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Star Trek movie reboot is making a drastic setting change
The writers of Paramount Skydance’s next Star Trek film have said the reboot will be set further into the future than any previous instalment. They also confirmed that the story will not feature familiar franchise characters, signalling a major break from films that either brought back established casts or recast iconic roles.
Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, whose previous work includes Spider-Man: Homecoming and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, said the script remains in progress during a San Diego Comic-Con panel. Depending on whether the film counts Discovery and Starfleet Academy, Star Trek’s furthest future setting has been either the 32nd or 24th century; more details may follow at the franchise’s Hall H panel.
In short
- The new Star Trek film will move further into the future.
- No familiar franchise characters are expected to appear.
- The script is still being developed.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
These creative decisions liberate the storytellers to explore bold new narratives within the established Star Trek universe without the constraints of canonical baggage or audience preconceptions about beloved characters. By setting the story in an unexplored future era with entirely original characters, the writers can build something genuinely innovative that respects the franchise's foundational mythology whilst offering fresh entry points for new audiences. The franchise benefits from evolution rather than repetition, and Star Trek's core concepts—exploration, diverse perspectives, philosophical inquiry—transcend any single cast.
The case against
Star Trek's enduring cultural impact derives fundamentally from its iconic characters and the ideals they embody; removing them entirely risks severing the emotional threads that bind audiences to the franchise. A completely unfamiliar setting with no recognisable anchors may alienate the devoted fanbase that sustains Star Trek whilst failing to attract new audiences who lack franchise context to appreciate entirely original characters. Previous successful reboots balanced the new with the familiar, understanding that audiences invest in established narratives; this wholesale reinvention carries substantial financial risk when recent Star Trek films have struggled commercially.
Explained simply
Star Trek is a long-running science-fiction franchise that began with a television series in the 1960s and has since produced multiple films. The stories typically follow spaceship crews exploring worlds set in future time periods.
Previous Star Trek films have generally featured either the original cast from the television series or new actors playing familiar characters from the franchise. This approach has allowed audiences to connect with new stories through characters they already knew.
Paramount Skydance's forthcoming film will take a different approach, with writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley developing an entirely new story set further into the future than any previous Star Trek film. Rather than featuring established characters, the film will introduce new ones, representing a shift in how the studio is approaching the franchise.