Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently in the middle of its third season, and although it has already been renewed for two more seasons after that, many fans are preoccupied with what may come next. The series is set in the years immediately preceding Star Trek: The Original Series, following the USS Enterprise under its previous captain, Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Strange New Worlds is now expected to continue right up to the point where Pike hands command over to James Kirk (Paul Wesley), but that would still leave a small gap, as The Original Series starts off with Kirk's five-year exploratory mission already underway. Fans are hoping the story will continue in Star Trek: Year One, and Spock and Kirk are among them.
"I think it would be really wonderful," said Ethan Peck -- who plays Spock -- in a new interview with TV Insider. "I will stay playing this character for as long as I'm invited, for the most part, because I just think it's such an amazing thing to be a part of. The messaging is so incredible, and this character has so much integrity. He's such a noble person, so I love portraying him."
"It's not up to me, but I have expressed my desire, probably all too often, to the showrunners and whomever else asks," added Wesley. "I would love nothing more than to do a Kirk series along with our beloved characters in TOS and introduce the characters that we have yet to introduce in TOS, Chekov and Sulu, and, I mean, you name it. And I think it would be fantastic."
"Speaking as a little kid who wants to play in a series," he went on, "I think there's so much room to explore, and I think you can go into the TOS sort of time. You can explore time between episodes, you can explore time before the first episode. There's just so much story to be mined here, and I would love nothing more than to play in that series."
Among fans, the desire to see the Strange New Worlds cast grow into their Original Series forms and fill the small gap in the story is understandable, but of course, it all comes down to dollars and cents for the studios. Thankfully, the timing seems to be great for this project right now. Paramount just got approval for its merger with Skydance, and at a press conference this month, the company's new executive team promised more investment in original material going forward. They also specifically promised renewed focus on the potential of the Star Trek franchise, specifically.
"Star Trek is absolutely a priority, and it's a priority across the company," said Dana Goldberg, who is now co-chair of Paramount Pictures and chair of Paramount Television. "We're not going to be siloed off so that there's a conversation happening about television and another conversation [about film plans]."
Hopefully, the good times continue to roll for the Star Trek franchise until the decision needs to be made. Strange New Worlds Season 3 continues to air on Thursdays on Paramount+, with three more episodes to go. Season 4 is expected sometime in 2026, and the final season won't be far behind. For now, Star Trek: Year One is still just a promising idea.