Star Trek Director Teases Upcoming Crossover: "It's So Good"
There's a Star Trek crossover on the way with a fan-favorite director at the helm, and it sounds like it will be something special. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' second season will include an episode that crosses over with Star Trek: Lower Decks. Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome will guest star, playing their Lower Decks characters, Ensigns Boimler and Mariner, in live-action for the first time. Star Trek: The Next Generation (and Star Trek: Picard) star Jonathan Frakes will direct the episode, making it the 30th episode of Star Trek that he has helmed. Despite all of that experience, the crossover episode represents something new for Frakes as it leans into comedy.
"Oh god, it's so good," Frakes tells SFX Magazine in its latest issue. "I have Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome, who are both amazing. It was such a treat for me because it is a flat-out comedy. Full on. And they're fearless over there, they take some really big swings on Strange New Worlds. They're animated at the beginning and at the end. It's a clever and simple product. It's not really Roger Rabbit because what happens is these guys come over and they're humans and you accept them as soon as they're on the Enterprise. God, the two of them have got great energy, and it freed up the acting company on Strange New Worlds to play more broadly. Anson's a wonderful comedian, very dry, but so's Rebecca. It encouraged Ethan and everyone, there were just a lot of positives that came out of them having the guts to do a full-on comedy, let alone a crossover with an animated show."
When will Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premiere?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already wrapped up filming its second season and is expected to debut in 2023. The Lower Decks crossover offers the opportunity for comedy, but star Anson Mount, who plays Capt. Christopher Pike previously hinted that it won't be all fun and games for the Enterprise crew, building on the moral grayness of the show's first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy."
"Well, you'll have to see where we take that," Mount said while helping to promote Paramount+'s launch in European markets. "Because some of those themes go on in the second season and really asking those exact questions that you were just asking. Is it possible that intelligence can be so completely ripped apart from any sense of communication or idealism? That, is there such a thing as a monster? Is that really possible? So yeah, we go down that exact road."
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' first season is streaming now on Paramount+. Star Trek: Lower Decks' first three seasons are streaming on Paramount+, and its fourth season is expected to debut later this year.