Kirk To Command The Enterprise?! Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3 Trailer

The longest wait for season three of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is now nearly over. The world premiere is 17th July. Though we're not quite left hanging over that cliffhanger to Hegemony as we once were, we have just got a surprising high five from Spock, and from Paramount in the form of an 'Official Season 3 Trailer'. One's a practical joke, the other's a "hit it situation".

Compared to the camp metatextual of the teaser trailer from 2nd April, with its quirky 'retro-slide projector' framing device, the official season 3 trailer is more traditional, but still packed full of takeaways. It begins on flashing frames of the faces of Pike's Enterprise crew. It ends on a giggle.

We are promised "NEW ROMANCES" — perhaps between Uhura and Ortegas' "baby brother" (who we already know is called 'Beto') — "NEW ADVENTURES" — firefights of all kinds — and, finally, "NEW WORLDS". Is that an Iconian gateway?! That would be a bit early for canon, but stranger worlds have happened. Captain Batel is apparently alive and well, too, so you can check that off your spoiler bingo card!

New is also one from the old — Doctor Roger Korby. This trailer marks the first time we've seen Irish actor Cillian O'Sullivan in the role. Not for very long, however. Far from giving him a high five (jokingly or otherwise), Spock punches Korby in the face. The half-Vulcan can also be seen showing off some dance moves, as can Uhura, dressed to the nines alongside Beto. They might both be at the centennial celebrations we saw, with bartender Edosian, in the teaser.

No doubt the most tantalising moment in this trailer is the sight of Paul Wesley's Kirk hovering nervously over the captain's chair as the red alert alarm blares and sparks rain down. "We await your orders, sir," Spock states. Combine that with Pike's pep talk, it looks like Kirk might be taking command in season three! It's not clear whether that will be of the Enterprise or of the Farragut. The latter does make an appearance moments later in an impressive double team saucer-flip-phaser shot with the 1701.

Unlike the teaser trailer, there is no Rhys Darby, snapping his fingers. Like the teaser trailer, there is the Klingon with a whip, because who doesn't like a Klingon with a whip? The typically more jovial Pelia is decidedly ominous, too. "There is evil in this universe, as sure as there is good," notes the Lanthanite. Then, with floating rhombuses, the Gorn, a collision course, large explosions, some kind of wormhole and shuttle (?), and what looks like… the tesseract from Interstellar (?), the stakes are seemingly high. "One in a thousand" are as good odds as any from Martin Quinn's Scotty.

17th July is also a double premiere, and we now know the titles for all ten episodes. Hegemony, Part II and Wedding Bell Blues will start things off, followed by Shuttle to Kenfori, A Space Adventure Hour (the 'murder mystery' episode, directed by Jonathan Frakes), Through the Lens of Time, The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail (NOT a teddy bear), What Is Starfleet?, Four-and-Half Vulcans, Terrarium, and New Life and New Civilisations. If teaser, trailer, and titles are anything to go by, that's two high fives to look forward to!