What to expect from the new Star Trek TV show in 2017
Star Trek is arguably the most iconic science fiction franchise in the world. Even more so than Star Wars, because of its impact on modern consumer electronics, space travel and technology. And in 2017, 50 years after the late great Gene Roddenberry created the original series with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelly, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nicoles, Majel Barrett and Walter Koeing, it makes a return to the TV screen after an absence of 12 years. CBS, the parent company of Paramount announced that the show will be developed by Alex Kurtzman, who managed to get the reigns of the movie after JJ Abrams left ironically to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which releases in 50 days. Now, many have high hopes for the show, but there are certain things that shouldn’t be hard to predict. Let me indulge.
1. It is more than likely that the show will be centred in the new Star Trek timeline which was established in the Star Trek reboot of 2009. JJ Abrams established a new timeline, with his first Star Trek movie after he changed the timeline when Nero’s Romulan ship travelled back in time to destroy Vulcan, the home planet of Spock. In simpler words, it will likely share nothing with previous Star Trek TV shows which include the original series, the animated series, the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.
2. Considering the crew of the "Enterprise" is expected to go on a long five-year mission in deep space in the upcoming Star Trek movie, chances are the show will not be focused on the crew of the Enterprise, but rather some other crew.
3. You can expect a mix of traditional Star Trek villains and some new ones. Firstly, the new timeline, which Abrams brought with his first movie was a masterstroke as it allowed room for a lot of experimentation while retaining the Star Trek canon. So, not only can you expect new beings and planets, you can expect beings that were only introduced in the Next Generation timeline, which was 78 years later than the original series. For cybernetic life forms like the Borg, the Dominion shapeshifters, Cardassians, and even the likes of species 8472 can make an appearance. All avenues are open for Kurtzman.
4. Star Trek: Into Darkness showcased a new dreadnought type of battleship, which was only possible because Admiral Marcus had enslaved Khan and used his superior intellect to build a vessel that had superior technology than any vessel in the federation and also was a battleship than a starship. You could expect some of Khan’s technology making its way into new Starfleet vessels in the show.
5. We may finally see New Vulcan and a broader role for ambassador Sarek. This would’ve been the ultimate place to grant Spock Prime a massive role in the new Star Trek universe, but as Leonard Nimoy passed away earlier in the year, this may not be possible. That being true, modern computer-generated imagery has made things possible, which weren’t earlier.