Commentary: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Is ‘The Original Series’ With A Higher Budget

One of the great things about long-lasting franchises such as Star Wars and Marvel: they’ve created so many installments that they can play around with the format of their storytelling. Star Trek is no different. What started as an episodic series in the 1960s has grown to include long-form storytelling, feature films, and even animation. But sometimes it’s great for a franchise to get back to its roots and try to embody the feel of the original while giving it a facelift. That’s exactly what Star Trek: Strange New Worlds accomplishes in respect to the original series.

It makes sense that Strange New Worlds would feel similar in style to the ’60s series, granted that it was largely inspired because of it. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), commander of the U.S.S. Enterprise, was actually featured in the pilot episode of the original series. When the actor couldn’t return after the show was picked up, William Shatner was hired to take his place. But they created a brand new character, Captain James T. Kirk. So SNW serves as a prequel, spotlighting events that took place earlier in time.

Every Star Trek series has its own unique feel to it. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine didn’t focus on a ship. It was about a space station stuck in the middle of a political firestorm. More recently, Star Trek: Discovery focused on long-form storytelling, detailing the chronicles of a unique ship with the ability to teleport. However, Strange New Worlds does its best to emulate the episodic format of the original series. The crew of the Enterprise is on a mission of exploration. They venture out into space, looking for new signs of life and undiscovered planets, exactly what the Enterprise was doing in the original Star Trek. But with modern filmmaking technology — and an astronomically higher budget — it is able to take the concepts to a whole new level.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now streaming on Paramount+.