding ethos of Star Trek. As details unfold, enthusiasts of the franchise will likely keep a watchful eye on developments in the hope that this final installment comes to fruition.

The Next Star Trek Movie Is More Important Than Ever After A Huge Announcement

It's been the better part of a decade since the last "Star Trek" film hit the big screen in 2016. Fans dying to see what happens next in the Kelvin timeline have gradually felt their hopes slipping away as rumors of the next installment — including scuttlebutt about an R-rated Quentin Tarantino "Star Trek" film — keep failing to pan out. But according to  Variety, Paramount has confirmed plans to move forward with the Kelvin timeline's "final chapter" — and that's just the beginning of the good news for Trekkies. There's reportedly a second feature "Trek" film in the works that's even closer to pre-production. The studio says this film will prove fundamental to the "Star Trek" canon by helping establish the primary timeline's origin story.

The emphasis on the second project's relationship to the primary timeline gives fans even more insight into a storyline hinted at by  Deadline in January 2024, when sources teased a tightly guarded plot that would be set decades before the events of the 2009 "Star Trek" movie. Like the Kelvin timeline films, it will be produced by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions. On track to write it is Seth Grahame-Smith, who penned "Dark Shadows," "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," and "The Lego Batman Movie." 

Even more promising is who Paramount brought on to direct the film: Toby Haynes, a director whose resume includes "Andor," "Sherlock," a handful of the very best "Doctor Who" episodes from the Eleventh Doctor's tenure, and the critically lauded "Black Mirror" take on "Star Trek," "U.S.S. Callister." Insiders told Variety the origin film will be in preproduction by the end of 2024.

Even more Trek films could be in the works

The origin film is just one piece of Paramount's big plans to continue growing the "Star Trek" franchise in the coming years, which also include a push for more television movies, starting with the long-awaited "Section 31" story starring Michelle Yeoh. A look at the fandom-divisive darker side of Starfleet that first showed up in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Inquisition," the film will have a decidedly spy-fi flavor that Yeoh compared to "”Mission: Impossible' in space" when speaking with Variety.

With filming already wrapped on the "Section 31" movie, executive producer Alex Kurtzman is more than ready to consider making even more streaming "Star Trek" films. Up for consideration is a follow-up to the "Picard" series. And with all of the "Star Trek" stories currently in production beginning with the 32nd-century-set young adult series "Starfleet Academy," which is currently in its planning phase, who knows where the franchise could be headed?

• The Original Series
• The Animated Series
• The Next Generation
• Deep Space Nine
• Strange New Worlds
• Lower Decks
• Star Trek Movies
• TrekCore on Twitter
• TrekCore on Facebook

Just ahead of  Star Trek: Discovery’s final season, today the  Star Trek Universe got a bright spotlight shined upon it — and bringing readers a lot of new information about the future of this decades-old franchise.

In a lengthy cover feature for Variety, writer  Adam B. Vary talks to Trek’s cast and creative team, visiting the sets of  Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3, the upcoming  Star Trek: Section 31 film starring Michelle Yeoh, and even going inside preproduction on the next television adventure, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

For the currently-filming third season of Strange New Worlds , the  Enterprise sets will be expanding with a dedicated laboratory where Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) will investigate scientific dilemmas in front of a bank of large monitors — and above a water-filled tank which has already led some fans to joke that it may be a live-action Cetacean Ops.

In this new photo showcasing the new science lab from production designer Jonathan Lee , Spock is seen wearing an updated version of the Original Series’ red hazmat suits first seen in “The Naked Time” — redesigned by series costumer Bernadette Croft for the modern era.

Season 3 will also continue the trend of bringing new genres to Strange New Worlds episodes — as longtime Trek director Jonathan Frakes does reveal he’s finished a story “framed as a Hollywood murder mystery” that he describes as “the best episode of television I’ve ever done.”

Moving to the next live-action adventure — Michelle Yeoh’s  Section 31 film, which just finished filming last week — the  Variety piece confirms that the project shifted from an ongoing series to a one-off movie due to the impact of the pandemic, as well as Michelle Yeoh’s rise in popularity that reduced her availability.

Despite her limited schedule, the actor returned to the  Trek fold for this new Philippa Georgiou project, which sees the one-time Terran emperor zapped back in time after departing the 32nd century in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3. But where, you may ask, did the Section 31 agent arrive?

Surprisingly, it seems that the film will be spending at least some time in the 24th century’s ‘Lost Era’ — between the launch of the Enterprise- B in Star Trek: Generations and the launch of the Enterprise- D in Star Trek: The Next Generation — as Variety reveals the identity of one of Yeoh’s  Section 31 co-stars.

Kacey Rohl ( Hannibal, The Magicians ) will be portraying as a young Rachel Garrett , better known to Trek die-hards as the future captain of the  Enterprise -C. The character appeared only once, in  Next Gen’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” leading her ship and crew into a dark alternate future where she died in a Klingon attack before the  Enterprise- C could return to its own time. (The older Garrett was played by Tricia O’Neil.)

The article also mentions that despite its temporal setting, the Section 31 film has repurposed some sets originally built for the now-finished  Discovery series — and that the budget is, as shared by Alex Kurtzman, “much less” than a theatrical Trek production.

Kurtzman also noted that his team at Secret Hideout is considering other possible streaming movie concepts, including a possible  Star Trek: Picard follow-up, and that Michelle Yeoh is interested in a  Section 31 sequel… if the first film is successful.

Speaking of  Trek theatrical projects, the years-long efforts to drum up a fourth and final outing for Chris Pine’s  Star Trek Kelvin Timeline crew continue — I know, I know, you’ve heard that  many times before — with the current Kelvin project in the hands of screenwriter Steve Yockey (HBO’s The Flight Attendant ).

Also still chugging along is that other film concept first discussed back in January — said to be a prequel to the overall Star Trek timeline — expected to move into active preproduction later in 2024.

As always… we’ll see what happens in this department!

The next big television project, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy , has been oddly coy about its place in the Star Trek timeline — and while fans have speculated for months about when the series will take place, Variety has confirmed that the show will be set in the post- Discovery 32nd century era.

Set to start filming later this summer as previously reported ,  Starfleet Academy has taken over the former home of  Star Trek: Discovery in Toronto’s Pinewood Studios. The biggest soundstage in Canada, the series is expected to film on “the largest single set ever created for  Star Trek television.”

“Plans [include] 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.”

As for the still-uncast  Academy cadets, showrunner Noga Landau describes them as kids who have “never had a red alert before, [and who] never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”

Finally, Alex Kurtzman went onto share that he has no plans to hand over the Star Trek franchise reins anytime soon.

“The minute I fall out of love with [‘Star Trek] 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.”

You can read the entire feature piece — truly worth your time — on Variety’s  website.

Star Trek: Discovery returns next week, followed by new episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy later in 2024. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is expected to return in 2025. Release dates for Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy have not yet been announced.

• Behind The Scenes
• Kelvin Timeline
• SNW Season 3
• Star Trek: Section 31
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
• Trek Movies

Related Stories

Weeklytrek podcast #245 — variety magazine shares star trek scoops for section 31, starfleet academy, and more, star trek: strange new worlds season 2 receives two hugo award nominations, star trek: prodigy season 2 debuts in france; series creators cite “unfortunate miscommunication” surrounding scheduling, search news archives, new & upcoming releases, featured stories, our star trek: discovery season 5 spoiler-free review, star trek: discovery’s final adventure begins in april 2024, interview — star trek: lower decks’ mike mcmahan on moopsy, creating the orion homeworld, tuvix, and much more.

TrekCore.com is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with Paramount, CBS Studios, or the Star Trek franchise. All Star Trek images, trademarks and logos are owned by CBS Studios Inc. and/or Paramount. All original TrekCore.com content and the WeeklyTrek podcast (c) 2024 Trapezoid Media, LLC. · Terms & Conditions

Screen Rant

14 biggest star trek updates: section 31, starfleet academy, strange new worlds & more.

Alex Kurtzman outlines his plans for the future of Star Trek to Variety, providing exciting updates on Section 31, Picard, Starfleet Academy and more!

• Star Trek franchise teases exciting future with reveals on Section 31, Strange New Worlds, and more in recent interview.
• Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 movie promises action-packed spy thrills in space, akin to Mission: Impossible.
• Starfleet Academy set in 32nd century, with new sets and episodes for fan favorite series like Strange New Worlds.

The Star Trek franchise has just revealed a treasure trove of new information about Star Trek: Section 31 , season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and much more. With Star Trek: Discovery ending in 2024, and concerns over the implications of a potential Paramount merger, it's reassuring to discover that the future of the Star Trek franchise looks very bright indeed. Key figures like Alex Kurtzman and Eugene Roddenberry Jr. have revealed new details about the upcoming Star Trek movies , Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 , and a possible sequel to Star Trek: Picard in a brand-new interview.

In a Variety feature entitled 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 , Adam B. Vary talks to a number of key figures involved with the current Star Trek TV shows and movies about the exciting future for the franchise. Talking to stars Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Michelle Yeoh, Adam B. Vary unearths some exclusive information about what to expect from Star Trek 's next few years on TV and in theaters.

Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show

14 the first image of star trek: section 31 is released, michelle yeoh's georgiou meets a mystery figure.

The Variety feature gives Star Trek fans their first glimpse of Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) back in action. Star Trek: Section 31 wrapped filming recently, so attention now turns to post-production ahead of a future release on Paramount+. The image shows Georgiou whispering something into the ear of a mysterious, but memorable looking character . Whether this is a Section 31 asset or one of the movie's antagonists is not yet clear.

Who this metal mohawked character with the tattoos and cybernetic augmentations will likely remain a mystery until such time as Star Trek: Section 31 releases a trailer. However, it's good to see Michelle Yeoh back in her trademark black leathers playing Georgiou again after such a long delay. The first image is an intriguing tease of things to come for Michelle Yeoh's appropriately top secret Section 31 movie.

13 Star Trek: Section 31 Features A Young Rachel Garrett

Played by hannibal's kacey rohl.

One of the biggest surprises from Variety 's Star Trek: Section 31 set report is the revelation that Georgiou will team up with a young Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl). Until now, the roles played by Section 31 's cast have been kept under wraps. Now it's been confirmed that Kacey Rohl will be playing the future captain of the USS Enterprise-C in Section 31 . All that's known about Garrett is how she dies, meaning that there's a lot of unexplored backstory for Section 31 to reveal.

Kacey Rohl starred as Abigail Hobbs in Hannibal , created by Star Trek: Discovery co-creator, Bryan Fuller.

Rachel Garrett's involvement in Star Trek: Section 31 could also narrow down when in the Star Trek timeline the movie is set. Rachel Garrett was a Starfleet officer in the early to mid 24th century, and died in 2344. This suggests that the Guardian of Forever didn't send Georgiou back to her own time in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 , but instead sent her to some point a few decades later.

Rachel Garrett: Star Trek’s Most Tragic Enterprise Captain Explained

12 michelle yeoh calls section 31 "mission: impossible in space", star trek's spy movie is more tom cruise than john le carré..

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh discussed her love for the character of Georgiou in the Variety piece, and gave an enticing tease of what to expect. Yeoh describes Star Trek: Section 31 as "" Mission: Impossible" in space " which is a neat elevator pitch that gives audiences a good idea of what to expect. Under the creative direction of Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie, the Mission: Impossible movies have become thrilling globetrotting adventures, filled with incredible stunts.

The idea of transposing that Mission: Impossible style to the Star Trek universe suggests that Michelle Yeoh's movie will be full of action and adventure. Star Trek: Section 31 writer Craig Sweeny backs this up, by explaining what Star Trek 's spy movie isn ' t . Read Craig Sweeny's quote below:

“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.

11 Section 31 Visit An Alien Nightclub

Georgiou visits a club full of classic star trek aliens..

When Adam B. Vary visits Michelle Yeoh on the set of Star Trek: Section 31 , she's preparing to shoot a scene inside an alien nightclub. From Quark's Bar in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to the pleasure planet of Risa, there are many ways to unwind in the Star Trek universe. However, given that this is Section 31 , it's likely that the nightclub visited by Georgiou and Garrett will be a seedier location, perhaps where the mysterious mohawked figure is holding court.

Intriguingly, the Variety feature also reveals that the nightclub will be populated by some classic Star Trek aliens. This location is clearly some sort of hub where the movers and shakers of the galaxy are meeting up, making it a prime location for Section 31's best operatives to be seen. Adam B. Vary gives an enticing description of the action on set while filming this scene from Star Trek: Section 31 in a quote below:

A few minutes later, dozens of extras in all manner of outlandish evening wear file into the club, several of them made up as classic “Star Trek” aliens that fans might be surprised to see in this kind of swanky establishment.

10 Jonathan Frakes' Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Episode Is A Hollywood Murder Mystery

Frakes says that it's “the best episode of television" he's ever done..

Jonathan Frakes is returning to direct an episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 that he says is "the best" he's ever done. That's quite a claim, given the director's prolific output between Star Trek: The Next Generation and SNW season 3. Frakes' episode is reportedly a "Hollywood murder mystery", which invokes images of hard-boiled detectives and glamorous settings. It sounds like one more thing to be excited about as production on Strange New Worlds season 3 continues.

9 Starfleet Academy Confirmed To Take Place In Star Trek's 32nd Century

The show will build on star trek: discovery's established canon..

Alex Kurtzman confirms to Variety that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will be set in the 32nd century, presumably following on from Star Trek: Discovery 's final season . The Variety feature astutely points out that, by setting Starfleet Academy in the largely unexplored 32nd century, it will reduce the amount of revision that its young adult audience will have to do. Interestingly, the feature also highlights that Star Trek has an aging fanbase, which makes a show like Starfleet Academy vital in building fandom's next generation .

Alex Kurtzman doesn't confirm if any of Star Trek: Discovery 's cast will be making the transition to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy . However, the confirmation of the 32nd century setting does make it more likely that Mary Wiseman's Tilly could appear in the show as an instructor . While casting is still being kept under wraps, Kurtzman and the team did reveal some more information about Starfleet Academy 's setting.

Starfleet Academy Show Is "Trying To Tell A Star Trek Story In A New Way", Says Tawny Newsome

8 starfleet academy will be set in san francisco, star trek's ya show is making the voyage home..

Set designs shared with Variety by Alex Kurtzman and production designer Matthew Davies reveal that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will return to San Francisco . When Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew arrived in the 32nd century in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Earth was no longer a member of the Federation. This meant that Starfleet Headquarters, and a fledgling Starfleet Academy had moved off-world.

The designs reveal that the 32nd century Starfleet Academy will have " a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge ", cementing its location. San Francisco has always been Starfleet's home , so it's fitting that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will have its roots there. Rooting the show in San Francisco also gives Starfleet Academy a chance to explore what life on Earth looks like in Star Trek 's 32nd century.

7 Starfleet Academy Will Be Star Trek's Biggest-Ever Set

Every inch of pinewood toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage will be used..

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy appears to be literally building the titular educational establishment for use in the show, making it the biggest set ever constructed for Star Trek . Looking over the designs with Alex Kurtzman and Matthew Davies, Adam B. Vary gives a sense of the scale of the 32nd century's Starfleet Academy. Read his quote below:

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

6 The Enterprise Gets A New Science Lab In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3

And there's a glimpse of ethan peck's spock at work..

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 will debut a new science lab set , and it looks very impressive. Intriguingly, the new lab is described as having "a four-foot pool of water that swirls underneath the central workbench". Whether this means that Strange New Worlds will introduce its own cetacean ops, or continue Starfleet's love of whales , remains to be seen. Either way, the new set is an impressive addition that suggests Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) will need to upgraded facilities to solve some scientific conundrum in SNW season 3.

5 There's No Genre That Strange New Worlds Can't Do

"could it do muppets sure. could it do black and white, silent, slapstick maybe”.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunner Akiva Goldsman reaffirms that the Star Trek: The Original Series prequel can attempt any genre. Responding to Vary's question of whether there's a genre that Strange New Worlds couldn't do, Goldsman had an " impish " response. Read Goldsman's quote about a potential Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Muppet episode below:

“As long as we’re in storytelling that is cogent and sure handed, I’m not sure there is,” [...] “Could it do Muppets? Sure. Could it do black and white, silent, slapstick? Maybe!”

4 Strange New Worlds AR Wall Can Be Disorienting For The Cast

But not for everyone....

Elsewhere in the Variety feature, Anson Mount discusses Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' use of the AR wall to create alien backdrops. Where previous Star Trek shows had used a greenscreen, the LCD screens that make up SNW 's AR wall allow the actors to actually see the environments that they're acting against . While it's a benefit, it doesn't always create a great experience for the actors, as Anson Mount points out.

“The images on the walls start to move in a way that makes no sense,” [...] “You end up having to focus on something that’s right in front of you so you don’t fall down.”

However, Ethan Peck says that he doesn't get disoriented by the AR wall, wryly joking that Spock wouldn't be fazed by it, so he's simply method acting. Hilariously, Anson Mount also reveals that they refer to the AR wall as the Holodeck. The route that actors take to the AR wall on the set of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is even decorated with posters of the holodeck, and a sign that reads "Weclome to the Holodeck" in the classic Star Trek font.

Enterprise’s Holodeck Is Star Trek’s “Most Imaginative” Invention, Says TNG Producer

3 alex kurtzman is considering a "follow up" to star trek: picard, could patrick stewart get his wish for a final picard movie.

While news of Star Trek: Legacy is absent from Variety 's sprawling feature about the future of the franchise, Alex Kurtzman does drop a small hint about continuing the story of Star Trek: Picard . It's long been suspected that Star Trek: Section 31 will pave the way for more Paramount+ exclusive movies . This is confirmed by Kurtzman, who is already considering potential follow-ups should Section 31 be a success. A follow-up Star Trek: Picard movie is one of the projects that Kurtzman is considering, but there's no further information as to what this would be.

2 Toby Haynes' Star Trek Movie Is An Origin Story For The Entire Franchise

Is star trek's origin movie set for 2026's 60th anniversary.

Variety has confirmed that Seth Grahame-Smith's Star Trek movie, to be directed by Andor 's Toby Haynes, will be an origin story for the entire franchise . More interesting still is that the movie is rumored to be "on track" for pre-production to begin by the end of this year. This suggests that the theatrical release Toby Haynes' Star Trek origin movie could form part of the 60th anniversary celebrations in 2026. Star Trek: First Contact did something very similar for the 30th anniversary celebrations in 1996, so it will be interesting to see how a new movie continues that story 30 years later.

1 The Flight Attendant's Steve Yockey Is Working On Star Trek 4

Yockey is the latest writer to work on the kelvin timeline's finale..

While Toby Haynes' Star Trek origin movie currently appears to be on track, Star Trek 4 remains in development hell. The Variety feature states that Paramount still intends to give Chris Pine's Star Trek movies a final chapter, but not much has changed since the last disappointing update. However, it has been confirmed that The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey is now working on a new draft of Star Trek 4 , but there's no further information than this. While the Kelvin Timeline movies still being stuck at the scripting stage may be disappointing, it's hard to deny that the future of the wider Star Trek franchise looks very bright indeed.

Every Star Trek Show And The Kelvin Timeline Movies Are Now Streaming On Paramount+.

Source: Variety