Star Trek EPs Confirm Not Everybody From TOS Will Be In Strange New Worlds’ Ending

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' ending in season 5 is in the works, and executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers confirm that not every character from Star Trek: The Original Series will appear in the prequel's finale. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is in the midst of season 3, but Paramount+ has already set the end of the series with its fifth and final season.

Speaking to Collider's Steven Weintraub at San Diego Comic-Con, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' executive producers and co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers were joined by stars Jess Bush, Christina Chong, and Paul Wesley.

Goldsman and Myers reiterated their previously announced plan for Strange New Worlds to end "right up to Kirk's first day in the chair" as Captain of the USS Enterprise, but that Star Trek's canonical timeline "won't mean everybody who is in TOS" will appear at the end of the prequel. Read Akiva and Henry's quotes and watch the video below:

Akiva Goldsman: “That is our job of the last season, to get us right up to Kirk’s first day in the chair. So canonically, there will likely be some questions answered. There have to be. You've got to know where some folks end up and how some folks shift. So, that’s our plan. If you do the timeline, you know that won’t mean everybody who is in TOS will be in the end of Strange New Worlds.”

Henry Alonso Myers: “Everyone has a story and we all deserve to know how they turn out.”

Henry Alonso Myers also clarified the multi-tiered state of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' production, with the series just wrapping season 4 and preparing to film season 5 in fall 2025:

Henry Alonso Myers: “We’ve been working on season 5 for months now. We were working on season 4, and season 5, and doing press for season 3 all at the same time.”

Who From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Will Or Won't Appear In Strange New Worlds' Ending

Captain Kirk's USS Enterprise Crew Is Well-Known

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' expansive cast consists of younger versions of several icons from Star Trek: The Original Series and new characters created for Strange New Worlds. Caught in the middle are Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley AKA Number One (Rebecca Romijn), whose characters originated in Star Trek's original pilot, "The Cage," but were replaced before Star Trek became an NBC series in 1966.

Star Trek's established canon means Captain Pike, Number One, Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), Lieutenant Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), and Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) don't remain aboard the Starship Enterprise when Captain Kirk (Paul Wesley) takes over. It's well-known that Pike suffers a debilitating accident, but Strange New Worlds will eventually reveal what happens to its other characters.

Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers hinting that not every Star Trek: The Original Series character can appear in Strange New Worlds' ending lines up with the fact that Dr. McCoy isn't Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise in "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Star Trek: The Original Series' second pilot, and that Pavel Chekov would still likely be enrolled in Starfleet Academy.

Our Take On Which Star Trek: TOS Characters Will Appear In Strange New Worlds' Ending

What Will Be The Fate Of Strange New Worlds' Characters Who Aren't In TOS?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 5 ending with Captain Kirk's first day in command of the USS Enterprise would mean that the finale would depict the exits of several major Strange New Worlds characters, and also reveal how or why Kirk selects the crew who joins him on his Enterprise's five-year mission.

The real intrigue in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ending in season 5 is what happens to Una, La'an, and Ortegas, as well as why Dr. M'Benga doesn't continue as Chief Medical Officer under Captain Kirk. Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) also exits the Enterprise when his younger brother takes over.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has a lot of canon to upkeep, while Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers hope to spin off with a new show about Captain Kirk's first Starship Enterprise missions they've dubbed Star Trek: Year One.