5 Details You May Have Missed In The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Trailer

A preview for the third season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" dropped this morning, and Trekkies — including the ones here at /Film — immediately extracted their tweezers. The one-minute trailer revealed a lot of interested, deep-cut Trek details that might have sailed past some of the show's more casual fans. Trekkies may have caught one or two of them on their first watch, but it's likely that die-hard fans watched this thing multiple times in a row, eager to see what sort of references they could spot. 

We here at /Film spotted a few of our own, and we're happy to share our findings with enthused readers. The upcoming season will promise a few familiar characters, a few cameos from recognizable aliens, at least one impressive guest star, and the re-introduction of some known "Star Trek" technology that may or may not imply a shift in the series timeline. Read on to explore five details from the "Strange New Worlds" season 3 trailer you might have missed. 

There are multiple scenes in the new "Strange New Worlds" trailer that see the main cast members dressed in 1930s-style clothing, and play-acting some kind of murder mystery plot. La'an (Christina Chong) wears a gray plaid coat, a scarf, and a large red hat. Both she and Spock (Ethan Peck) are also seen standing against a black wall with a yellow grid on it, which Trekkies will instantly tell you is a holodeck. 

Holodecks, at least the ones with the yellow grids, weren't introduced until "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which takes place over a century after the events of "Strange New Worlds." Spock and La'an play-acting a murder mystery on a holodeck implies that they have been thrown forward in time (which is common on "Star Trek"), or that holodecks had already existed in the early days of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The latter is certain possible, as a holodeck-like technology was presented on "Star Trek: The Animated Series," which only takes place about a decade after "Strange New Worlds." Trekkies already know that holograms were installed on the original U.S.S. Enterprise (Captain Pike is seen using them, and hating them, on "Star Trek: Discovery"), so it's more likely that holodecks were around in Kirk's time and the crew just never mentioned them.

Either way, it means that "Strange New Worlds" is tapping into a long-held Trek tradition of giving the show visual variety by taking its characters into a holographically simulated environment. We'll have to wait to see why La'an felt the need to investigate an imaginary murder in a 20th century fashion. 

Patton Oswalt is an outspoken nerd who loves fantasy and science fiction, and he has been involved in numerous high-profile genre films and TV shows over the years. He famously went on a rant about "Star Wars" on an episode of "Parks and Recreation," and has played at least four different characters in Marvel projects: He was in "Blade: Trinity," "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," "M.O.D.O.K.," and "Eternals." 

He also appears to be playing a Vulcan on the new season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." He is only in one shot of the preview, but his character is presented under a promise of romance; Oswalt is seen holding a bouquet of roses. "Strange New Worlds" is just another feather in Oswalt's nerdy cap.

It's also not his first time on a "Star Trek" series. Oswalt also played an artificially intelligent cat cartoon named Spot-73 in an episode of "Star Trek: Picard." When Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) awakened in an evil alternate universe (never mind how), she was greeted by Spot-73 talking about how public executions are evil. Dr. Jurati talked to Spot-73 briefly, and the annoyed animated cat explained that it was her creation. When other characters enter the scene, Spot-73 hisses at them. 

"Strange New Worlds," however, will mark the first time Oswalt has appeared on camera for a "Star Trek" project. 

The "Strange New Worlds" preview also presented scenes from an episode wherein the odd-talking Pelia (Carol Kane) will have to, for reasons yet to be revealed, "wire" the Enterprise. The U.S.S. Enterprise is, of course, a miracle of technology that can travel many times faster than the speed of light and teleport people magically through space. There is nothing wired or analog about it. As has been previously established, though, Pelia is a very ancient alien, many thousands of years old, and she's collected a lot of antiques and junk in her travels. It seems that among her knickknacks is a collection of 20th-century-era telephones. Pelia will have to wire the phones into the Enterprise's communications network, and the crew will have to talk on old-school receivers. 

This is likely a nod to Trek's 1960s origins, and the telephone tech that audiences had access to at the time. Or maybe it's just a fun conceit. One might wonder what kind of telephone tech would have been employed had Pelia happened to be fond of the 1990s or early 2000s. Can you imagine the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise using a Nokia 5110? Or a Motorola RAZR? 

One might notice that Commander Chin-Riley is using an old-school 1980s joystick as well, although that may be standard Federation issue. All Trekkies recall (with a wince) the Enterprise's "manual steering column" in "Star Trek: Insurrection."

New Zealand actor and comedian Rhys Darby came to the public eye with his regular role of Murray on "The Flight of the Conchords" in 2007, and quickly became a luminary of the NZ comedy scene. He eventually began appearing in major American productions as well, having guest spots in shows like "How I Met Your Mother," and films like "Yes Man." He has since clinched his nerd cred as well, appearing as a were-monster — or was it a were-human — in one of the best episodes of "The X-Files." He also starred in the beloved but short-lived gay pirate romantic comedy series "Our Flag Means Death," opposite regular collaborator Taika Waititi. 

Darby is seen in "Star Trek" in a fancy coat, standing behind a bar, snapping his fingers. The ornate coat and swooping hairdo recall the look William Campbell sported when he played the all-powerful child-god Trelane in the original "Star Trek" episode "The Squire of Gothos" (January 12, 1967). At last year's New York Comic Con, it was confirmed that Darby will be playing a "legacy" character, so let's assume for the time being that he's playing Trelane. That means Pike (Anson Mount) met the character before Kirk (William Shatner). 

The snapping of his fingers, however, is something that Q (John de Lancie) did on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." As Trekkies have been positing for years, Trelane may have just been an adolescent member of Q's species, although that has never been confirmed in any canonical source (the only source that stated it outright was a tie-in novel called "Q-Squared"). An earlier episode of "Strange New Worlds" toyed with the idea that Trelane is a Q, but didn't really state it outright. 

If Trelane is going to be on "Strange New Worlds," then Trekkies may finally get the definitive answer they've been waiting for.

In a brief scene, one can see a three-armed alien shaking three cocktail shakers behind a Federation bar. Sharp-eyed Trekkies will be able to see — with the character's skin tone, facial features, and three arms — that this bartender is an Edosian. An Edosian named Mr. Arex (James Doohan) had previously been seen at the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Animated Series." The makers of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" also featured an Edosian doctor named Toz in four episodes. 

Animated shows can more easily envision three-armed and three-legged species like Edosians, as they would be hard to realize in live-action. Luckily, modern effects techniques have caught up enough that an Edosian can have a cameo on "Strange New Worlds," shaking three cocktail shakers. The live-action look is, by this old Trekkie's eyes, pretty excellent. Many of the wilder alien species from "Star Trek: The Animated Series" popped up on "Lower Decks," although few have made the transition all the way to live-action. This is a rare occurrence.

The third season of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" will debut on Paramount+ this summer, and will run for ten episodes. We can't wait to have all our questions answered.