Star Trek Producer Teases Possibility of More 23rd Century Stories

Star Trek: Discovery is making the jump to the 32nd century in its third season, but that doesn't mean that Star Trek is leaving the 23rd century behind. For its first two seasons, Star Trek: Discovery served as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. The jump into the future at the end of Discovery's second season now puts the show at the forefront of Star Trek canon. During the Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con, Discovery co-showrunner/Star Trek franchise producer Alex Kurtzman said there are no plans for Discovery to return to its original setting, but that doesn't mean other Star Trek series won't take place during that era.

When asked if Discovery would ever return to the 23rd century, Kurtzman said that there are no such plans for Discovery to make a return trip, but "I think that obviously there's many shows that are in the works now and they will be in different timelines, so anything is possible. We take canon very very seriously and are not looking to negate anything that happened and the amazing work of many writers over the last 50 years."

This will be good news to fans who are still hoping to see a spinoff series about the Enterprise under the command of Capt. Christopher Pike, as played by Anson Mount in the second season of Discovery. That series, if it became a reality, would continue to be a prequel to The Original Series. Fans got a taste of what that might be like with the surprise debut of the new Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Q&A" on Saturday. The episode details the events of Spock's (Ethan Peck) first day aboard the Enterprise. It's the first of three new Short Treks episodes that will feature Mount's Pike, Peck's Spock, and Rebecca Romijn's Number One.

The planned pilot for the Star Trek: Section 31 spinoff series is also expected to take place in the same era as Discovery's first two seasons. Then again, the series is also said to star Michelle Yeoh as Phillipa Georgiou, a character that was aboard Discovery when it jumped into the future. There may be a lot we still don't know about that project.

As for the potential for Discovery to return from the 32nd century, Kurtzman's comments mimic those of his Discovery co-showrunner Michelle Paradise. "Correct, we're there and we're living there," Paradise said at the TCA press tour, referring to the 32nd century.

Are you excited to see the 32nd century of the Star Trek universe? Let us know in the comments. Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access in 2020.