Season 3 has only just launched, but the cast and crew ofStar Trek: Discoveryare getting to work on Season 4. In the below video released by CBS All Access, starsSonequa Martin-GreenandDoug Jones, and executive producersMichelle ParadiseandAlex Kurtzmanreveal that they’re set to return to the set on November 2.
It’d been known for a while that pre-production on Season 4 was in progress, even while work also continues on multiple spin-off series, includingStrange New Worldsand theMichelle Yeoh-starringSection 31. But this is the first official word that the show will be returning for a fourth season.
Star Trek: DiscoverySeason 3, premiering this week, has thrust Michael Burnham (Martin-Green) into a whole new era of the franchise — one further forward in history than we’ve ever seen before, and one where the Federation is a distant memory following a traumatic event known as the Burn.
The first four episodes of Season 3 take full advantage of launching into this new era, with the crew we’re familiar with struggling to comprehend a future without the Federation. It’s essentially, a universe that feels more post-apocalyptic than any we’ve ever seen before in the world ofTrek(though in line with the darker tone ofStar Trek: Picardand previous seasons ofDiscovery) and honestly one of the show’s strongest creative decisions to date.
Discovery, in its initial conception, originally was set timeline-wise about nine years before Kirk became captain of the Enterprise NCC-1701. This offered up the ability to get nostalgic about theTOSera ofTrek— something thatStrange New Worldswill be doubling down on, spinning off the characters of Captain Pike (Anson Mount), his Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and science officer Spock (Ethan Peck).
But forDiscovery, its place in the timeline always felt a bit limiting, especially given the potential for continuity errors. (Giventhe literal decades of history behind this franchise, avoiding such goof-ups would be a pretty much impossible task.) So Season 3’s new place in the annals ofTrekopens up a whole new world of storytelling for the series — one which, we now know, they plan to explore in Season 4.
(Also, now there’s a cat named Grudge. Grudge rules.)
The big question becomes whether or notDiscovery’s time in the 32nd century is going to last, or if the crew will find some way to return to the past (AKA their former present) at the end of the season. Personally, I hope not. Going back to the 2200s would feel like a step backwards, and there’s a whole lot more future for them to explore.There are no answers in the video below, but it’s clear that the team is excited to continue the journey.
New episodes ofStar Trek: DiscoverySeason 3 premiere Thursdays on CBS All Access.
