Once more we’ve completed a spin around the Sun and welcome in 2019. But what will this year hols in store for Star Trek? Here's our top ones to watch
1. Discovery
The item at the top pf any Star Trek list has to be the continuing success of the latest series. Frankly, screw the doubters because its back for a second series and treading into the territory of recognisable characters with Pike, Number One and Spock all showing up this year. The premiere for season two is but 15 days away so how can this show be failing especially as there are at least two shows in the pipeline that will launch in the next 18 months. I'm predicting a renewal for the show for season three with a 2020 launch date probably announced at the midpoint in the 15 episode run but I also think that we won't be getting any more Short Treks past the four we have received this time around. Nice placeholder and I hope they use the material contained therein within the show itself.
2. Picard
Probably timed to coincide with the end of Discovery’s second season I believe that we will have the first teaser trailer for the new Picard series by mid-year. 2019 will most likely see further main castings for the show plus hints at what the future holds for the former Enterprise captain. Can we be more specific than this? Not at this time. What we do know is that Patrick Stewart was heavily involved with the initial talks about the direction of the series and how Jean-Luc would be treated within its framework which was part of the reason that he agreed to come back to the franchise after a 20 year gap.
3. Lower Decks
As with Picard's return we'll be getting more hints on what the future holds for this spin off from the franchise. I think this one might be set between the original six movies and The Next Generation since there's a good 70 year gap we've never explored. Big concerns are that this is going to be a humorous animated encounter like nothing we've seen before in the Star Trek universe. Truly the unknown - also well worth paying attention to the last of the Short Treks; The Escape Artist which was written by Mike McMahan and might give a hint at what this new show will be like tonally. Plus, any excuse for a Rick and Morty pic...
4. Novel Series Restart
Yay! So 2018 was a bit of a dud year for the Star Trek novel series but with a new deal completed we are going to be seeing a good flood of Star Trek book titles in the new year from all aspects of the franchise and that, it seems, includes the Kelvin timeline as well as the Discovery era. I'm predicting a return of the time travellers from Dayton Ward plus the continuation of the Deep Space Nine Gamma Quadrant saga which kicked off so well late in 2017.
5. DST 2019
George Takei and Michelle Forbes are already confirmed for the 2019 event which nobody expected since it took two years for the event to return to the UK after the 50th anniversary. Last year's October-fest was a much more streamlined and organised celebration of Star Trek than before with much more for fans to get involved with across the weekend including tabletop and video gaming, talks, fantastic displays from Discovery and the first 50 years. The 2019 event has to equal this so I'd expect more props from the latest TV series as well as guests from the show (Anson Mount must be top of that list with Ethan Peck). Personally I'd love to hope Avery Brooks drops in but that's a long shot at best. What about an appearance from John de Launcie? Is a drop in from Patrick Stewart an option?
6. End of the Starships Collection?
7. Confirmation of Star Trek 4
As in if it’s on or off. The lack of news on this makes me think that the Kelvin timeline may have drawn its last breath with the 2016 Beyond and, honestly, that's not a bad way to go out. The quality of the three films has been on the whole decent but another year without any progress on story at the least will kill it off and leave the way very open for the vaunted R|-rated Quentin Tarantino movie. Prediction for 2019 on this one is that we'll be in exactly the same position in a year's time. Neither of these projects will move forward and they'll be rotting in Development Hell for a little bit longer. Almost certain we'll have no action in regards to big screen Trekking this year.
8. 30 Years of The Final Frontier
Who isn't going to want to celebrate this gem of an anniversary?! Yes, 2019 will mark 30 years since William Shatner asked God what he needed with a starship. A highly maligned Star Trek movie that's never mentioned anywhere else in any context ever and is almost considered the most un-canon item of canon just ahead of Threshold. I'd look forward to lots of reminiscing over filming of The Final Frontier, what went wrong, a ton of comparisons to Discovery and a few oddball rants about how this was the sign that the franchise was failing before the year is out.
9. 25 Years Since The Sky Was the Limit and It Was Fun
...And on a more positive note, it's 25 years since The Next Generation drew to a close on TV before stepping in front of another set of cameras to take the voyages of the Enterprise-D to the big screen with Generations back in 1994. Definitely an opportunity for the cast to get back together and maybe a reason to get Malcolm McDowell along to Destination Star Trek along with Shatner and Stewart for a rather expensive but damn fine photo shoot?
Expect 2019 to revisit best episodes from the show's run as well as offer up potentials for what could have been the eighth season. Remember too that this will also mark 25 years since Shatner's last onscreen appearance as Captain James T Kirk.
10. Axanar Rolling On
It's off, it's on, it's off, it's... who knows. Even now we're two years down the line from THAT decision which changed the face of Star Trek fan films as we knew them, Axanar still exists and I think we'll be hearing more from this one in 2019. The plan, apparently, is to launch two 15 minute slices of the story rather than the epic independent movie we were initially promised. Maybe 2019 will see the first footage from Alec Peters other than the now infamous "Vulcan Scene" filmed oh-so long ago.Love it, loathe it, despise it more than anything ever, you still can't get away from it and this story will continue!
What do you predict to be the big Star Trek stories of 2019? Will we be wrong on any of these?
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