Star Trek Universe On Paramount+ Won’t Be Going the Marvel Route

Star Trek’s expanding universe on Paramount+ won’t be following the same playbook as Marvel Studios. Star Trek Universe overall executive producer Alex Kurtzman and Paramount+ programming chief Julie McNamara make that pretty clear in a new interview. Star Trek was a central focus of ViacomCBS’ Investors presentation for the Paramount+ streaming service, and in the corresponding feature by Variety, Kurtzman and McNamara explained in more detail why the Star Trek Universe’s rapid expansion doesn’t mean that they’re planning for a franchise as sprawling and interwoven as the Marvel Cinematic Universe while there will be some connective tissue, for Star Trek individuality will be key:

“We’re aiming to have our shows feel unique and different from each other,” Alex Kurtzman explains, “We want to give everybody a reason to watch each show.”

When the comparison of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets brought up, Kurtzman says that big franchise universe storylines are “fun, but our goal is not to make it so insular that if you haven’t seen the show you’re lost when you watch another show,” he explains.

The plan for Star Trek seems to be sticking with a five-show universe format, hitting a diverse range of marks. Right now we have:

1. Star Trek: Discovery
2. Star Trek: Picard
3. Star Trek: Lower Decks
4. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Upcoming)
5. Star Trek: Prodigy (Upcoming)

Discovery is the new flagship series; Picard offers a darker, more adult look at the franchise; Strange New Worlds is going to bring the lighter, adventurous nostalgia of the Original Series; Lower Decks is snagging a younger teen/young adult demo with animated comedy; and Prodigy is going to be the first Star Trek kids series. In short: with just five series, there’s some kind of Star Trek for everybody – and not too much for everybody.

However, fans of the current Star Trek Universe have been calling for some new series to be added to the lineup. Discovery has inspired one spinoff (Strange New Worlds) but fans also want the rumored Section 31 series (about Starfleet’s black ops unit), starring Michelle Yeoh’s breakout anti-hero, Philippa Georgiou. McNamara acknowledges that will new series will need to be explored, it will be a gradual progression and/or rotation of content, with fans getting a “a new ‘Trek’ a quarter” on Paramount+:

“We’re very careful about curating the pacing — the number of shows at any given time — and what those shows are, so that we make sure that it’s always exciting when there’s a new track show coming out,”

Star Trek will be streaming its many series and films on Paramount+.