We were promised bold, experimental storytelling with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and it looks like Season 4 will deliver on much of that. At CCXP Mexico this past week, Paramount+ debuted the new trailer for Strange New Worlds Season 4, while confirming the series will return on July 23.
While Star Trek has taken a much-more action oriented approach in recent years, there's a certain sense of wonder and adventure in the latest trailer.
"I have ever been prone to seek adventure and to investigate where a wiser man would have left well enough alone," Captain Pike (Ansen Mount) says at the start. "Space is limitless. It has beauty and it has terror."
Speaking to the crowd at CCXP, series stars Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk), Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura), Rebecca Romijn (Una Chin Riley), and Ethan Peck (Spock) enthusiastically spoke of Season 4, which Peck called the series' "best yet."
“It’s really incredible. We’re so proud of the show, and we’re really excited for season 4 — and season 5 — we really think it’s our strongest season… It’s incredible," Romijn said.
"We’re just taking up the ante every season, every season. Season 4 is incredibly strong. You guys are in for a treat, for sure," added Gooding.
While just a minute in length, there was a lot to unpack in the Season 4 trailer. One of the most draw-dropping moments teased what looks like a prehistoric Earth, complete with a T-Rex dinosaur roaring ferociously. That's apparently just the tip of the iceberg.
Both Peck and Wesley also teased a "fantastic" horror episode.
"You saw Kirk screaming and closing doors, that’s from that episode," Peck pointed out.
"That particular episode, actually, is one of my favorites," Wesley added. "I love this season. It’s going to be very intense as we explore a little bit of Kirk’s past and some of the demons that are haunting him."
Rebecca Romijn also made note of some big moments for her character Commander Una Riley, who fell a bit into the background of Season 3. In Season 4, we'll finally see Una lead more away missions. Romijn teased:
“The original pilot that was scrapped [‘The Cage’] had the first officer, Number One, played by Majel Barrett Roddenberry. And she only had 13 minutes of screen time. So I’ve been very lucky to be able to flesh out this character. We really got to know her. And she is an Illyrian and was hiding this terrible secret because it’s not allowed in Starfleet to be genetically modified… Now that she has been cleared of that and she was able to live her authentic self, at the beginning of season 4, we see Una request more time on planets and leading more away missions. So we’re going to see a lot more action and a lot more time on time on planets.”
“We get to see a much freer Una, who gets to lead missions starting in season 4, and 5… It’s so exciting, it’s so fun. Una makes a request at the beginning of season 4 for more time on planet. And now that she is living her authentic self, she gets to lead these incredible missions.”
Celia Rose Gooding also promised a more confident Nyota Uhura.
“In season 4, I think we really see her step into her confidence. She’s much more self-assured. She’s a lot more playful. She trusts herself and her decision-making more. She has some tension with command occasionally, which I don’t think in season 1 she would have allowed herself to have. She talks back, she stands up for herself. I think we’re getting closer and closer to Nichelle Nichols’ Uhura, who cemented this role as such an integral part of the Starfleet crew. She’s the voice of the Enterprise. And so to be able to get even closer and closer to her, I think we’re putting her in the right place. We’re telling the right stories, for sure.”
In addition to all this, we also know that Season 4 will feature an episode unlike anything we've seen from Star Trek. As previously revealed, Season 4 will have an episode where the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is portrayed as puppets, created by the iconic Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is, unfortunately, coming to an end. Paramount+ has already confirmed the series will conclude with a truncated fifth season, which has already been filmed. While Peck and Wesley promised more Spock and Kirk moments in the upcoming season, it doesn't sound like the rumored prequel spin-off, Year One, will move forward. So Season 4 and Season 5 may be the last we see of these two together.