Star Trek Head Alex Kurtzman Offers an Update on the Franchise’s Future

What’s going on with the Star Trek franchise? Star Trek Universe head Alex Kurtzman is one again addressing that question, and has a pretty decisive and clear answer for fans! 

Kurtzman appeared on Star Trek’s official talk show The Ready Room, and host Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation) asked Kurtzman how he’s looking at the next steps in the Star Trek Universe now that’s bigger than its ever been. Star Trek: Picard might have ended, and Star Trek: Discovery is currently streaming its final season on Paramount+; however, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a breakout hit for the franchise; Star Trek: Lower Decks has successfully opened up an adult animation lane for the franchise; Star Trek: Prodigy has made kid-friendly Star Trek a thing; Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will continue where Discovery leaves off (a rebooted Starfleet operating in the 32nd Century), and the Star Trek TV Universe will be getting its first feature-film event with Section 31, which will follow Disovery’s breakout anti-hero character Empress Georgiou (Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh). 

All of that aforementioned content falls under Alex Kurtzman’s purview – so how much more expansion could he have in mind at the moment? Kurtzman gave an extensive answer to that question, letting fans know that there’s plenty of Star Trek content right now, and any new installments of the franchise will have to pass an important bar of consideration before getting made. 

“I spent a lot of time that first season [of Discovery] really kind of meditating on, you know, this incredible universe that has been around for so long and how much more can be done with it, how many amazing stories there are to tell. There’s really an infinite number of stories to tell. I only want to make another Star Trek show if there’s something to say. I don’t wanna do it just to do more. I think that would be a huge disservice to Star Trek; it would be a huge disservice to the fans, and I think the fans would feel it instantaneously. They would know this is not authentic. Because if there’s one thing that Trek fans know, it’s authenticity. 

So for me, it’s really just about figuring out a way to make sure that we take our time, we’re deliberate, we’re thoughtful, and we deliver on the promise of something different every time.” 

Kurtzman’s answer does leave some questions hanging in the air. Paramount’s new Star Trek Origins theatrical movie is a whole separate topic, while Star Trek: Picard (like Discovery)