SDCC 2019: All the Star Trek: Discovery updates you need to know

SDCC 2019 had a lot of Star Trek news. Here we discuss everything you need to know about Star Trek: Discovery season three.

San Diego Comic Con 2019 dropped a bunch of Star Trek news for fans. From the new Star Trek: Picard trailer, which introduced a host of fan-favorite characters returning to the franchise, stills from Star Trek: Lower Decks to updates about Star Trek: Discovery season three, there is plenty for fans to get excited about.

At the end of the previous season of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew of the starship had time-warped into the future in an effort to protect the universe from the evil machinations of Control. The remaining crewmates and families then vowed never to speak of them again and Discovery was erased from Starfleet records. So, what does the third season of the show have in store for fans?

Set in the Future

ÒSuch Sweet Sorrow, Part 2Ó — Ep#214 — Pictured: Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: John Medland/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Star Trek: Discovery creator, Alex Kurtzman, was at SDCC 2019 to reveal that the show “will take place 1,000 years in the future” and that the crew is set to face major problems. This is the furthest possible timeline that Star Trek has explored, so fans can expect the unexpected. How much will the universe have changed in a millennium?

Michael Burnham, who led the crew to the future, will be separated from the rest, and the characters are unlikely to be in the same place at the same time. Burnham’s wormhole was supposed to return her to Terralysium in the future so that Burnham could reunite with her mother, but from the sounds of it, that won’t be happening any time soon. How will Burnham cope with her circumstances, especially the responsibility of guiding all her colleagues and friends to a new timeline? We will find out in season three. Kurtzman also mentioned that a new captain for the ship will be named during the season. Whoever it is, hopefully, they have a longer tenure than the rest of the captains so far on the show.

New Characters

Supergirl — “Call to Action” — Image Number: SPG406b_0197b.jpg — Pictured: David Ajala as Manchester Black — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Now that USS Discovery has been thrust into the future, it’s to be expected that the crew will meet new characters. The big announcement at SDCC was that David Ajala will be joining the cast as Cleveland Booker, aka Book. Ajala most recently appeared as the anti-hero Manchester Black on Supergirl, and he will undoubtedly bring the same level of nuance and charisma to Star Trek: Discovery.

While we know little else about Book, though he has been described as:

"“Smart and capable,” Book “has a natural charisma and devil-may-care attitude that tends to get him into trouble as often as it gets him out.”"

Ajala was a scene-stealing force to be reckoned with on Supergirl, and it’s no wonder that so many people are excited for him to join the Trek universe. However, instead of adding a brand new character to the future timeline, this was perhaps the perfect opportunity for the creators to re-introduce Aldis Hodge’s character from Star Trek: Short Treks episode ‘Calypso’. Hodge’s character remains a bit of a mystery, having been introduced in a timeline where Discovery was already abandoned. All the other Short Treks characters have been absorbed into the main storyline, so the possibility is there for Hodge to join them someday.

More Star Trek: Short Treks

ÒSuch Sweet Sorrow, Part 2Ó — Ep#214 — Pictured: Anson Mount as Captain Pike of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Photo Cr: Russ Martin/CBS ©2018 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Speaking of Short Treks, the mini online spin-off series, is set to return for a second season! Deadline reports that at the SDCC Star Trek panel, it was revealed that Enterprise Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) will all feature in episodes for the show.

The second season of Short Treks will comprise six episodes – two animated shorts, three about Enterprise and one Picard teaser that will fill viewers in on the interim years since we last met the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew.

The episodes will debut this fall, and the titles are:

• “Ask Not”
• “Q&A”
• “The Trouble With Edward”
• “The Girl Who Made The Stars”
• “Ephaim And Dot”
• “Children Of Mars”

The Enterprise crew became immediate fan favorites when they appeared on Star Trek: Discovery and many will be overjoyed to see them return again, even if it’s for 15-minute episodes. If the episodes are a big enough hit, maybe CBS will be finally convinced to give Trekkies a Pike and Enterprise show.

Though no release date was announced for Star Trek: Discovery season three, this news has us pumped for its eventual arrival.