The future of Star Trek could look quite different today if Star Trek: Discovery had followed its initial plans. The sudden cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has led to a slowdown in creative output for the franchise, something it hasn’t experienced since 2005. Currently, as of March 2026, there are no new Star Trek series being made.
As a lifelong Star Trek fan, I have to admit I was surprised by this news! It feels like just yesterday that Discovery launched, and since then we’ve gotten so much new Trek – Short Treks, Picard, the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy, Strange New Worlds, and even Starfleet Academy. It’s amazing to think that if Discovery hadn’t changed from its initial plan as an anthology series, we might not have gotten any of those shows at all!
The Star Trek Franchise Would Look Very Different If Discovery Hadn’t Changed Its Premise
Believe it or not, the initial idea for Star Trek: Discovery in 2017 was quite different. Creator Bryan Fuller originally envisioned it as a series similar to American Horror Story, but set in the Star Trek universe. Each season would tell a complete, self-contained story in a different time period.
I recently learned about a really interesting, but ultimately scrapped, plan for Star Trek: Discovery. Apparently, the initial idea wasn’t to jump so far into the future right away. Instead, they were thinking of starting with a prequel series, then gradually working their way through stories set during the time of The Original Series and The Next Generation, eventually then exploring a far-future timeline. It’s wild to think that if that had happened, we might never have gotten Strange New Worlds, or that short-lived Starfleet Academy show, and honestly, maybe we wouldn’t have seen any stories set in the really distant future at all. It makes me appreciate the direction things ended up going even more!
It’s easy to think this would have been a purely good thing for the series, especially considering the mixed reactions to its recent changes. But that’s not entirely accurate. It doesn’t fully acknowledge how much Discovery actually changed the franchise, and the positive impact its success had.
Star Trek: Discovery Did More For The Franchise Than An Anthology Series Would Have
Recent Star Trek shows have had mixed results. While Starfleet Academy and the 2025 film Section 31 weren’t well-received, Discovery and Strange New Worlds were big hits with fans. Star Trek: Prodigy, a surprising animated series on Netflix, also proved popular, and its story about alien characters worked best when set far into the future of the Star Trek universe.
It’s an oversimplification to suggest that Discovery‘s initial anthology idea would have solved all the problems the franchise has had for the past nine years. Still, it’s worth considering whether the show’s critical failures stem from the decision to fundamentally change what Star Trek: Discovery was originally about.
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2026-04-15 21:58