3 things that Star Trek may do to let us down in 2023

We’re optimistic for 2023, but some things in Star Trek can still let us down.

If we’re being fair, Star Trek in 2022 was uneven but overall good. Prodigy and Strange New Worlds were great and really gave the franchise some shows to hang their hats on. They resonated with the crowds and their target audience (families and long-time fans), gobbled up the shows.

That doesn’t mean that everything went well in 2022. The Star Trek 4 announcement debacle is among the most prominent issues the franchise dealt with. Discovery took a step back from a well-received third season, to a less-than-enthusiastic fourth season, and Picard left many fans disappointed with the portrayal of iconic characters, namely Q.

While we think 2023 will be a good year for Star Trek and its fans, we have to admit that not everything is looking like it’s going to go our way. Here are the three things were most concerned about in 2023.

Three Star Trek things we’re worried about in 2023

Star Trek: Picard goes out as it came in; disappointing

Picard bringing in the Next Generation crew for one last hurrah is going to cause a lot of divisive reactions. Either it’s going to stray too far from what fans remember, angering the newer fans who want the dark and gritty aspects to be center stage, or it’s going to be completely different than what Next Generation gave us, angering the long-time fans who tuned in for a second go-around with their favorite crew. Either way, it’s shaping up to be a massive disappointment.

Nu Trek continues to try and be anything but classic Trek

There are two new Star Trek shows in the works, and the concern with them is that they’re going to be dark and gloomy while catering to the smallest possible group of Trek fans possible. Otherwise known as, how Nu Trek started. Most people who watch Star Trek want more of what we had. Optimism, conflict resolution, and asking powerful questions. Most fans don’t want gore, and concepts most people can’t relate to. I mean, honestly, how many of us can relate to being an old man, in an android body, that’s going to die of natural aging? I mean, other than Harrison Ford. Getting away from the basics of Star Trek is what stunted this era, and going back to what didn’t work before is a real concern.

Floods the market with stories

This isn’t about the television side, alone. But it does count towards the topic. No, we’re counting movies, shows, books, comics, audio dramas, podcasts, and whatever else you can think of as part of this. I know some people believe you can’t have too much of a good thing, but that’s not true. Oversaturation is real. Especially when it’s the only thing you expect fans to engage with. It killed the CW’s DC TV universe. It’s holding Marvel back. It’s holding Star Wars back. If you look at the biggest shows or films over the last few years, most of them exist in a small, confined universe. Game of Thrones, for instance, only launched its prequel series a few years after the original ended. They didn’t launch them in tandem. That’s how you ruin a good thing. Star Trek needs to be mindful of that and not flood the market with so much canon material that fans can’t keep up.