I love how Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 poster foreshadows the dark fate that will eventually befall the USS Enterprise captain. While Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 still doesn't have a release date, Paramount+ dropped a gorgeous series of 12 new season 3 Strange New Worlds character posters to tide us over until the season drops later in 2025. The posters include series regulars, which now include Martin Quinn's Lieutenant Montgomery Scott, and recurring guest stars like Carol Kane's Commander Pelia and Melanie Scrofano's Captain Marie Batel.
The element that makes these posters unique, compared to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 promotional art, is the vibrant, luminous galaxies projected on the actors' faces. According to TrekCore.com, the portraits are the work of photographer Pari Dukovic, who used strobes and projectors in a darkened room to achieve the otherworldly effect. Strange New Worlds season 3's posters include cosmetic changes that signify character growth for Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding). But I think the most interesting portrait is Captain Pike's, because half of Anson Mount's face is lit with a very symbolic vibrant purple.
Anson Mount's New Star Trek Portrait Resembles Captain Pike In TOS
Pike's Tragic Future Is Already Written In Strange New Worlds
Even though we already knew what would happen to Captain Pike in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds made Pike's story compelling by letting Pike himself in on the secret. After witnessing a vision of his future in an encounter with a Klingon Time Crystal in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, episode 12, "Through the Valley of Shadows", Pike spent the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wrestling with his seemingly pre-ordained fate. In Strange New Worlds' second season, Pike accepted his future and took more risks, because Pike knew he wouldn't die yet.