Star Trek is going through a transitional moment, as the franchise’s parent company, Paramount, attempts a merger with Warner Bros., which holds one of the oldest and biggest content libraries of any studio. Unfortunately for Star Trek, the sprawling universe of streaming shows that were launched in the early 2020s has all but vanished from the scene. Only two Star Trek shows (Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy) are left airing new episodes on Paramount+, and both are already scheduled for cancellation. And, as of writing this, no new shows are being developed to replace them.
For some fans, the bigger win is the fact that Star Trek movies are back in the works. However, the Star Trek streaming universe has a dedicated cult following, and a lot of those fans had invested in the interconnected line of shows, hoping for at least a couple of big payouts in the form of spinoff shows. Now, it’s looking like one of those shows isn’t going to happen.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a prequel to the original Star Trek TV series, which was spun off from the TV show Star Trek: Discovery. Strange New Worlds follows the USS Enterprise before James T. Kirk took the captain’s chair. The show centers on Kirk’s predecessor and mentor, Captain Pike (Anson Mount), and how he carried out Starfleet’s mission despite a prophecy that doing so would doom him to a terrible fate. Regardless, Pike instilled the hopeful ideals of Starfleet into a generation of officers, including James Kirk.
It had been rumored that following Strange New Worlds, Kirk and the relevant characters from that series would naturally segue into a sequel series, that explores the first year of transition from Pike’s time as captain of the Enterprise to Kirk’s, and how the latter evolved into a true captain and formed the tight bonds with his crew that he had by the time Star Trek: TOS begins. Casting announcements in December of 2025 made it seem like the “Year One” project was in development, but now we’re hearing something different.
A new social media post by Trek Central claims that the primary sets for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy are already being taken down by crew members. That only happens when a studio is certain that those set pieces won’t need to be used again in any other project. The sets for Strange New World are particularly important because they represent an era of the USS Enterprise that would have been reused in the “Year One” series. Ergo, if that set is being taken down, then, as Trek Central speculates, “‘Year One’ looks unlikely at this point 
”.
The other series that fans were hoping for was Star Trek: Legacy, a spinoff series that got a backdoor launch during Star Trek: Picard Season 3. That show would’ve focused on carryover characters from Picard who take command of the latest version of the USS Enterprise, with the children of several Star Trek: The Next Generation characters all serving as officers. Legacy and Year One seemed like two of the safest bets Star Trek was making in nearly a decade; so a lot of fans are understandably upset that both look dead in the water, now.
You can stream Star Trek TV shows and movies on Paramount+. Discuss the future of the franchise with us on the ComicBook Forum!
