Alex Kurtzman Talks About Star Trek’s Future And Fans Are Getting Worried
Alex Kurtzman says there's more Star Trek on the way, but some fans simply don't believe him.
In the wake of the well-deserved success of Star Trek: Picard‘s third season, Trek head honcho Alex Kurtzman told SFX magazine there are new announcements on the way for upcoming projects. Somehow, those words have fans like Redshirts Always Die‘s Chad Porto seemingly feeling less confident about the franchise’s future than they were beforehand. The writer points to both Picard and Star Trek: Discovery ending, as well as the financial challenges facing Paramount+, in a flimsy argument for fans to dismiss Kurtzman’s words.
The quote the Star Trek fan takes issue with is when Alex Kurtzman tells the magazine:
“[W]e have plans for new things… there’s quite a few plans, and you’ll hear about them soon. We will continue to expand the Star Trek universe, absolutely.”
-Alex Kurtzman
Porto argues that these vague words about Star Trek’s future are empty ones from Alex Kurtzman, and to support his argument, the writer rolls out some half-truths and very carefully worded claims that are technically accurate, but that, in the context of the franchise history, seem meaningless.
For example, Porto suggests one reason we should seem skeptical about the notion of new projects is that “[t]here have not been any new Trek shows put into production in years.” It’s a ridiculous statement that is only just barely true if by “years” he means “two years.” Because it was in 2021 when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds began filming while it didn’t premiere until 2022.
Porto also points to Paramount+ “canceling two Star Trek shows” as a reason to doubt Alex Kurtzman. While calling the recent news about Discovery a cancellation seems fair (even though it will get one more season before it shutters), it seems more than a little disingenuous to characterize the conclusion of Picard as a cancellation.
Picard‘s star, Patrick Stewart, is 82 years old. That makes him only ten years younger than William Shatner and, for anyone keeping score, makes him over two decades older now than Shatner was when he filmed the final original series feature, Star Trek VI. Stewart and everyone else involved in Picard went into the project knowing it could’ve been the most popular series streaming and it would still have the potential only for a finite run.
While Porto may be right that there are reasons to be skeptical of Alex Kurtzman’s assurances, there are also plenty of reasons to feel otherwise. Season 2 of Strange New Worlds is expected to arrive soon, and Season 3 has already begun filming. Likewise, Season 4 of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy are also expected in 2023.
Next Wednesday, April 5, is what Star Trek celebrates as First Contact Day — the day the fictional Vulcans first make contact with Earth’s humans, as was seen in 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact. It seems more than likely that at least some of the Star Trek announcements Alex Kurtzman was referring to will happen then. If next week comes and goes without any such news, then maybe it will be time to show this kind of skepticism toward Kurtzman, but until then, it seems premature.
