Star Trek: Section 31 may debut after Season 3 of Discovery

At the Television Critics Association press tour, Alex Kurtzman indicated that the Section 31 series will debut shortly after the third season of Discovery.

When it comes to showrunner Alex Kurtzman’s desire for each new Star Trek project to have a distinct tone and feeling, it would seem he has gotten exactly what he wanted.

Star Trek: Discovery is molded after the classic Star Trek model despite what the gatekeepers and haters would have you believe. Picard, on the other hand, is going to tell a very personal, serialized story about a beloved character. Then you have Lower Decks which is going for straight up comedy and will be the first animated Trek series in decades.

The other series that will be creating something new is Star Trek: Section 31, which will be the first direct spinoff from Discovery. It will star Michelle Yeoh as the former Emperor Georgiou who will be working for the Federation’s infamous black ops organization.

Early word is that Section 31 will mix a healthy does of Mission: Impossible with the traditional Star Trek formula to give viewers something new yet familiar at the same time. Bo Yeon Kim and Erkia Lippoldt, veterans of Discovery, have been tapped as showrunners and writers for the new series.

Of course, exactly when Section 31 will make its debut on CBS All Access has been up for some debate.

CBS All Access Executive Vice President of Original Content Julie McNamara recently seemed to indicate that Section 31 might not debut until Discovery has finished its run. If that were indeed true then the series might not arrive for several years yet.

However, while at the Television Critics Association press tour, Kurtzman clarified that it may be a bit sooner than that.

More from Redshirts Always Die

• Has Star Trek Technology gotten out of control?
• The Borg Queen was spoiled early on Star Trek: Picard
• Is J. Lee hinting at a renewal of The Orville?
• Relive a little Star Trek fun with FoxTrot’s Christmas Cookie comic
• Watch: All I Want for Christmas by the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation

As reported by Comic Book.com, Kurtzman was brought up the subject of Section 31 and said that the work on writing the series has in fact begun with a general idea of when it would premiere.

"“Well, Erika [Lippoldt] and Bo [Yeon Kim] are writing it now, so we’re breaking story now. And they’re amazing, and they’re a big part of Discovery, so they’re on our staff too. So they’re doing double duty this year, and our hope is that we will have a script in the next couple months, and then as soon as Discovery Season Three is over we’re rolling right into that show. That’s my hope.”"

With Discovery all but guaranteed to get a third season it would mean that Star Trek: Section 31 could arrive possibly sometime in 2021 or 2022.

Yeoh is currently appearing in the second season of Discovery and Kutrzman has said that her character would be a key part of a third season. It would be safe to guess that if that were the case a lot of the groundwork for the Section 31 series would be established then.\

To date no other casting has been announced for Star Trek: Section 31 but if that changes you can read about it right here. Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 is currently airing on CBS All Access.