While we still don’t know when the third season of Star Trek: Discovery will be available on CBS All Access, it does appear that a lot’s going on behind-the-scenes with the show. As well as reported plans to extend the series to at least two more seasons, a movie adaptation seems to be in the works as well.
Jonathan Frakes, who’s lent his directing talents to the show, when not reprising his role as Will Riker on Star Trek: Picard, has now shared some more details on what we can expect from the third year of the series and while speaking to ComicBook.com about the plans for season 3, he commented as so:
“Discovery has primarily to do with Sonequa’s character, as you’ll see. At the end of season two, we flash-forwarded I think 930 years. Michael Burnham has found a new core, not to mention a new partner in crime. So again, there’s a big tonal shift on that show, less driven by the pain and guilt of her past and more about the magical reunification of the Discovery crew and wherever she went off to. God knows where she went as the Red Angel. So those two things coming back together is very much the theme, and how grateful everyone is and what’s next. It’s got a lot of action-adventure and not so much pain.”
Frakes’ remarks reinforce the idea that Star Trek: Discovery will be going into different directions with new episodes, most notably by ditching some of the darker elements of the previous seasons. We’re certainly keen to see a more adventurous tone for the series, too, which has sometimes come under fire for departing from the approach taken by earlier Star Trek canon.
This direction aligns with comments made by Discovery actors Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp as well, with Cruz promising that season 3 will be a “healing” experience for viewers. The teaser we had for the show, meanwhile, available above, reinforces the adventurous side of the new season, with special footage showing Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham apparently isolated on an alien world after season 2’s time jump. From the images we had last summer, we also know there’ll be new characters, and a new captain for the USS Discovery.
As well as his ongoing work on Star Trek: Discovery and Picard, Frakes also recently hinted at being involved in two more Trek programs, which we’re currently assuming are the Section 31 and Star Trek: Lower Decks, or the possible Defenders-style crossover series. At any rate, we’re hoping for firmer news soon on when Star Trek: Discovery will return, with coronavirus-related problems appearing to be causing only minor delays.