AUDIO: Blerd Trek: Star Trek 2024 - A Retrospective and Future Glimpse into 2025 and Beyond

0:14 >> Will: Greetings, Trekkies, Trekkers, nerds and Blerds. This is Will Polk, host of Scene N Nerd Presents Blerd Trek. Thank you for joining me on this latest episode. Star Trek fans. 2024 has been a year of endings, transitions and tantalizing beginnings. With the conclusion of Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Lower Decks, the franchise has closed two incredible chapters that push boundaries and brought Trek to a new generation. But as we head into 2025, questions linger. Where does the franchise go from here? Today we'll reflect on 2024 and explore the exciting and uncertain future of the Star Trek universe.

0:55 First, let's talk about the end of Star trek discovery. Spanning five seasons, this groundbreaking show took us to the 32nd century, expanding the Star Trek universe like never before. Love it or hate it, Discovery was a bold experiment. It brought emotional depth, modern storytelling and some of the most visually stunning Trek moments we've ever seen. But as, the final season wrapped this year, many fans felt a mix of closure and curiosity. What happens to these characters and where does the storyline go? Moving ahead, those are things that we will have for our imaginations and other future Trek series where we'll see where these characters may reappear. But let's turn quickly to Lower Decks, the animated series that celebrated everything we love about Star Trek with a side of humor. For five seasons, it was a love letter to fans. Blended comedy, heart and deep cut references that only the most hardcore Trekkies would catch. Its finale left us laughing, crying and wishing for more.

2:06 Meanwhile, Star Trek Prodigy faced a roller coaster after being cancelled by Paramount, plus yet saved by Netflix. Its future feels like it's caught in a temporal anomaly. Will it find a long term on Netflix? Or more importantly, will it, continue to inspire younger audiences and spark a new wave of Star Trek fans? For now, its long term home is a question mark in the franchise's trajectory. Now as we look to 2025, there's plenty to be excited about. The production of Starfleet Academy marks a new era, for Star Trek. Set to focus on a younger generation of cadets, it promises to blend the classic ideas of Starfleet with the, challenges of a modern interconnected universe. Will it resonate with fans? Only time will tell. But it's a bold step into uncharted territory. It features Holly Hunter as the lead, Paul Giamonte, who's going to be a recurring villain in this new series. Robert Picardo is reprising his role as the doctor from Voyager, Tatiana Masani, who was in the show Orphan Black, and also she Hulk is joining the Star Trek franchise. Plus cast members from Discovery included Tig Notaro, Mary Wiseman, Odette Ferrer and others are will be reprising their roles and will

3:37 also be joined with a new cast of characters that will be introduced in the series. So we haven't got an exact release date as of this recording, but it is expected sometime late in 202025 or early 2026. But it has already been renewed for a second season. And then there's section 31, the long awaited streaming movie starring Michelle Yeoh after her Oscar win. This project feels like it could elevate Trek's prestige, a darker, more espionage driven standalone take on Starfleet. It's something that fans have been craving ever since we first were introduced to the clandestine Section 31 and Star Trek D Space 9. The trailers look like an action packed adventure and appears to cover those years in between the original series and the Next Generation.

4:32 But will it pave the way for more Trek movies or is it a standalone experiment? It will premiere on January 24, 2025. So can't wait to hear your thoughts about that show and let me know what you think about it as we wait for it to come in less than a month as as of this recording. And let's not forget Star Strange New Worlds, which remains a fan favorite series. With its episodic format and nods to classic Trek, it's been a consistent bright spot for the franchise. Season three is expected to push the boundaries even further and fans can't wait to see more of Captain Pike, Spock and crew. We have not yet gotten the exact release date as of this recording, but it is expected sometime in 2025. also season four will also go into production in February and March of 2025 according to actors Paul Wesley who plays Captain Kirk, and Jess Bush who plays Christine Chappell. So we could probably expect to see season four probably sometime in 2026 or at the worst, 2027.

5:37 Now here's an intriguing one that's coming up for us. Twaney Newsom, who played Beckett Mariner on Lower Decks and also as a writer on Starfleet Academy, is creating a workplace comedy set in the Star Trek universe. While the details are scarce, it's said to be a comedic take on life behind the scenes of Starfleet operations and inspired by a one off comedy episode from Deep Space Nine. Newsom shared recently in a Variety art interview by saying that quote, having so much support with Secret Hideout and the studio just being like we love Trek, let's take it in this New direction has been a good as the development can go, but finding a way to do Trek and a workplace comedy type tone is new. Lower Decks proved that we can do it in half an hour. We can do it very big and fun and funny and make it feel like Trek.

6:29 But animation just gives you some tonal permissions that we're figuring out for live action. Justin and I are die hard Trekkies are not trying to mess with the Trek of it all, but we're also hardcore comedy people. The sanctity of the workplace comedy is really important to me, so making sure both of those things can really live together is my primary concern. That means that the premise that everyone heard at ah, Comic Con may be shifting a little bit. End quote. Justin is Justin Simeon who's also the co showrunner on this new workplace comedy. I will say it's a bold move, but will Trek blend of comedy and philosophy resonate in this new form format? If Lower Deck taught us anything is that humor has a place in this universe. But as we all know, the execution will be key.

7:20 So what does the future hold for Star Trek Beyond 2025? The franchise is at a crossroads. With major players like Discovery and Lower Decks off the board. There's an opportunity and a challenge to rein Trek means in this streaming age. Of course we will still have at least two more seasons of strange new worlds. But the question is, will Starfleet Academy, a Section 31 television movie, Usher in a new golden era? Or will Truck Trek struggle to find its footing in an ever crowded entertainment landscape? Finally, will we ever get that long awaited fourth movie in the Kelvin universe?

8:02 We also do know that the X Men franchise producer and he also produced the Martian and the Deadpool movies, Simon Kinberg has been signed on to produce a prequel movie for Star Trek that is said to be an origin story that takes place decades before the events of the 2009 Star Trek film, which kicked off of course the Kelvin Universe. So there is that. But one thing is certain, the ideas of Starfleet exploration, diversity and hope are as relevant as ever. And as long as there are fans stream into the final frontier, Star Trek will fully go where no franchise has gone before. Now it's your turn Trekkies.

8:45 What are your hopes for Star Trek in 2025 and beyond? Let's talk about it in the comments below or if you are listening to us on an audio feed, make sure you make a comment on our website that's at www.scenennerdpodcast.com and as always, don't forget to, like, subscribe and hit that bell if you're here on YouTube so that you never miss a transmission from the final frontier, be sure to catch our, audio podcast as well. Until next time, live long and prospect it.