The Biggest Fan Complaint About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Has the Simplest Fix

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns for its third season, no matter how the episode ends it will create controversy among the fan community. Set before the events of The Original Series, the conflict between the USS Enterprise and the Gorn species seemingly contradicts the first chronological appearance of that species in 1967’s “Arena.” Even though producers insist Strange New Worlds takes place in the Prime Star Trek Universe, Lower Decks’ confirmation of an infinite multiverse means that doesn’t really matter.

Longtime viewers of mostly any series know time travel can rewrite Star Trek’s Prime Universe in an instant. The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and Strange New Worlds episode “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” show exactly how these sorts of temporal changes happen with most characters none the wiser. In fact, fans could resolve perceived canon inconsistencies and the “too advanced” technology of the modern series through this phenomenon alone. Only Star Trek offers its viewers another option. In TOS Season 2’s “Mirror, Mirror,” the Enterprise crew learns of the existence of an alternate reality where everyone is, basically, evil. In the 2009 Star Trek film, audiences see how time travel from the Prime Universe can also (i.e. when the narrative demands it) create a permanent alternate reality. This provides another solution for viewers who want to believe Discovery and Strange New Worlds occupies a different universe than the other Star Trek series. Now, thanks to the final episodes of Lower Decks, the multiverse in the Star Trek universe is canonically infinite and traversable. This means that regardless of what the cast, producers or fans say, everyone’s “head canon” is as good as the real thing.

Star Trek Didn’t Really Have a Firmly Established ‘Canon’ Until Well Into Its Second Wave

What Canon Did Exist In This Universe Was Meant for Storytellers Not Fans

When Star Trek: The Original Series first debuted, creator Gene Roddenberry, along with writers like Gene L. Coon and Dorothy Fontana, had very specific ideas about the show’s canon. There was no official show bible but rather a loose collection of guidelines, which freelance writers often ignored. Certain things were kept vague on purpose, such as when the series was set. Roddenberry referred to the TOS timeline as the 23rd Century in internal documents, but didn’t want to pin the show down to a specific date. This is why characters sometimes refer to the audience’s present as anywhere from 200 to 800 years in the past.

When Roddenberry returned to Star Trek, developing it first for a sequel series, then the first film, he was selective about what episodes counted. The Season 3 episodes for which he was a producer in name only and The Animated Series weren’t canon. Eventually, he hired Richard Arnold to serve as an archivist and researcher, who is responsible for establishing the official Star Trek canon. In The Next Generation era of the series, others like Michael and Denise Okuda continued that work. Still, the producers made controversial decisions that angered fans. When Rick Berman and Brannon Braga created Enterprise, fans felt Captain Jonathan Archer and the NX-01 Enterprise violated “canon” as established in The Animated Series (which technically wasn’t canon at the time).

While fans who maintain this third wave of the universe ignores its history, modern Star Trek adopted a similar approach as Star Wars when Disney purchased it. The events in the films and shows, including The Animated Series, are treated as canon. Yet they also fill in gaps in the history, such as what happened during Christopher Pike’s tenure as captain, with their own ideas. Things like Spock’s relationship with Christine Chapel in Strange New Worlds were never established prior, but in TOS Chapel had an affection for Spock that often went unreturned. Still some of these choices go too far for some fans.

Lower Decks Gave Every Fan a License to Have Fun Again In Its Final Episodes

The Star Trek Multiverse Isn’t New, But Its Infinite Potential Goes Beyond Future Stories

The final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks dove into the concept of the multiverse like never before. The series ended with a permanently open gateway to alternate Star Trek realities. This idea doesn’t just give future writers unlimited potential to tell their own stories. The confirmation of an infinite multiverse means that any and every permutation of the Star Trek universe exists. Fans can pick and choose which series or even episodes they want to treat as official canon, and there’s a timeline where it’s true.

Also, since these realities don’t really have names like the variant Earths in DC or Marvel, any of them could be “the Prime Universe.” Whether it’s the modern storytellers, those from the TNG era or Roddenberry himself, Star Trek fans have always felt particular about what is and is not canon. Some resented the idea TAS didn’t count, especially since it introduced things like Spock’s childhood pet, the first captain of the Enterprise Robert April and other strange new concepts. Instead of arguing about what stories are “real” and which aren’t, Lower Decks made everything canon. If the multiverse is infinite, this means there is no limit to what kind of realities exist. It doesn’t change what those making these series determine is or isn’t officially canon, of course.

The infinite multiverse does make it official that a version of the Star Trek timeline exists for every fan. There is a timeline where all the expanded universe of books and comics are canon or just some of them. There is a timeline where the fanfiction stories written by TOS fans in the 1970s all happened. Because of how vast the concept of infinity is, it means there are infinite timelines where Spock and Kirk are in a committed romantic relationship and infinite timelines where they’re just pals. This means fans can tailor their Star Trek experience to what they enjoy most.

Star Trek Fans Veered Into Toxic Territory, but the Multiverse Can Make Debates Fun Again

Even With Canon Complaints and Logic Leaps, Every Show and Film Is ‘Legitimate’ Now

Despite famously being a series in the 1960s that decried racism and promoted tolerance, some Star Trek fans veered into toxic territory with their anger at these new series. Sonequa Martin-Green, who played Michael Burnham on Discovery actually got racist hate mail. Other fans simply hated that these new series didn’t fit with their idea of what the universe should be. Perhaps without realizing it, they created a situation where new fans felt unwelcome in the community because they were constantly told their shows weren’t “real Star Trek.”

Not only is this just unconscionable behavior in general, such intolerance contradicts the key philosophy of Star Trek from its inception. What used to be fun, nerdy debates about canon elements turned into something darker. The infinite multiverse can help fix that, by making it clear that everyone’s individual version of Star Trek is as real as the official canon. In fact, viewers could imagine that each episode of every series takes place in a different branch timeline if they wanted.

What were volatile and unpleasant arguments about modern Star Trek can now become the kind of geeky debates they are supposed to be. Fans can make their case for why or why not a given show or episode is in the Prime Universe. Even if they end up agreeing to disagree, the infinite multiverse means somewhere out there, both are correct. At the very least, fans can simply imagine that shows like Discovery or Strange New Worlds take place in their own timeline. Then, instead of getting bent out of shape about perceived inconsistencies, they can have fun with the show on its own terms. Lower Decks confirming an infinite multiverse made it so Star Trek can still be for everyone no matter what they think is canon or not.

Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will debut on July 17, 2025, on Paramount+ and will stream alongside the entire saga of series and films.