CBS’s Star Trek Discovery has been a bold new reimagining of the Trek universe, and with the recent conclusion of Season 3, many fans have been left wondering when will there be a fourth?
[Warning: Spoilers for Star Trek Discovery ahead]
The third season ended rather limply compared to the first two, but overall it’s been a fantastic series. And the decision to jump the crew forward to the 32nd century has also allowed the writers to bring in lots of concepts that were already familiar to fans.
We saw familiar planets and alien species and what happened to them in the future. And of course, there was a mortal threat to the Federation; if there wasn’t, what would be the point in watching?
Anyway, what’s happening with the fourth season?
Will there be a Season 4 of Star Trek Discovery?
Of course, there will be a Season 4. Not only have they announced the fourth season, but they’ve apparently already started on production.
The new season was officially announced on October 16, 2020, in a video featuring lead stars Sonequa Martin-Green and Doug Jones, as well as executive producers and co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise. They also said that production was set to start on November 2, 2020.
However, planning and active development for the fourth season reportedly began way back in January 2020 when the third season was still in development.
When we consider the number of loose ends left dangling at the end of season 3, it actually makes sense that they decided early on to spread their storylines over numerous seasons. It certainly makes life easier for screenwriters when they’re confident of getting another season.
There were also reports in March that CBS All Access had even commissioned a fifth series to be produced back to back with the fourth. However, this plan is thought to have been shelved following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and last month, only Season 4 was confirmed.
When will Star Trek Discovery Season 4 premiere?
There’s been no release date announced as yet, and it’s quite tricky to predict when exactly it will be released as all the series have taken differing lengths of time to get from the start of production to the finished article.
CBS had given us an expected end of production date of June 2021, but it remains to be seen if they can keep to that schedule, particularly if there are any more complications surrounding the outbreak of global pandemics.
It’s highly likely that we won’t see the crew of the USS Discovery (NCC-1031) until 2022. But it’s possible CBS will do all they can to get it out by Christmas 2021.
Another factor in the equation is that CBS All ACCESS is intending to rebrand its streaming service as Paramount+ quite soon, and it’s very likely that they will want to showcase one of their flagship shows, i.e., Star Trek, when they do their fancy rebranding.
What is likely to happen in Star Trek Discovery Season 4?
Unlike the first two seasons, the third didn’t end with a cliffhanger, but there are still plenty of loose ends.
The crew is still in the future in the 32nd century or thereabouts, and they’re still expected to carry out their mission of delivering Dilithium throughout the galaxy. Once they have done this and restored warp power to one and all, then we can expect the resurrection of the United Federation of Planets.
However, the Emerald Chain could remain a problematic threat even though they are leaderless after the death of Osyraa.
Michael Burnham is now the Captain, about time really, but we can expect the return of Saru at some point, and he might demand the big chair back.
Or perhaps someone else will end up in the top spot, showrunner Michelle Paradise, has said a feature of this series was always to have different captains. So far, in charge of the Discovery, we’ve had Lorca, Admiral Cornwell, Emperor Georgiou, Captain Pike, Saru, and Tilly.
In terms of casting for season 4, we can expect all the big names to return, Sonequa Martin-Green as Captain Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Saru, Mary Wiseman as Ensign Tilly, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets, and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, Bu del Barrio as Adira, and Ian Alexander as Gray Tal.
In other Star Trek related news, have you ever wondered what happened to Quentin Tarantino’s plans for a Star Trek movie? Well, Monsters and Critics tried to find out.
At the end of 2019, the original captain of the Enterprise, William Shatner, filed for divorce from his wife of 18 years, Elizabeth Shatner.
Star Trek Discovery season 3 is currently streaming on CBS ALL ACCESS.