Star Trek: Discovery season 3 is on the way, and now it finally has a release date: October 2020. The first of the new class of Trek series to debut on streaming service CBS All Access, Discovery has since spawned two spin-offs, Section 31 and Strange New Worlds, such is its apparent popularity as big-budget Trek show.
But when it comes to Star Trek: Discovery season 3 itself, we know this season of the show will take us far into the future of the Star Trek timeline, as teased by the end of season 1, and we’re hoping for a year that’s less dependent on legacy characters than season 2 was.
Here’s what we know about Star Trek: Discovery season 3, including its latest trailer, the cast and the show’s story in this next set of episodes.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3 release date: October 15
Star Trek: Discovery season 3’s release date has been revealed: Thursday, October 15, 2020. Expect episodes to roll out weekly.
The wait is over – we can finally announce the #StarTrekDiscovery Season 3 premiere date! Prepare to jump into an unknown future Thursday, October 15th on @CBSAllAccess 🖖🏻 pic.twitter.com/nrZhqy0rc8July 27, 2020
Star Trek: Discovery season 3 trailer
#StarTrekDiscovery takes fans 930 years into the future at #NYCC #StarTrekNYCC https://t.co/6WRTcSa4d0 pic.twitter.com/c1hnkYmGC5October 5, 2019
There’s only been one official Star Trek: Discovery season 3 trailer so far, which you can watch above. We were hoping to get a new trailer or maybe a release date reveal at the recent Comic-Con@Home panel stream, but we only got a season 2 finale reading and some very minor hints. We’ve embedded the full event panel below anyway.
The first footage was released back in October 2019 at NYCC. Here, we get our first look at the crew of the Discovery exploring the 32nd century. The trailer also reveals a number of new additions to the show. We get a sneak peek of David Ajala (Nightflyers) as new character Cleveland Booker. As reported by Variety at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kurtzman said Booker or ‘Book’ “is going to be a character that breaks the rules a little bit.”
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Ajala is joined by new cast members Maulik Pancholy (Dr Nambue, Chief Medical Officer on the USS Shenzhou), Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson, a top Starfleet official), and Sam Vartholomeos (Connor, a Junior Officer also on the Shenzhou).
Interestingly, we also see a United Federation of Planets Flag with only six stars – is the Federation no more in this time period? Could they be the ‘ghosts’ Book refers to in the trailer?
It also looks like Burnham is spending a long time in her search to find “that domino that tipped over and started all of this.” Early in the trailer we see Burnham change her hair and appearance, suggesting that her adventures may take months, or even years.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3 cast: here’s who’s confirmed
The first trailer confirms the reappearance of a number of returning actors. They are:
- Michael Burnham: Sonequa Martin-Green
- Saru: Doug Jones
- Sylvia Tilly: Mary Wiseman
- Dr Hugh Culber: Wilson Cruz
- Lt. Joann Owosekun: Oyin Oladejo
- Keyla Detmer: Emily Coutts
- Paul Stamets: Anthony Rapp
- Emperor Georgiou: Michelle Yeoh
It might be worth forgetting Captain Pike and Spock, as they languish in the present. “Our bridge crew is so capable,” Kurtzman told The Hollywood Reporter. “We’re going to be using all of them much, much more. Especially because this crew has forfeited their lives for each other.”
Will Riker himself, Jonathan Frakes, is teasing a “big tonal shift” for Star Trek: Discovery season 3 (via Comicbook.com). Some fans have criticized the show for being relatively dark for Trek, but Frakes says that it’s now “got a lot of action-adventure and not so much pain,” as Michael’s priority is reuniting with her Discovery crew, rather than reconciling with her troubled past.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3’s story is set way in the future
So, how far did the Discovery go? Also at SDCC 2019, Kurtzman said: “Obviously we made a pretty radical jump into the future at the end of season two – we’re going almost 1000 years into the future in season three, which is crazy. Further than any Trek series has ever gone before.” 930 years to the as-yet-unexplored 32nd century, to be specific.
Kurtzman also mentioned at the panel that he’s excited by the prospect of getting to “honor canon but shake it up hugely.” For Sonequa Martin-Green, speaking to Syfy Wire, this is an opportunity for the show to boldly go where no one has gone before, properly. Visiting new planets, timelines, and sectors is “the perfect way to define us, because we are new yet familiar.”
Speaking of Burnham, we know that it’ll have an impact on her. Martin-Green said to TrekMovie that “there has been deep deep deep change […] it’s linked to this very future we’re in. Basically, there’s a host of problems that this new future presents, an entirely brand-new tapestry of conflict.”
But who will be the captain? Before we had Lorca, and then Pike, but currently the chair is vacant for season 3. And while Burnham and Saru are hot favourites, at the virtual SDCC 2020 panel, a fan question asked Mary Wiseman whether Tilly was in a place to take up the mantle. “I think so. There are some pretty big speed bumps in Season 2 on that road. But that’s always her pie-in-the-sky, reaching the zenith of leadership within Starfleet.” Wiseman said. While the team lurched into the future is “on the edge of the unknown”, Tilly was the captain of the ISS Discovery in the Mirror Universe, so it could happen.
Can Discovery bounce back?
The first season of Star Trek: Discovery proved a promising start to the prequel series, but it rather lost its way in season 2. Viewers waded through reams of exposition and technical jargon, and it mostly failed to capitalize on the engrossing, galaxy-consuming war of season 1. Hopefully this new Frontier will be the fresh start the series needs in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, without having to lean on familiar characters.
Post production, Sound, VFX and Editorial are all hard at work from our homes. It’s going to take longer and there have been challenges but the results will be worth the wait! #StarTrekDiscoveryMay 2, 2020
By mid-June 2020, though, editor Chad Rubel said they’d finished working on Star Trek: Discovery season 3, which suggests the show is basically complete.
Last day Editing on Star Trek Discovery season 3. What an amazing experience it was. #StarTrekDiscovery #editorJune 18, 2020