
The announcement of a new Star Trek series set to premiere in early 2026, accompanied by its first trailer, has excited fans. The show takes place far into the future – the 32nd century, a thousand years after the original Enterprise – and the trailer hints at connections to previous Star Trek shows, including a return appearance by Robert Picardo as the Doctor from Voyager. This distant setting offers more freedom from strict adherence to established storylines. While Strange New Worlds carefully fits its narrative within the existing Star Trek timeline as a prequel to the original series, inconsistencies have always existed within the franchise. Every shared universe now worries about maintaining a consistent “canon,” but Star Trek arguably should have from the start. In the 1960s, attention to detail wasn’t as crucial; even fundamental aspects like warp drive and the show’s timeframe were open to interpretation. This fluidity continued with The Next Generation and its spin-offs, and fans enjoyed debating how to reconcile any discrepancies. However, with the newer series, that changed. Instead of trying to find explanations, fans began to simply attribute inconsistencies to errors by the show’s creators.