'Nobody's called, the sets are gone': Akiva Goldsman doesn't see Star Trek: Year One happening
The Strange New Worlds showrunner told RadioTimes the Kirk spin-off was never officially cancelled, but the sets are gone and the cast has moved on.
Here we go again with the parade of Star Trek spinoffs that never quite make it out of drydock. If you were banking on that rumoured ‘Star Trek: Year One’ series actually happening, brace yourself—it’s not looking good.
What Actually Happened to Year One?
Last year, Akiva Goldsman—the bloke behind Strange New Worlds—pitched a spinoff set during Kirk’s first year captaining the Enterprise. Seemed like the obvious next step, especially since the current show’s finale literally lands us on the threshold of Kirk’s era. But now, Goldsman’s come forward to clear up the rumours, and let’s just say, hope is fading fast.
Speaking to RadioTimes, Goldsman laid out the situation in typically blunt style:
Here’s what Goldsman told RadioTimes recently about the spinoff’s fate: "Nobody's called, the sets are gone. Everybody else has started to take other jobs. It’s never been officially yes, and it’s never been officially no. But I don’t see it happening."
Not exactly a rousing vote of confidence, is it? The point is, all the physical stuff is gone, the cast are drifting off to new gigs, and nobody from the higher-ups is making the call to launch this series. Goldsman did admit that, in some parallel universe, someone could ring up and offer him a one-off movie or even the series after all, but it’s looking highly unlikely. There was a window, though—right at the end of Strange New Worlds’ production—when it would’ve made perfect sense (and likely saved a few quid), because the sets and resources were all there. That ship has very much sailed.
What Might Have Been—and Who Misses Out
The spinoff was supposed to carry over a bunch of characters we’ve already met on Strange New Worlds. That includes a proper introduction to McCoy and Sulu in the show’s final run—played by Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami, respectively. If you wanted more of them, don’t get too attached. Looks like it’ll be a brief fling rather than a long-term engagement.
Goldsman Exits the Star Trek Universe
With Strange New Worlds wrapping things up, the entire Trek TV slate is basically empty—no fresh TV projects in development. For Goldsman, it’s time to move on. He admitted he would’ve loved to keep working with the current ensemble, but sees his stint in the franchise as finished now. Here’s how he put it:
"I would have loved to have done Year One and kept on with this group because they’re my cohort now. But I do think that, at least for me, my time with Star Trek is over now. I was really lucky – Strange New Worlds was everything I imagined when I couldn’t even imagine it, as a little boy playing Star Trek. Now I got to be a bigger boy playing Star Trek with somebody else’s toys."
Goldsman doesn’t know where the Trek universe goes next, but he’s confident the brand will bounce back sooner or later, with or without him. For now, though, it’s the end of an era, both for him and the current TV batch.
The fourth season finale of Strange New Worlds lands on 24 September. The fifth and final season will close the book for good—with a shorter-than-usual run of just six episodes.