Star Trek: Section 31 Gives Michelle Yeoh Her Due
Michelle Yeoh has come a long way since she had her breakout to Western audiences in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon back in 2000. She shot back into public attention in a big way thanks to 2022’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, but she had already been taking on a lot of recent major roles even before the Oscar winning movie. And now she is set to reprise one of them, as she will be starring in the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 as Emperor Philippa Georgiou.
Star Trek: Section 31 is scheduled to release on Paramount+ in 2025.
Michelle Yeoh last played Emperor Philippa Georgiou as a recurring character for Star Trek: Discovery from 2017 until 2020. But she will be reprising the part in Star Trek: Section 31, a made for TV movie coming to Paramount+. The first teaser trailer for the film was released this week, revealing that the movie is due to stream sometime in 2025.
Fans are already excited about Michelle Yeoh continuing to be embraced for major parts like Star Trek: Section 31. Not only because of her talent as an actress, but also because filmmakers are infamously not often as welcoming of giving parts to female actors past a certain age, and Yeoh is about to turn 62.
There is also the reality that East Asian actors often do not receive as many prominent roles in Western projects, so for Yeoh to be breaking both these barriers is inspiring to many.
Michelle Yeoh’s Emperor Philippa Georgiou is from the infamous Mirror Universe, where she was the brutal ruler of the Terran Empire.
The movie will focus on the eponymous clandestine group—a secret defense organization in the universe of Star Trek. Preferring to deal with threats covertly, they are a powerful group that has occasionally shown up in the franchise ever since their introduction in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
In the teaser trailer for Star Trek: Section 31, the plot looks like it will be heavy on action and political machination. It seems to have a bit more of an edge to the story than what a lot of Star Trek plots are known for focusing on.
We see glimpses of scenes of Emperor Philippa Georgiou having dealings in seedy nightclubs and things turning violent.
Michelle Yeoh is arguably having the strongest phase of her career. Beyond Star Trek: Section 31, in recent years she has also appeared in Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and will star in the upcoming Wicked.
Michelle Yeoh has been part of the Trek universe ever since the series premiere of Star Trek: Discovery.
Next year she is set to be a part of Avatar 3, a franchise which has proven to be one of most financially successful movie series of all time.
Star Trek: Section 31 had originally been planned as a new TV series before it was turned into a film event instead. While fans might be a bit sad that they only get a couple hours to enjoy Michelle Yeoh for this story, a movie does have the advantage of the budget getting to shine throughout the entire story instead of varying by episodes.
The footage that was shown so far has elaborate sets, costumes, and effects that make this look like a Star Trek project that is being taken seriously.
There will undoubtedly be a more in-depth trailer down the road for Star Trek: Section 31 that will also reveal its release date. But the teaser so far is doing its job in getting fans talking.
