Since the end of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, it's been all quiet on the final frontier. Next up for the franchise will be the release of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, which is expected to premiere this summer.
Speaking to TrekMovie earlier this month, co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers briefly spoke about what fans can expect this season. Staying true to the roots of the series, Season 4 will continue to feature episodes that are "strange, new, and different." However, Myers also assured the series will still feature some very "classic" episodes.
“We looked at season 4 and we didn’t know what our future was going to be, so we were like, ‘What are things that we have never tried that we want to try?’ What is Star Trek that hasn’t been done that we could do? Like, the whole point of doing Strange New Worlds is to visit some strange new worlds," Myers explained. "Every one of the episodes is strange, new, and different. We want to try some things with Star Trek that is familiar to Star Trek lovers, but also, fresh, new, different, explosive — we just want to go for something.”
Strange New Worlds is known for its experimental storytelling, and that will clearly continue in Season 4. Last year, the studio teased that one episode will find the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise portrayed as puppets, created by the iconic Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The puppet-themed episode is directed by Jordan Canning, who directed the Season 2 episode "Charades," as well as the Season 3 episodes "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans."
Strange New Worlds is widely considered one of the best modern Star Trek series, its genre experimentation sometimes proves divisive. But while the series showrunners aren't afraid to take risks, Myers also confirmed that Season 4 will feature some "very classic episodes."
“It’s not like every episode is a puppet episode… It’s a mix," Myers assured. "We have a few genre reaches. We have some real classic episodes, some very, very classic episodes. We try some things that have not been tried in Star Trek before, but still very much at their core, feel like Star Trek.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 is expected to premiere later this season. Paramount+ has already renewed the series for a fifth and final season. Filming on Season 5, which will consist of just six episodes, began last year.