Pike Breaks the Rules Again in Strange New Worlds Season 3

Paramount+ has released an official trailer for the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, with a scheduled premiere date of July 17, 2025. The trailer was released today, April 22, 2024, almost a full year before the new season is set to drop.

The first official look at the season is a follow-up to an April teaser that was released back in April this year, but both came months after a clip first shown at last year’s New York City Comic-Con in October 2023. The footage at the end of Season 2 finds the Enterprise being ambushed by the Gorn, who have invaded a Federation colony world and are using hostages to lure the crew into a trap. Starfleet has issued an order for Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and the Enterprise to retreat and abandon the colony, but he can’t make the decision that easily. Pike, of course, is the kind of Starfleet captain who places the needs of others above his own.

In keeping with the established Star Trek formula, the premiere episode will pick up immediately where Season 2 left off. Season 3 opens with another space battle sequence that puts the Enterprise and crew at the center of a sprawling conflict against the Gorn, culminating in the show’s first look at an early Earth-set version of the Star Trek fan-favorite character James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). The trailer continues with footage teasing the expected conclusion to the larger story arc with the Gorn, but with plenty of hints of new threats and adventures for the crew.

Cast and Characters

Strange New Worlds season 3 is set to feature the same ensemble cast from previous seasons, with main and recurring cast members reprising their roles. Among the key additions for season 3, most notable is Cillian O’Sullivan, who will play Dr. Roger Korby, an Original Series character from the Star Trek legacy that has been recast for Strange New Worlds. Korby is portrayed by Michael Strong in Star Trek: The Original Series, but in the established continuity of Strange New Worlds, the character is a highly regarded archaeologist with a specialty in medical archaeology and the long-time fiancé of Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush). This sets the stage for both personal and professional complications for the character, whose introduction in the premiere has been teased by Marvel, and is particularly complicated by Chapel’s relationship with Spock (Ethan Peck) throughout the season.

Guest stars for the season are expected to include Rhys Darby and Patton Oswalt, both comedic actors with experience working on different projects in the Star Trek franchise. In particular, Oswalt will be playing a Vulcan science officer in a series of episodes. The April teaser trailer also teased additional genre variety for the third season, with episodes expected to feature stories of faith, duty, romance, comedy, and mystery, among other established Star Trek themes, but with additional genre hybrids that the show has said have not been attempted by previous Star Trek shows.

Production and Filming

Production on the third season is not yet underway. The last season was only just completed, with the 13th and final episode finishing production last August, before the first airing of the season in November. Filming for the next season is anticipated to begin in the early months of 2025, with the premiere date of July 17, 2025, and a subsequent new episode release every Thursday through September 11, 2025, will give the crew and cast nearly two months of production work to deliver the expected 13 new episodes of content.