A prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, the upcoming Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will follow Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the crew of the USS Enterprise in the years before James T. Kirk rises to the starship’s captain’s chair. Mount is the lead actor of Strange New Worlds, but since it was announced that Paul Wesley will be playing a younger version of Kirk in the already confirmed season 2 of the show, there have been rumors that Mount will only star in season 1, with Wesley headlining the additional seasons of the series.
Why does Anson Mount leave Strange New Worlds?
To be clear, there hasn’t been an official confirmation that Mount is exiting Strange New Worlds after season 1. So, reports claiming that Mount is leaving the show after season 1 are just rumors. While it’s unclear how long Pike will remain in the captain’s chair of Strange New Worlds’ Enterprise, Mount suggested that his character will be the main protagonist of the series for its entire run.
“We wanted to do a true prequel — PREQUEL — to the original series, and that is couched in the Pike years,” Anson Mount told Cinema Blend, when asked if there was anything he could say to ease the fears of fans worried about his series status going forward beyond season 1. “But, as you know, in the world of TV scripting, one season does not necessarily correspond to one year. As we get into the show, there’s really… I’m not sure we’ve really demarcated how far time is progressing between seasons. So, I don’t know. We’ll see where it ends up. But, yeah, no, [a series with Wesley’s Kirk as the captain of Enterprise] that would be a very different show.”
Who is Christopher Pike?
Originally played by Jeffrey Hunter, Pike first appeared as the main character of the original unaired pilot episode for Star Trek: The Original Series, titled The Cage. After the pilot was rejected, Hunter withdrew from the series, and the character of Pike was replaced with Kirk, who was portrayed by William Shatner.
The Original Series later established Pike as being Kirk’s predecessor as captain of the USS Enterprise in the two-part story The Menagerie, which extensively used archive footage from The Cage. The framing story featured an older, scarred, and disabled Fleet Captain Pike, portrayed by Sean Kenney. His disability was a result of a devastating accident that ultimately relieved him from active duty in Starfleet.
Mount’s Pike, meanwhile, made his debut appearance in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, where his Enterprise crew helped Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery crew solve a mystery that spanned time and space. Discovery season 2 served as a prequel to the prequel, acting as a launchpad to Strange New Worlds.
Bruce Greenwood also played a version of Pike in the movies Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), which take place in an alternate timeline.
When will Strange New Worlds premiere?
Strange New Worlds will debut exclusively on Paramount+ in the United States, Latin America, Australia, and the Nordics on May 5th. In addition to Mount, season 1 of the series also stars Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Ethan Peck as Spock, Babs Olusanmokun as M’Benga, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas, and Bruce Horak as Hemmer.
Strange New Worlds trailer
