Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunners Comment on More Original Series Characters Appearing

More Star Trek: The Original Series characters may inevitably appear in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Spock, Uhura, and Nurse Chapel are all part of Strange New Worlds' regular cast, and James T. Kirk has been appearing on a recurring basis throughout the show's second season. Mr. Scott made his Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debut in the show's second season finale, which naturally will lead Star Trek fans to wonder how long it will be until we see the remaining members of the iconic Enterprise bridge crew in the Paramount+ series. Speaking to Variety, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunners Akiva Goldman and Henry Alonso Myers admit that, on a long enough timeline, such introductions become unavoidable.

"The longer we stay on the air — do we still say that? — the longer we stream, the longer we do whatever it is we do to let people watch us, the more likely it becomes," Goldsman said. "Given our druthers — because Henry and I are both greedy and gluttons for punishment — we'd go right into the TOS era and see what happens. So, if we're around long enough, sure."

Myers added, "The one thing I will say is — I try to respect everyone's approach to this. But we're not telling the story of who they are [in the future], we're telling the story of who they are now. They don't know who they're going to be. That is the unique opportunity of our show that allows us to tell these stories in ways that they haven't been told before. That's the fun of it for us. If we meet other people, they will surprise you. That's all I'll say.

These comments echo what the showrunners told ComicBook.com about the first meeting of Kirk and Spock earlier this season. At the time, Goldsman said, "Henry is fond of saying, and I really agree, that the characters don't know that their encounters are full of portent -- because I know which moment you're talking about -- and so in fact, for them, it was, 'Hey, hey,' right? They don't know, and you want to keep your audience and your characters together. That's your most successful narrative engine unless you're on purpose putting them at a distance. And we like to do that. We like to have the experience of the characters and the experience of the audience be similar. So we don't want to be winking at the audience at the expense of the character's experience of the moment."

What other Star Trek: The Original Series characters could appear on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

With Uhura, Spock, Chapel, Kirk, and Scotty already accounted for, there aren't that many Original Series regulars left to appear on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Hikaru Sulu, played by George Takei originally, is one of the most prominent missing pieces of the bridge crew. He will eventually become the Enterprise's helmsman, which may make some fans nervous about Lt. Erica Ortegas' fate after Strange New Worlds Season 2's cliffhanger ending.

Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, originally played by DeForest Kelley, is another other major missing Original Series character, but his debut may be complicated by another character preceding him as the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer in Star Trek canon. Dr. Mark Piper, played by Paul Fix, appeared in the second Star Trek pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," alongside Kirk, Spock, and most of the rest of the crew (except for Uhura, who is absent from the episode, presenting another potentially awkward transition from the Strange New Worlds era to The Original Series era). However, Goldsman, Myers, and their writing staff have found ways to circumvent established canon before, meaning anything is possible.

There's also Pavel Chekov, the Enterprise navigator originally played by Walter Koenig. Chekov doesn't appear until Star Trek's second season, so it's easy to delay or avoid having him appear on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Then again, learning that he was on the Enterprise prior to that, simply not featured in The Original Series plots, would help how Chekov and Khan Noonien Singh seem to recognize each other from the Season 1 episode "Space Seed" in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,

Lastly, there's Yeoman Janice Rand, who only appeared in the first season of The Original Series, played by Grace Lee Whitney. After The Original Series stopped featuring Rand, the concept of Starfleet yeomen more or less vanished, but Strange New Worlds has mentioned that they exist on the Enterprise, meaning Rand could easily appear on the show.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Cast

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley, and Ethan Peck as Spock, reprising the roles they first played in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2. The series also stars Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas, and Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 brings back special guest star Paul Wesley as James Kirk and adds Carol Kane in the recurring role of Pelia. In addition to the season's musical episode, "Subspace Rhapsody," Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 also featured a crossover episode with Star Trek: Lower Decks, guest starring Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome.

CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are co-showrunners. Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, Henry Alonso Myers, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers.

How to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 debuts new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the United States, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The second season will stream on Paramount+ in South Korea, with a premiere date still to be announced.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming now. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is also available as home media on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4k UHD, and Season 2 will soon also be available on home media.