By Ani Bundel
Hall H was a weird disaster at SDCC ’23 (Strike Decimated Comic-Con). Wednesday’S overnight line was 20 people; Thursday’s was non-existent. But despite the endless cancellations, one nerd property came through: Star Trek. After all, this was the franchise that made conventions famous among the mainstream, so of course their 90-minute Saturday afternoon panel went on as scheduled, opening with a beautiful sizzle reel of all the different series edited together for maximum emotional impact.
Not that there were actors to support Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. But moderator Scott Mantz did everything he could to bring the actors to the fandom’s minds, with shout-outs to Michelle Yeoh for her Academy Award win for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Sonequa Martin-Green for Star Trek: Discovery.
Moreover, the panel was smart about what they brought for fans, kicking off with the first five minutes of Discovery’s final season, which Mantz confirmed would premiere in early 2024.
As if that weren’t enough, the panel then followed with the trailer for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4. The series premieres on Paramount+ on September 7 2023, with two episodes.
However, that’s only 30 minutes of vamping, with about seven minutes of news. So, much like other TV panels, it was time to watch television. SDCC 2023 lucked out, as Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ episode set to will stream next week is “Those Old Scientists,” the highly anticipated crossover episode with the animated Lower Decks.
So they showed that episode for the assembled crowd, 50,000 strong, ahead of the episode’s debut. The episode was bumped up to a 4 p.m. PT debut on Paramount+ in order to prevent spoilers.
But before we all settled in to watch TV, Mantz broke one more piece of news. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 9 will be entitled “Subspace Rhapsody,” and will be the very first musical Star Trek episode in history. The trailer, which aired in the hall, was delightful.
Strange New World’s “Those Old Scientists” is streaming today, July 22, on Paramount+, “Subspace Rhapsody” streams August 3, Lower Decks premieres September 7, 2023, and Star Trek: Discovery’s final season premieres in early 2024.
Miss any of our earlier SDCC ’23 coverage? Find it all here!
