“That’s not the SNW Enterprise.”
Over the last 60 years, segments of the Star Trek fandom have been prone to easily criticize anything new regarding the beloved science fiction franchise. Whether it was those badmouthing The Next Generation in 1987 for not featuring Original Series’ characters, or others who recently slammed Starfleet Academy for daring to feature a gay Klingon and a female Jem’Hadar, you can bet someone is always going to gripe. And here we go again.
Now this year’s Strange New Worlds-themed San Diego Comic-Con badges, which Star Trek fans can check out for themselves below, featuring the USS Enterprise have come under fire by some people online. Most of the complaining has to do with the version of the starship pictured on the SDCC 2026 badges. For instance, Facebook user NA Thomas wrote in the comment section of the social media post: “That’s not the SNW Enterprise. The pylons for the nacelles are not SNW design.”
Another social media user, Kori Barnes, was also involved in the discussion on Facebook and wrote: “They used the version of the design that showed up in Discovery, not the slightly modified one for Strange New Worlds […] It’s not even an image of one of the show models, it was a cut out of a promo image of Star Trek Online’s game model.”
Yet another social media user, Ares Lancaster, added in the Facebook comments: “Yeah, the SNW model has more windows around the saucer and a slightly curved neck section.” Okay, so the SDCC badge's picture isn’t exactly like the spitting image of the starship Enterprise from Strange New Worlds.
Regardless, it’s still a beautiful badge that was likely made by someone who isn’t as fluent in Trek as the die-hard corners of the fandom. Listen, it could have been worse: it’s not like SDCC employees pasted a Klingon Bird-of-Prey or even the USS Enterprise-D on there instead, trying to pass it off as the SNW Enterprise.
Fortunately, the response to the Strange New Worlds-themed San Diego Comic-Con badges was much more positive overall on Instagram. @fivefootmab wrote: “Who was the artist? Would love to support their work!” @freddyvoices213 also seemed impressed, and the social media user wrote in response: “This badge is much better than the past two! Massive improvement!”
@bboyrealm added: “I’m not a Star Trek fan but this [is] cool!” And then there’s my personal favorite response to the SNW-themed SDCC 2026 badges, courtesy of @ cheriearmour: “Yes!!! Best badges in years!!!!!❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍😍😍 After 10 years (it felt like) of The Walking Dead, we are so ready!!!!”
If you’re one of the many attending this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, these Strange New Worlds badges are “shipping now” (per SDCC’s official Instagram account). So, what do you think about the SNW badges? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
SDCC 2026 begins on Wednesday, July 22 (preview night) and runs through Sunday, July 26, at the San Diego Convention Center. Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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