It has been a while since Star Trek has been a staple on television. The 1966 Original Series created what some argue was the first fanbase, and it has lived on with movies and a few shows set 100 years after with The Next Generation (TNG), Deep Space Nine (DS9) and Voyager before taken what some consider a huge backward step with Enterprise. CBS has announced that it is coming back with a new series, and the latest Star Trek movie in the rebooted series, Beyond, is coming next year.
The new CBS show, according to CNET, will debut in 2017 and is produced by Alex Kurtzman, who is known for his work on the rebooted Star Trek films. CBS has stated that the brand-new Star Trek will introduce new characters seeking out new life and new civilizations while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have made it so popular over the years.
Star Trek Beyond is slated for release on July 22, 2016, and it will reunite the crew that was introduced in the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot. It will be directed by Justin Lin, and there is little plot information is known about it, not even a synopsis on IMDB. The subtitle of Beyond could refer to just about anything within the Star Trek universe.
Here are five questions that Trekkies and everyone else are asking about the new TV show and upcoming movie:
Will the new TV Show tie into the Movies?
It has been stated that the television series is "not related to the movie." However, Star Trek is a franchise that feels rather underdone compared to Marvel. Marvel has its Avengers movies tie-in to their Agents of Shield and Netflix Defenders shows, so how could Star Trek resist this?
Will the TV show be set in the same rebooted universe?
Considering that the show is supposed to have new characters, it is possible that we're looking at a new ship in the 23rd century along with the Enterprise of the reboot. Of course, there is little chance that CBS could afford the Enterprise crew dropping by, but the Star Trek 24th century shows were known for their special guest stars like Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelly, and James Doohan.
Will the TV show take place in the original universe?
Many Star Trek fans do not like the rebooted movies because it essentially hits the reset button on a lot of the mythology. It is apparent that Kirk's original meeting with Khan has been changed thanks to events from Star Trek: Into Darkness, which means that many other events from TOS (The Original Series) have been changed as well. After the 24th century series of TNG, DS9, and Voyager were canceled, the characters still lived on in books. It would be shame to let this not alternate history of Star Trek go to waste, and fans might welcome it back to the screen.
What could a Star Trek TV show do that hasn't been done before?
The Star Trek formula, with the starship having adventures throughout the galaxy, has been done with six series (counting the animated Star Trek one) and other science fiction shows that imitate its formula. DS9 and Voyager attempted different spins on this, but episodes began to look very similar. It would be difficult for a new Star Trek show to give us something that we haven't seen before, so perhaps they should go with the rewritten stories of older voyages.
Does Star Trek have a Future?
Every Trekkie wants to know the answer to that. After Star Trek: Nemesis did not do so well, and Enterprise went off the air, it looked like Star Trek was going to going to fade into nostalgic obscurity until the J.J. Abrams reboot. If Star Trek Beyond is not a hit, and the new television show not accepted by fans, then Star Trek could once again fade from the mainstream public until the next reboot happens.
