Star Trek: Discovery wrapped up its third season earlier this month, but the good news is another run is already in the works, so it should be with us pretty soon. Production began on the next season of the hit CBS All Access show back in the fall, and a release sometime later this year seems highly plausible. In the meantime, EP Alex Kurtzman has teased what we can expect the next time the U.S.S. Discovery blasts onto our screens.
The co-showrunner, alongside Michelle Paradise, spoke to Deadline in an interview reflecting on season 3, but the conversation turned to the future before it wrapped up. First of all, Kurtzman teased that the next batch of episodes will have a scientific edge. “We’re actually exploring – we’re diving deep in to science – in the fourth season, in a kind of new and interesting way,” he explained. He then went on to tease that the next main villain may be more conceptual than usual, saying:
“There have been many kinds of villains over the course of Star Trek. What happens when the villain is not actually any kind of living, breathing entity, but something else? How do you solve that problem?”
One thing we can work out ourselves about season 4 is that it will follow the newly promoted Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) embarking on a mission to bring (strange) new worlds into the Federation, which is now back in business again thanks to the restoration of their supply of dilithium. Kurtzman hinted that this noble, optimistic mission will have some hurdles Burnham and her crew must face, though, explaining:
“The Federation is coming back together but it’s not fully back together. And so the continued mission of bringing other worlds in and meeting the criteria and standards of what it means to be a member of the Federation but also not to rob other cultures of their identity is something that we’ll explore.”
Last but not least, Kurtzman promised that Burnham’s captaincy won’t be plain sailing as she’ll have to figure out exactly what being a leader means, not to mention that the shifted power dynamics will interfere with her relationship with David Ajala’s Book.
“Burnham has spent a lot of time thinking she had to be one thing or the other and ended the season being rewarded with the captain’s chair for being two different things. Vance basically says, ‘You don’t have to pick. You do things your way and that’s why I want you in the chair. Because you’re always ultimately fighting for what’s right.’ Burnham is going to have to keep figuring that out. She’s going to have to keep learning what that means. Her relationship with Book will be tested in many ways, for reasons that I won’t tell you.”
It’s previously been confirmed that Doug Jones will return as Saru, despite the character taking a sabbatical from Starfleet in the season 3 finale. David Cronenberg will also be making another appearance next time around.
If you haven’t caught up yet or just feel like watching it again from the top, all of Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream on CBS All Access right now.
Published: Jan 30, 2021 03:57 pm