Star Trek: Section 31 Is Being Delayed And It’s Michelle Yeoh’s Fault?
Here's what's happening with Michelle Yeoh and Star Trek: Section 31.
If you have been waiting to see Michelle Yeoh’s character, Emperor Philipa Georgiou, from Star Trek: Discovery, get her own show with a spin-off for Section 31, you will have to wait longer than expected. It is partially due to scheduling with a growing roster of shows for the franchise on Paramount+ and the actress’ schedule, but that’s not the crux of the issue.
The franchise is expanding rapidly with new shows like Picard, Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy. The Section 31 spin-off was getting its setup through Discovery and was set to start production after the third season of the series. While it is not hitting that mark, co-creator Alex Kurtzman, who has worked on a plethora of other Star Trek shows and movies, said that things are moving forward. A few scripts are under their belt, making him “very optimistic” about the current progress, despite COVID-19 slowing things down. Yes, the pandemic is largely to blame for the delays on this series, as it is for many others. However, it’s still happening, and Michelle Yeoh is reportedly still on board.
It seems like everything drawn on the blueprints for Star Trek on the streaming platform is on Alex Kurtzman’s shoulders. Writer and producer Akiva Goldsman spoke to The Hollywood Reporter back in April about Michelle Yeoh’s spin-off. When asked about what is going on with the show, Goldsman left all credit to Kurtzman as he “always has a plan.” It was his idea to bring Patrick Stewart for Picard, and not just for one scene, but to commit to him having a significant part reprising his iconic role.
Scheduling might also be an issue; Michelle Yeoh has been busy with plenty of upcoming projects. She recently starred in Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake with Karen Gillian (Guardians of the Galaxy), Lena Heady (Game of Thrones), Carla Gugino (Gerald’s Game), and Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man). She is also entering another huge universe outside of Star Trek with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on September 3. That will mark her second time with Marvel as she was a different character in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
That only accounts for this year as Michelle Yeoh has a hefty list of projects that are scheduled for the coming years. She will star in the four Avatar sequels, which continue to feel like a distant dream since the original released in 2009. Fans of the Netflix fantasy series The Witcher will see the actress in the prequel, The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Michelle Yeoh made her first appearance in Star Trek: Discovery in the episode The Vulcan Hello as Captain Philippa Georgiou. As the story has progressed, she went from a captain to an Emperor.
Discovery is set a decade before the original series. Kurtzman and Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) co-created it together as it was distributed on CBS All Access, which eventually got rebranded to Paramount+. With Michelle Yeoh, the series also stars Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead), Doug Jones (The Shape of Water), Mary Wiseman (Longmire), and Anthony Rapp (Rent).
With the writing process in its early developments, fans will have to be patient to see Michelle Yeoh lead her own Star Trek series. Regardless, it will be on Paramount+ like all of the other shows, where people can watch everything on there to gear up for the spin-off.
