Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Will Boldly Go This June, Season 3 Confirmed

Get ready to power up the warp drives and engage, because season 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is coming to Paramount+ this summer. Just in time for shore leave, the new season will premiere on June 15, 2023 exclusively on the streaming service, with new episodes each week. 

This is great news for fans of the newest live-action "Star Trek" series, which follows the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-A , helmed by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). The series takes place before the events of the original 1960s series, and several younger versions of the original characters appear, including Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Doctor M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), and Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush). We've also seen some brand-new crew members, like helmsman Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and security officer La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). The series feels like a real throwback despite its high-end, streaming-budget gloss, with each episode's story ending by the time the credits roll, which rules. 

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" was received well by critics and fans alike, so it's not a huge surprise that season 2 is already headed our way and that season 3 has been officially confirmed. However, the series had the best-rated first season of any series in the "Star Trek" franchise, so the team behind "Strange New Worlds" really have their work cut out for them. 

A big part of what makes "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" feel like such a breath of fresh air compared to the other streaming "Star Trek" shows like "Picard" and "Discovery" is the throwback, episodic structure. There are overarching storylines that run through the first season, like Captain Pike's harrowing knowledge that he only has about a decade to live, or Doctor M'Benga's daughter struggling with a rare and incurable disease, but they are woven through the episodic stories in a way that makes each episode fully satisfying on its own. That means they can do some old-school style episodes, like a body-swap shore leave episode, an allegory-heavy horror episode, and even an episode where the crew turn into fantasy characters from a children's book. That flexibility makes "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" really, really fun. Even when an episode ends in a cliffhanger, like the season 1 finale, it feels satisfying instead of like a bid to force fans to tune in each week. 

Season 1 of "Strange New Worlds" ended with Pike realizing that trying to change the future he's seen can only end in more misery, forcing him to accept his fate. His number one, Una, must also face her fate when she's arrested for hiding her Ilyrian heritage from Starfleet. Pike swears to help Una, of course, and that will likely play a major role in the upcoming second season. Thankfully, things won't be entirely serious in season 2, because we're getting a crossover with "Star Trek: Lower Decks."

Season 2 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" will continue to explore La'an's mysterious heritage, Pike's tragic future, and more serious stuff, but it will also cross over with another new and beloved "Trek" series: "Star Trek: Lower Decks." "Lower Decks" is an animated comedy series that follows the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos as they work on things like second contact, and two of its characters will somehow end up in live-action on the set of "Strange New Worlds." Ensigns Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Mariner (Tawny Newsome) will be a part of season 2 of "Strange New Worlds," which is the most exciting crossover in "Star Trek" since the premiere of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" had Picard and Sisko on the same ship. Here's hoping they don't blow up the ship or anything. 

The second season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" will premiere on Paramount+ on June 15, 2023.