The Punisher star Thomas Jane is about to boldly go where some other actors have gone before, as he’ll be playing Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the series finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Also set to appear in the series finale is Kai Murakami as Hikaru Sulu. Season 4 of Strange New Worlds is set to premiere sometime in 2026, with Season 5 set to be the sendoff to the program. With Strange New Worlds unfolding in the years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, the narrative has avoided drawing too many direct connections to the original show, with Jane’s and Murakami’s appearances helping bridge the gap between the prequel and the iconic adventure.
Variety revealed news of the casting. DeForest Kelley originated the role of Bones with the first Star Trek, going on to play the figure throughout the ’90s. In 2009’s Star Trek, which served as a reboot of the franchise, Karl Urban took over the role. Jane will mark the third actor to play Bones in live-action. Similarly, Sulu was first played by George Takei in the Original Series, with John Cho playing the character in the reboot timeline and Murakami becoming the third actor to play the part.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuted in 2022 as the 11th TV series in the franchise, which was created by Gene Roddenberry. The series was developed as a quasi-spin-off from Star Trek: Discovery, where Anson Mount played Christopher Pike in Season 2. While Strange New Worlds might feel to some like a spin-off, Pike is a seminal figure for fans of Star Trek. In the pilot for the original Star Trek, Pike was the main character (played by Jeffrey Hunter), though that take on the concept was scrapped. This is when William Shatner’s Captain Kirk would become the focal point, kicking off a now-iconic run.
The Future of ‘Star Trek’
Star Trek fans are currently living in a bit of a renaissance of the sci-fi franchise, thanks in large part to Paramount+. The franchise has been a fixture of the small screen for decades, and regularly jumped to the big screen, but it was arguably J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek that helped revive excitement in the concept. After that trilogy of movies, Star Trek: Discovery debuted in 2017, ending a 12-year drought of Star Trek TV.
Since Discovery, fans have been given the live-action Star Trek: Picard and now Strange New Worlds, while also recently getting the animated Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks. This means fans have, at various points over the past decade, had five TV shows delivering new episodes on Paramount+. Earlier this year, audiences also got the movie Star Trek: Section 31, which went straight to the streamer.
The TV landscape of Star Trek has been busy, but there hasn’t been a theatrically released installment since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. From Quentin Tarantino to Alien: Earth‘s Noah Hawley, a number of creatives have been attached to new movies, with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley being the latest filmmakers to be announced as developing a new entry.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Release Date
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May 5, 2022
- Network
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Paramount+
- Directors
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Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman
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