Star Trek: Federation could bookend the Star Trek series
Back in 2005, after the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise, Bryan Singer, writer Christopher McQuarrie, and producer Robert Meyer Burnett wanted to create a new iteration of Star Trek. Writer Geoffrey Thorne came up with an idea, which is revealed in more detail in The Fifty-Year Mission—The Next 25 Years, that had never been done before—the impending death of the Federation.
In the year 3000, the United Federation is on the verge of collapse as many planets have left it because of various disagreements. With Starfleet stretched to its breaking point, it’s the perfect time for a new danger—the Scourge. This new enemy destroys a starship and two worlds. Only one survivor remains—Lieutenant Commander Alexander Kirk, but no one believes his version of the attack. The resulting dissension causes Vulcan, Bajor, and Betazed to pull out of the Federation.
But one admiral isn’t ready to give up yet, and he commissions a new Enterprise to help restore the Federation and defeat the Scourge. Aboard that Enterprise is Commander Kirk, and after the captain and first officer are killed, he takes command of a crew of four hundred, and we have another Captain Kirk.
Why Star Trek: Federation would work
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will bring back the Enterprise, with Captain Pike at the helm, next year when it debuts on Paramount+. The series is going back to a time before Captain Kirk commanded the starship. In the meantime, Star Trek: Prodigy will teach new viewers all about the Federation and Starfleet. Essentially, both series are about beginnings.
The current spate of Star Trek shows that are on now continue to focus on a smoothly operating Federation and how the worlds are coming together, but, as we all know, nothing stays the same forever, especially in the world of Star Trek. While we’ve seen the galaxy both before and after the birth of the Federation, we haven’t seen it during the crumble of the Federation.
This franchise started 55 years ago with Captain Kirk boldly going where no one has gone before. How incredible would it be to see another Captain Kirk in the year 3000 trying to put the world of his ancestors back together? Instead of the various planets fighting among themselves, they would become united against a common enemy, with Captain Kirk’s diplomatic help, of course.
Almost every Star Trek fan wants to see Captain Kirk again on the small screen, and while that won’t happen with the original Kirk, it could happen with a new version. Once Discovery wraps up its run (or is close to), Star Trek: Federation would take fans into the 31st century, keeping it well out of the way of shows currently streaming until they end their runs.
We don’t know when franchise fatigue might hit again. We all know it’s a possibility. Eventually, shows come to their natural (or unnatural) conclusion unless the studio chooses to let them drag on forever. If the franchise reaches the point where it’s going to wrap again for a few years, ending it with another Captain Kirk series, just as it started with a Captain Kirk series, would be the way to go.