Strange New Worlds Season 2 Topic

The Star Trek franchise has some of the most die-hard fans in all of fandom. Now, it seems like fans of the Enterprise and its crew have something to drool over as they await the drop of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ upcoming season on June 15. According to a post from the blog TrekCore, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 has released a first look at some of its stars in their iconic uniforms.

The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 poster releases coincided with First Contact Day, which is a celebration held annually to celebrate the Star Trek franchise. It was first developed by co-screenwriter and producer Ronald D. Moore, who co-wrote the film Star Trek: First Contact in 1996. The film saw the Enterprise and its crew on a mission through time to stop the Borg from taking over a past version of the Earth and showcased the first-ever historic meeting between humans and Vulcans.

The posters are extremely vibrant, with bold colors highlighting the profiles of Strange New World Season 2’s characters. The poster colors accentuate the color of each character’s uniform (and also indicate their Starfleet classification). Captain Pike (Anson Mount) sports perfectly quaffed hair and mysterious eyes peer off into the distance, while Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) is equal parts fierce and curious.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 is created by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet. The 11th Star Trek series is a spinoff series of 2017’s Star Trek: Discovery. The series follows the adventures of Captain Pike and his crew aboard the Enterprise as they explore the galaxy, encounter new worlds, and navigate new threats. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 takes place 10 years before Star Trek: The Original Series, and contains a multitude of easter eggs for fans of the original series. Pike, Spock, and Number One are all characters from the original series and played by Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn, respectively, originally debuting the recast during the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. In addition, it features younger versions of Uhura, Dr. M’Benga, and nurse Christine Chapel played by Celia Rose Gooding, Babs Olusanmokun, and Jess Bush, respectively.

One iconic character that will be appearing more in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 is James T. Kirk, who many fans know as the Captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series. Season one introduced Kirk alongside an alternate timeline and ended on a pretty epic cliffhanger, leaving quite a few questions leading into the upcoming season.

Star Trek: The Original Series is one of the most iconic science fiction television series of all time, if not the most iconic. It made legends out of actors like William Shatner,  George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Nichelle Nichols, and so many others who all had roles in some of the franchises’ most beloved installations. Now Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 has the daunting task of continuing that legacy. 

The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds aired to critical claim, with critics and fans praising its merging of the best elements of classic and contemporary Star Trek. With Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 set to premiere on June 15, Paramount+ has already given the green light to production for Season 3, so the series can point all thrusters forward to continue the journey and boldly go where no other Star Trek series has gone before.

One of the first big stories broken by GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT was an exclusive report revealing that a new Star Trek show starring Captain Christopher Pike was in production at Paramount. That show would go on to be called Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and now it’s a massive success leading into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.

Strange New Worlds Had A 98% Fresh Rating Going In To Season 2

The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was a huge success. The debut episode immediately became the most-watched Star Trek series Paramount had ever debuted. It blew Star Trek: Discovery, and the also-ran series Picard which came after, out of the water.

The show did even better with critics, giving it the best scores ever given to a new Star Trek show. Strange New Worlds was initially only one review shy of recording a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. That one negative review came from Pat Brown of Slant Magazine, a man who likes to use words like “eponymous” when simpler words will do.

Of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Pat Brown had this to say…

“…those whose attributes bespeak a space-age American mentality will be tweaked to be acceptable to the Trekkie of the 21st century.”

The above quote embodies the concerns fans had with Brown’s review, a review which some labeled as being more politically motivated than Star Trek motivated.

Brow aside, the critical consensus on the first season of Strange New Worlds is best reflected by the show’s Rotten Tomatoes score sitting at 98%. And the fans have been along for the ride as well. The Audience Score is sitting at 81%.

The latter is an important number in this franchise because the fans can be as opinionated as they come with these new series, especially ones that affect the Original Series timeline. Consider Star Trek: Discovery which has played well with critics, nailing 86% on Rotten Tomatoes for its first four seasons. But the 36% Audience Score tells a very (very) different story. 

And the same can be said for Star Trek: Picard which has suffered some of the same critical and audience disconnect. That show’s first two seasons are averaging 86% on Rotten Tomatoes as well. For this one, in line with Discovery, the Audience Score is sitting at 41%.

It’s been something of the theme with these Kurtzman/ Goldsman productions. But Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is winning with both groups because it’s returning to some of what worked with the Original Series, playing a more episodic fashion and keeping things a bit lighter as well. Turns out, this is the vibe Star Trek fans want these days.