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What lies ahead for Starfleet? This video explores the uncertain future of Star Trek, delving into 10 key predictions about upcoming movies, television shows, and the overall direction of the beloved sci-fi universe over the next ten years.
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00:00There's no denying the fact that Star Trek is in a strange place at the moment.
00:03The recent merger between Paramount and Skydance, leading to the formation of Paramount, a Skydance corporation,
00:09has left many Trek fans both confused and a little concerned.
00:13While CEO David Ellison is apparently a big fan of the franchise,
00:17the actions by the company seem to skew far from the final frontier.
00:22Mass layoffs, increased concentration on theatrical releases,
00:26and cost-saving methods have left the future of Trek up in the air.
00:30As of the recording of this, seasons 4 and 5 of Strange New Worlds are en route,
00:34as are two seasons of Starfleet Academy.
00:37In the same breath, the dream of a return to the Kelvin timeline now seems dead.
00:41More than a year has passed since the mention of Justin Simeon and Tony Newsom's live-action comedy series,
00:47teased at San Diego Comic-Con 2024.
00:50Shows have ended, some are still to begin, one film series seems to be in the rear mirror,
00:55while a Star Trek Origins film to be directed by Toby Haynes still seems to be slated to enter production,
01:02as has a new film.
01:03With so much uncertainty, we've put our heads together to list what we may actually see
01:08in the time between Star Trek's 60th and 70th birthdays,
01:12and what those things might mean for the universe overall.
01:14I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture,
01:17and here are 10 bold predictions for Star Trek in the next decade.
01:23Number 10.
01:24Star Trek 4, or 14, will happen.
01:26On November 4th, 2025, Variety published an analysis of David Ellison's first 100 days as the CEO of Paramount.
01:34It was a stark account of the massive changes that he has been making since his arrival,
01:39with many far-reaching appointments and decisions.
01:42While the streaming movie era seems to be retired, at least for the moment,
01:45theatrical releases have been championed,
01:48with a goal of releasing upwards of 15 films per year by 2027.
01:53One film that will not be released is Star Trek 4,
01:57a return to the Kelvin timeline,
01:59featuring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, or Zoe Saldana.
02:02The company has apparently moved on from this universe,
02:05though remains committed to Star Trek overall.
02:08That leaves the other film project that has been touted,
02:11a Star Trek Origins film directed by Toby Haynes,
02:14of and or fame, more on that later.
02:17Returning to the big screen with a new prequel,
02:19or even a new take on the overall universe,
02:21might seem like a smart move for the company.
02:24While another alternate timeline may end up leaving long-term Trek fans cold,
02:29it would open the door for new fans to discover Star Trek.
02:33If the Kelvin universe is truly dead,
02:36it seems equally unlikely that Paramount will commit to a big-screen version
02:39of one of the 90s-era Star Trek series.
02:42Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daly have been announced as heading a new Trek film project,
02:47with Deadline surmising it will focus on entirely new characters.
02:52As of the recording of this, there are few more details than this,
02:55save that it is said not to be connected to any existing Trek film or series.
03:01Does this mean that all previous films have been scrapped,
03:03or should we advise Zachary Quinto to hold on to the uniform for this little while longer?
03:08Stranger things have happened,
03:10and characters have popped into different settings many times before.
03:14A film is coming, that much we know for sure.
03:22Jules Erbach, CEO of O-Toy, has already made waves within the Star Trek community.
03:28While the 765874 series has seriously impressed across its lifespan,
03:34the Unification short blew audiences away when it was released at the end of 2024.
03:40Working in partnership with the Roddenberry Archive,
03:42O-Toy created an additional short film expanding on the ending of Star Trek Generations,
03:48tying it into the Kelvin timeline.
03:51With such tools to hand, and Ellison's focus on expanding Paramount's slate of content,
03:56O-Toy offers both a cost-effective and expansive opportunity for the company.
04:02Nostalgia, to be blunt, can garner interest faster than many other marketing techniques.
04:06As of recording, Unification is sitting at 38 million views on YouTube as an unlisted video.
04:14This means it's not being recommended by normal algorithms,
04:18so this is a word-of-mouth campaign.
04:21These are numbers that are hard to ignore,
04:23particularly for a company that is keen to build its audience base.
04:28O-Toy seemed to take the pulse of Star Trek's audience with this project in particular,
04:32so much so that they were invited to speak at Trek to Vegas 2025,
04:37the largest Star Trek convention of the year.
04:40In addition to the extant content, O-Toy has teased big future plans.
04:45Several Trek alumni are involved between O-Toy and the Roddenberry Archive,
04:49which also offers an olive branch to those audience members who have been left cold in recent years.
04:56Number 8. It's legacy, Jim, but not as we know it.
04:59It's fair to say that we here at Trek Culture have championed the idea of Star Trek Legacy
05:04since the end of Picard's third season.
05:07A series exploring Captain Seven of Nine and the crew of the Enterprise G,
05:12set in the 25th century, seemed to be a slam dunk of an idea.
05:16Audiences were vocal, the actors and showmakers were all on board, and then...
05:21nothing.
05:21Now, almost three years later, the idea for a Captain Seven series seems as likely as a 4th Kelvin film.
05:29While the will was there, even the cast have conceded that the likelihood has passed.
05:35With showrunner Terry Metallus busy over at Disney, the moment may truly have passed us by.
05:41However, while Legacy may not be on the horizon in the form we have suggested,
05:47that does not mean it's never coming.
05:50In fact, if the previous reports of Ellison's interest in older Star Trek are to be believed,
05:56then a show exploring the 25th century may yet see the light of day.
06:01While we feel that a film in that era is less likely,
06:04a series may seem to be more of a gamble, though with a potentially bigger payoff.
06:09Legacy could mean many things.
06:11The Next Generation, while embracing the original series,
06:14didn't labour itself with working the cast into its main narrative.
06:18Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise all largely followed suit.
06:22If Legacy is the format rather than the straight sequel we had originally hoped for,
06:27this would still serve to invite those fans who returned and left afterwards for Picard's third season,
06:34as well as those who have struggled with Discovery, Strange New Worlds and Section 31.
06:407. The Return of Ronald D. Moore
06:42Ronald D. Moore was an early beneficiary of Michael Piller's open submission policy for writers on Star Trek.
06:49During Piller's tenure on The Next Generation,
06:52aspiring writers could present a script regardless of their publication status.
06:56Moore submitted the bonding, which led to his hiring and eventual impact on Deep Space Nine.
07:01He was briefly involved in Voyager before moving on.
07:04Moore has since been the showrunner for Battlestar Galactica and For All Mankind.
07:10In sci-fi television, he's a big deal.
07:13When he appeared on The Sackhoff Show in 2025, hosted by Katie Sackhoff,
07:18whom he hired to play Starbuck in his reimagined Galactica series,
07:22she asked him if he would return to Star Trek.
07:25He spoke about his need for time away when he stepped away from Voyager,
07:30which was not the same satisfactory experience he had found on Deep Space Nine.
07:35He then explained that, over the years, he had considered what a return to Star Trek would look like,
07:40and whether or not he had any real interest in revisiting something from an earlier part of his career.
07:46Then, he countered, he also found himself imagining scenes on the bridge of the Enterprise from which story ideas would
07:54spring.
07:55In the end, he declared the idea of returning fun.
07:59With directors like Jonathan Frakes, Moore would seem to be an ideal candidate for steering Trek in a direction
08:06that would both invite legacy fans as well as new fans to the franchise.
08:11With successes like For All Mankind under his belt, which has been renewed for a fifth and potential sixth season,
08:18Moore is hot property at the moment.
08:20Something very appealing to a company focusing on expanding its audience.
08:26Number six, that crossover event.
08:29This one may come a little sooner than some other predictions on this list.
08:34Star Trek's 60th year is upon us, and, as of recording, there are already many plans in place to celebrate.
08:41StarTrek.com has set up a hub to collate all of the year's news,
08:45so the fire is clearly there to celebrate what has come before.
08:50It's time.
08:51The last crossover event in Star Trek, Those Old Scientists, was extremely well received.
08:58While the novelty of depicting Mariner and Boimler in live action was engaging enough,
09:03having two ongoing series share the screen offered fans of both a chance to shake things up.
09:10Star Trek Generations managed something similar in 1994.
09:14When Kirk and Picard meet in the Nexus, a torch was handed over, while audiences merged in theatres.
09:21Since then, there hasn't truly been an event in terms of captains' meeting.
09:25While Janeway spoke to Picard in Nemesis, and Riker spoke to Freeman in No Small Parts,
09:31there is yet to be an overall meeting of the minds.
09:35We have been teased with returning actors in recent years.
09:39William Shatner was involved with O-Toy's unification,
09:42while Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew both returned to Trek.
09:46Scott Bakula has been linked to a potential Star Trek United spin-off,
09:50though fans have largely been left wanting for Avery Brooks,
09:54who has only appeared in silhouette in the Starfleet Academy trailer.
09:57To be frank, time is running out to have all of the captains share a room together,
10:03and leaving something like this on the long finger
10:05will surely lead to one or more of those performers being unable to join,
10:10regardless of the project.
10:12For the sheer event of it all,
10:14it seems likely that sooner rather than later,
10:17the crossover will happen.
10:19Number 5. Lower Decks Goes Theatrical or Live Action
10:24When Star Trek Lower Decks ended in 2024,
10:27it came as quite a surprise to the audience,
10:29though the producers were warned as they were constructing the fifth season.
10:34The show had seemingly gone from strength to strength,
10:36only to come to a premature end.
10:39Thankfully, the final season both ended the show nicely,
10:42while leaving the door open for further adventures.
10:45Those old scientists depicted Jack Quaid's Brad Boimler and Tony Newsom's Beckett Mariner in live action,
10:53easily serving as a proof of concept for a live action version of these characters.
10:57The episode also polled Double Duty,
11:00depicting the Strange New Worlds cast in cartoon form.
11:03Lower Decks was a gift to Star Trek fans,
11:06walking the line between fan service and engaging stories that could be enjoyed without prior Trek knowledge.
11:12Mike McMahon assembled a team that understood the assignment,
11:16resulting in a show that engaged audiences from the jump,
11:20while also offering a template for how to bring various Trek iterations together.
11:26For example, it remains the only project to bring Jolene Blaylock back as T'Pol
11:31since Enterprise went off the air in 2005.
11:34Perhaps this is a project that might suit the aforementioned crossover event well.
11:40Eugene Cordero and Noel Wells drew the short straws in the crossover episode.
11:44They have yet to play their characters in live action,
11:47which simply needs to be fixed.
11:49A live action Lower Decks movie may sound like a gamble,
11:52but it appeals to existing fans and, with its nature as a comedy,
11:57serves as an inviting entry point for new fans of all ages as well.
12:02Number 4. The Doctor visits Starfleet.
12:06There have been several attempts through the years to bring these two franchises together,
12:10though in almost all examples they've been firmly tongue-in-cheek.
12:14A conversation between Russell T. Davis and Paramount took place during Enterprise's run,
12:20though that came to naught.
12:22Davis and Alex Kurtzman hosted a friendship panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024,
12:27with both opining that they would love to bring Doctor Who and Star Trek together.
12:32That was seemingly further teased as Shuti Gatwa's Doctor said he should go visit them,
12:38with them being the crew of the Enterprise in Space Babies.
12:41He may have been true to his word,
12:43as the TARDIS appeared on screen in the Salat Who Ate It's Tale.
12:48Exciting as both of these examples are,
12:51they were low-risk and easily missed.
12:54And yes, I'm still embarrassed I missed the TARDIS during the ups and downs, alright?
12:57I still am.
12:58But a true, complete crossover.
13:01That is something that is increasingly likely,
13:04as Paramount has reportedly spoken to the BBC about a potential deal on Doctor Who.
13:10Please note that I am, however, treating that firmly as rumour until official sources comment,
13:17okay?
13:17So, rumour.
13:18In the context of the Who Trek journey,
13:21it seems far more likely that something may happen,
13:25though we predict it is almost certainly going to take the form of a parody or charity special.
13:30Star Trek and SpongeBob SquarePants shared the same universe in an advert for Paramount+,
13:35so clearly, stranger things have happened.
13:37Number 3. Alex Kurtzman takes a bow.
13:41Rarely has there been a name so divisive as Alex Kurtzman,
13:46who has been the overall boss of Star Trek since Discovery began airing in 2017.
13:51Under his tenure, Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, and Lower Decks have come and gone.
13:57The Short Treks exist in limbo.
14:00Section 31 is streaming as a standalone feature-length story.
14:04Star Trek Can has been broadcast as an audio drama.
14:07Scouts releases on YouTube and the very Short Treks celebrated the 50th anniversary of the animated series.
14:15All of this and Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy are still in production.
14:20To be blunt, that's a lot of Star Trek.
14:22For comparison, under Rick Berman, there were four series and five films.
14:28Neither body of work is to be sniffed at.
14:30When one includes Star Trek 09, Kurtzman has been with the franchise for almost 17 years,
14:37which is roughly the same amount of time that his predecessor was.
14:40With contracts up for renewal at the end of 2026, a new administration and outlook on the horizon,
14:47and the existing body of series winding down,
14:50it seems likely that Secret Hideout may be coming to the end of its run.
14:54Unlike several outlets who might cheer that on, I take no pleasure in that prediction.
14:58While this body of work has been a mixed bag,
15:01Star Trek has been continuously producing new output since 2017 under Secret Hideout,
15:05with some enormous successes along the way.
15:08If and when Kurtzman stands down, the franchise will enter another uncertain period.
15:13We can only hope that the search for a replacement is already underway
15:17if there truly is but a year left at the time of recording.
15:21Number two, Star Trek Andor.
15:24Tony Gilroy has pretty much changed sci-fi television with Andor,
15:28which we all know is going to result in people following that template.
15:31The Next Generation, The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
15:34all did similar things in the 90s,
15:36leading to periods of imitators in the early 2000s.
15:40What then does this mean for Star Trek?
15:42While the franchise has already done the darker version of The Final Frontier
15:46in both Discovery and Picard,
15:48Andor was released at a time when the world was spiraling
15:52into one of its darkest historical periods,
15:54which, to be very clear, it is still in as of the recording of this video.
15:58While the recent developments at Paramount might seem at odds
16:02with a series depicting the fight against fascism and right-wing media,
16:06in show business, finances will out.
16:09Andor is frequently described as one of, if not the,
16:12strongest Star Wars series to air on Disney+,
16:15and that imbued with a clear anti-dictator and pro-democratic message.
16:21Star Trek has come under scrutiny,
16:23particularly in Strange New Worlds' third season,
16:27for a somewhat centrist message of late.
16:29Paramount's pledge to end DEI initiatives
16:32screams a message entirely at odds with what Star Trek is.
16:37There may, perhaps, be cynicism here,
16:39but creating a show that preaches inclusion, equity, and diversity
16:43is the very marketing tool to quell worries about the overall franchise.
16:49That might sound cold, but it is logical.
16:52Number one.
16:52Star Trek is going to take a break.
16:54In all of the predictions that we've gone through above,
16:58there is also one likely hurdle that Star Trek is going to face,
17:01though perhaps that will come after the 60th anniversary.
17:05Star Trek may well take a break.
17:07While Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy are in production,
17:10both shows look set to air until at least 2027.
17:14All going well, a third season of Academy will air in 2028.
17:19As it stands, nothing is confirmed.
17:22That leaves Trek in a position to take its time,
17:25particularly when it comes to choosing the next project.
17:27I'm old enough to remember that fallow period between 2005 and 2008,
17:32when Star Trek 2009 finally went into production.
17:35While a perfect world would see new episodes of Star Trek airing weekly,
17:39there is a risk of rushing production on the wrong show or at the wrong time.
17:44The best series have seen issues when released at the wrong time.
17:47Enterprise is a good example of this.
17:50The new Goldstein Daily film project is far from entering production,
17:54let alone being released.
17:55This leaves us with another thing to consider.
17:58Star Trek fans need to show up for any future projects to be greenlit.
18:02As the movie industry relies on financial turnover to decide the next direction,
18:08a perceived failure at the box office would almost certainly spell
18:11the end of theatrical Star Trek.
18:13At a time when big films crossed the billion dollar mark,
18:17where would Trek stack up against Mission Impossible,
18:20Top Gun, Transformers and other huge paramount properties?
18:24As of recording, Ellison's company are courting Warner Brothers
18:28in a bid to purchase their competitor,
18:30which in turn could lead to a mega corporation owning the Trek IP.
18:35With such enormous scale,
18:37smaller franchises and details could easily be overlooked or even shelved entirely.
18:42With so much change in the air,
18:44plus Paraband's focus on theatrical releases,
18:47despite their assurance that Star Trek is a focus,
18:50it seems likely that there will be a quieter future,
18:53at least in the immediate future for Star Trek.
18:55And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
18:57As I've said above,
18:59taking the time to craft something properly
19:01is a net positive for the fanbase.
19:04Two decades separate the original series and the next generation,
19:07and while we never wish that gap on anyone now,
19:11the result was one of the best pieces of science fiction in television history.
19:15Star Trek may well be slowing down,
19:17but does it need to be rushed for the sake of content?
19:20With a slate as busy as Paramount's seems to be,
19:23uncertainty over who exactly will be running the franchise,
19:26and increasing cost of productions in general,
19:29a break seems more than likely in Trek's future.
19:32As we have before, we will wait.
19:35We'll keep the ghost candle alight,
19:37and as fans, we'll ignite the midnight petroleum
19:39as we share our love for the universe past, present, and future.
19:44Star Trek is not going anywhere,
19:46and neither are we.
19:54Hi, I'm Duncan Relic, no relation,
19:57and I collect relics from before the burn.
20:01Thanks to a temporal wormhole,
20:03I now have an unlimited supply of Trek culture t-shirts,
20:07and I'm selling them to you.
20:12You could be wearing this stylish down and up t-shirt,
20:15or how about this fish-watching design?
20:19Bright yellow on black,
20:21the colours I'd use in thumbnails,
20:23I tell you that for nothing.
20:25I plan to take these designs and transfer them
20:27via quantum duplication onto hats, mugs, and posters.
20:33So look out for those.
20:35Back!
20:38Treat this unlimited supply as a limited time deal.
20:43Get your t-shirt quick.
20:45Who's your daddy?
20:56Thanks very much, folks, for watching along.
20:58Let us know what your big predictions are for the next decade.
21:00Let us know in the comments below,
21:02and let us know on social media.
21:03You can follow us at TrekCulture in the various pieces,
21:05and TrekCultureYT on Instagram.
21:06Follow myself at SeanFerrick on those socials as well.
21:09Until I see you again,
21:10make sure that you live long and prosper.
21:11Keep those minds firmly open
21:13and keep those hearts full of hope.
21:16You are awesome.
21:17You are wonderful.
21:18So much love to you all,
21:19to our friends in areas like the Sudan,
21:21Congo, Palestine, and Ukraine.
21:23We wish only for peace.
21:24We wish only for safety.
21:26Look after everyone.
21:27I will see you soon.