Anson Mount wants Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to stick to canon when it comes to Captain Pike's fate

Since "The Menagerie" from Star Trek: The Original Series aired, Star Trek fans have known of Captain Christopher Pike's fate. What lies ahead for him is nothing short of gruesome, and there's nothing he can do to change it without causing harm to others. This was shown in the season one finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds when Captain Pike [Anson Mount] encountered an alternate future version of himself. Instead of Pike being the one to suffer, it would have been Lt. Spock [Ethan Peck]. On top of that, Starfleet would be in an ongoing war with the Romulans. So it seems as though there can be no changes for the captain.

Surprisingly, Anson Mount is okay with that. In fact, at a recent panel at STLV: Trek to Vegas, Mount told a fan that "I think I would like to stick to canon." [Via Screenrant] The one important thing Mount did point out, though, is how time moves on Strange New Worlds. Each season isn't a typical year. That means, that even though Star Trek: The Original Series was set in 2266 and Strange New World began in 2259, there isn't necessarily only seven seasons before Pike's accident happens.

"I have to preface this by saying what we think doesn’t really matter. It’s not our wheelhouse. It’s not our department. But I will say, we have not been with ourselves too specific about where we are in that particular timeline. Nor are we specific about how long a season is in fictional time. So there’s a lot of give and take…

So, depending upon what the network wants, which we only find out year-to-year, as a project, for my own… I have much more specific ideas about it, but I don’t want to say anything about it. But in general, I think I would like to stick with canon, and just, maybe, from a different point of view. Maybe from Pike’s point of view. So that’s all I’ll say about that."

- Anson Mount

Personally, I hope Strange New Worlds ends without showing Pike's tragedy. The fans have seen it; we know what happens. But Mount is okay with it being shown from Pike's point of view. That would be an excruciating journey to take filled with pain and grief from not only the captain but from his crew. And while it might be something Strange New Worlds will consider, I'm not sure it's something I'd want to watch. Whatever the case may be, let's just hope it's not something that happens for a long, long time.