'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' "Season 8" First Image Released

Star Trek fans are about to get a glimpse into the future that could have been for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

The documentary What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has released the first image from the hypothetical eighth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine that was conceived of as a special feature of the film's release.

Take a look below:

The image from one of the feature's animated segments shows Ezri Dax, now a Starfleet captain. Fans will notice that her uniform is different than the Starfleet uniform that was in use during the seventh season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Whether that indicates a jump forward in time for this theoretical new season or perhaps some kind of flash forward is unclear.

As part of the documentary filming process, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine showrunner Ira Steven Behr assembled a writers' room featuring four key writers from the original series - Ronald D. Moore, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Hans Beimler, and René Eschevierra - to come up with the plot for a theoretical Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season Eight premiere episode.

What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is nearing completion. The film's world premiere is set for Destination Star Trek in the Birmingham, UK. The Blu-ray editions of the documentary should go out to backers before the end of the year, still within Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's 25th anniversary year.

The Blu-ray will also include select scenes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine updated into high definition.

"Well, for starters, we've got over 100 hours of new interviews with cast and crew to go through, plus fan submissions, archival materials, animations, audition tapes, convention footage, and over 170 broadcast episodes...endless possibilities!" Behr said in a recent update to backers. "And sure, you SAY you'd be down to see a 4-hour documentary, but really that's just excessive even for us. Carefully and artfully assembling everything down into a reasonable length film (with a story of its own!) is an even longer process.

"The good news for you in all of this is that we're continuing to find new elements and stories to include as we go along, and we're committed to making the best stand-alone film we can, however long that takes. (And, suffice to say, we've got HOURS of bonus content to release later on down the line!)"

If you're looking to celebrate Deep Space Nine's anniversary another way, you can rewatch some of the show's best episodes, or check out Star Trek Online's new Deep Space Nine-centric expansion Victory is Life.

Are you excited about What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? Let us know in the comments!