When casual audiences think of Star Trek, their minds will instantly wander to the long and illustrious line of television shows and feature films dating back over half a century, but animation looks set to become an increasingly important aspect of the franchise.
Star Trek: The Animated Series ran for two seasons and 22 episodes between 1973 and 1974, winning an Emmy and going down as a cult favorite thanks to the vocal performances from the cast of the original series. However, it would be almost 40 years before the long-running sci-fi saga returned to two dimensions.
Lower Decks is geared towards a more adult audience and was recently renewed for a third season shortly after the sophomore run premiered, while the first ten episodes of Prodigy will start rolling out on Nickelodeon next month before Season 2 airs as a Paramount+ exclusive.
We’re now hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Discovery‘s Captain Pike was getting a spinoff long before Strange New Worlds was announced – that the studio is reportedly developing a feature length Star Trek animation geared towards younger viewers.
Although further details remain unclear, looking at the ambitious plans in place for both Star Trek and Paramount+ as a whole, you’d have to imagine any animated film would be a streaming exclusive. Lower Decks skews older, Prodigy skews younger and the live-action titles can be enjoyed by everybody, so a family-friendly movie would definitely fit the franchise’s expansion plans.
