There's a new captain in town in this first full trailer for Star Trek: Discovery's fourth season
After years of taking orders despite being the one who's always actually saving the universe, Michael Burnham is finally in charge
After years of serving under a variety of captains—some of whom, we can’t help but flag to Starfleet HR, eventually turned out to be some flavor or another of Evil—Michael Burnham is finally in charge. That’s the big takeaway from the first full trailer for the fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery, which Paramount showed off at New York Comic-Con this morning, and which shows Sonequa Martin-Green finally, permanently, in the big chair at last, after three seasons of having to follow orders while also saving the entire universe several times a year.
And, wouldn’t you know it: Dang ol’ universe needs saving again. That’s the other big reveal of the trailer, which shows that there’s some kind of big, scary space anomaly floating around the various galaxies of the far future, gobbling up planets as it goes. Will Burnham and the rest of the Discovery crew stop it by flying their big fancy spaceship straight into it? Will Starfleet command rue Burnham’s reckless maverick bravery, while quietly admitting that, damn it, she gets results? Will Tig Notaro say a funny little line before pushing some space levers? All signs from the trailer point to “Yep.”
Discovery is, of course, just one of several Star Trek projects currently running or in development at the various Viacom/Paramount brands, mostly spurred on by the show’s own streaming success. The second season of Picard—featuring the return of John de Lancie as Q—is scheduled to arrive in February of 2022, while animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks is currently running on Paramount+, and is set to wrap up its second season next week. Nickelodeon’s also gotten into the mix, with Star Trek: Prodigy, starring Kate Mulgrew and John Noble, set to land on the kids’ network on October 28. (Oh, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the one centered on Anson Mount’s character of Christopher Pike. Lot of Trek in the hopper.)
The fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery, meanwhile, arrives on Paramount+ on Thursday, November 18.