screenrant.com Star Trek Strange New Worlds: 10 Predictions From Reddit

As the CBS/Paramount+ series Star Trek Strange New Worlds hurls its way toward a mid-2022 release date, rabid Trekkies have begun to express their opinions online. For a non-canon episodic prequel, many fans have taken a pessimistic outlook on the series, especially given the underwhelming recent shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard.

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While some optimism can be found on online forums, the overwhelming consensus is that fans have very low hopes about the Strange New Worlds restoring glory to the proud Star Trek franchise.

Will Fail Under Alex Kurtzman's Leadership

Based on the checkered track record of writer Alex Kurtzman, who will oversee the new anticipated Paramount+ show after penning the two recent Star Trek movies and creating Star Trek: Discovery, Strange New Worlds is bound to fail under his leadership.

This is one of the most common refrains on Reddit boards, with Starch Wreck stating "nothing they can produce, especially with the strange Kurtzman ideas, bad plot arcs, altered ships, and uniforms, will be of no value." With 34 upvotes, another simply states "Is Robert Kurtzman attached? If yes then I have 0 interest."

Essentially Star Trek Discovery 2.0

Despite being billed as a prequel that tells Captain Pike's backstory, one Redditor feels adamant that the show will, "for all intents and purposes" be "STD S2 2.0." Translation, Strange New Worlds will be no different than Star Trek: Discovery season 2.

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Among the reasons cited for the prediction, Redditor Phaethonas notes "NuTrek Pike, NuTrek Spock ("I love science")", made by Kurtzman and co., made 1o years before TOS and restricted by canon. That is, the poster has zero faith that Kurtzman will learn from the mistakes shown in Star Trek: Discovery and atone for them with his newest endeavor.

Higher Budget & Better Look

In a rare optimistic prediction found on Reddit, jimmyray01 feels strongly that the original CBS/Paramount show will benefit from having a bigger budget as compared to the original series. He says "the original series was a very cheap show that mainly relied on story, the new generation shows had much higher budgets but there were no real digital cameras or digital technology."

Jimmy goes on to claim "I think Strange New Worlds is really going to look spectacular, they failed to do that with Discovery, they were trying to do some weird Game of Thrones/Battlestar Galactica mashup, but I think SNW will look wonderful."

Revert To A More Classic Style

While Jimmyrayo1 predicts the show will boast a more advanced visual marvel, LeftLiner envisions Strange New Worlds adhering to the classic style of Star Trek: The Original Series. The poster claims "I think there's a chance SNW will go back to a more classic style, which would be nice."

Met with some skepticism, however, LeftLiner adds "but I still worry because Disco and Picard both suffer from bad writing and that's not a matter of style. Plus, they'll continue this trend of revisiting old Star Trek, of worshiping the show's own mythos which is just constraining the franchise so much." Again, even when a modicum of optimism is expressed, the mistrust in Kurtzman is a recurring motif one cannot overlook.

Will Restore Faith In Hardcore Trekkies

Another rare positive prediction regarding SNW comes from Redditor tejdog1, who feels the show will score major kudos among hardcore Trekkies based on the smashing success of the two main Captain Pike episodes on Star Trek: Discovery Season 2.

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Tejdog1 states "they have a chance to do some major goodwill here as well as hit hardcore Trekkies right in the feels. I don't know if it will, but the fact they hit the two Pike-centric episodes out of the park gives me hope." The Redditor even goes so far as to predict a canonical plotline where "the Enterprise is ordered to planet Gamma Triangulai VI, an urgent situation has developed between the native Sheliak and the USS Intrepid. Our mission is to diffuse the tension and reach an agreement with these Sheliak." Now that's some prediction!

Will Become The Crown Jewel Of The Franchise

Redditor ParkMan73 is one of the more optimistic supporters of the new show, claiming "my gut tells me Strange New Worlds will become the crown jewel because it's a traditional Star Trek show set aboard the NCC-1701. The writers will have learned some lessons from Picard and Discovery as well which hopefully will help. I expect no Tilly maneuvers on this show."

A far cry from most insatiable Trekkies on Reddit, the ray of hope for the caliber of writing on the new CBS Star Trek spinoff has just as much merit as any other online prediction thus far.

Will Make Star Trek Enterprise Look Like A Masterpiece

After a lengthy diatribe explaining their reasoning, Redditor protovack drops the mic by saying "I think it (SNW) will make Enterprise look like a masterpiece." Predicting the production to repeat the same mistakes that doomed Discovery, protovak foresees writers trying "to foreshadow specific TOS episodes but mishandle the material and end up destroying the legacy of TOS."

Protovak also predicts the overuse of fake-looking CGI, a low budget and recycled sets and props, and the production overreacting to fan demands regarding episodic storytelling.

No Matter What Happens, Anson Mount Will Be Great

Whether or not the show proves to be quality enough to watch, collective opinions on Reddit predict that Anson Mount will give a terrific performance as Captain Christopher Pike. Falafelbot predicts "there will be talent on the show. Mount, obviously, is great."

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On a different thread, Plannedfiction states "Anson Mount is excellent and if the show sucks I don't believe it will be his fault. And boy oh boy does he look the part." A poster named deicous responds with "even if it (the show) is bad, we'll get some great Pike moments with him (Mount) and the cast. Time and again, Redditors expect nothing but a stellar performance from Mount as Pike.

Is Simply A Marketing Ploy

One of the more outlandish predictions comes from Razkal719, who takes a macro conspiratorial stance on Strange New Worlds. Claiming the show is being produced as a marketing ploy to bolster global investors in CBS/Paramount's streaming service during the pandemic.

"It's a public relations ploy," says Razkal719, adding "They're (CBS) in financial straights and want to make the network and especially the streaming service look more attractive to foreign investors. Bad Robot did the same thing when they announced the fourth Kelvin Star Trek movie. They announced that Tarantino would be making a Star Trek movie. This is all the television equivalent of vaporware." Indeed, Tarantino's film is still stuck in development hell.

Will Resemble A Sh**** BSG

Arguably the most cynical prediction about SNW comes from alexbond45, who got a fair share of upvotes for simply stating "I'm not falling for their empty promises. It'll probably just be sh**** Battlestar Galactica."

Unfortunately, no further explanation is needed, as there has been a long-held comparative rift between the Star Trek and BSG faithful, both of which often accuse the other of plagiarism. More damning yet, the general consensus regarding any new Star Trek property, SNW included, is that fans do not feel they are in safe hands behind the camera. Until that changes, the perception of Star Trek won't alter.

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