"Star Trek" officially turned 60 this month, with special theatrical screenings of four "Trek" movies paired with "The Original Series" episodes that inspired them, an orbital salute from the ISS, and a world record anniversary attempt for the most people delivering the iconic Vulcan salute at once.
But with "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" lifting off for a fifth and final season next year and "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" returning for its sophomore mission after being abruptly cancelled after the debut season, there's not exactly a wealth of new "Star Trek" projects emerging from the property's creative pipeline. We did get word of a "Star Trek" feature film that's in early development and described as "'Crimson Tide' meets 'Training Day,'" but other than, that the franchise's final frontier is barren.
So with that in mind, we've got a potential pitch for Paramount in the form of an imaginative new "Star Trek" comic book being released this week from IDW Publishing that sounds like a seriously suitable candidate for a film adaptation. Could this be the next "Star Trek" feature film?
Written by Hollywood screenwriter and comic book scribe Christopher Cantwell ("Star Trek: Defiant," "Star Trek: Red Shirts") with superb artwork from acclaimed illustrator Dennis Menheere ("Etheres," "Little Nightmares"), "Star Trek #1" lands on Sept. 23, 2026 as the respected indie publisher's newest flagship "Star Trek" series. Buckle up for Seven of Nine exploring a remote cluster of uncanny exoplanets, strange alien artifacts, long lost civilizations, and trippy paranormal anomalies.
"The Enterprise-G is on a desperate mission beyond the known Galaxy to relocate the dying Revlavan people when its crew finds a perfect new home in a region of unknown space called the Epsilon Corridor," state the IDW synopsis. "Three pristine Class-M worlds — the Trinity — await the refugees. No signs of civilization. No detectable threats. A colonist's dream. But the dream fractures fast.
"When Captain Seven of Nine and her divided, fast-tracked crew begin exploring the Trinity, they uncover disturbing contradictions: vanished structures, inexplicable artifacts, time skips, and evidence of a presence Starfleet's century-old probes never detected. Each world houses a different ecosystem, different physics problems, and different secrets — as if they've been curated ... or quarantined."
The first arc of IDW's ongoing "Star Trek" series offers up a solid space-based mystery laced with ancient ghosts and existential dread. It's just the antidote for the coming absence of big and small screen "Trek" on the horizon. Take heed Hollywood, there are great "Star Trek" tales out there to be mined. You just might be prospecting in the wrong galaxy. IDW's "Star Trek #1" launches on Sept. 23, 2026.
