Star Trek: Section 31 Teaser Reveals Young Philippa Georgiou AND Rachel Garrett

Of all of the Star Treks talked about at San Diego Comic-Con today, Star Trek: Section 31 has no doubt had the most circuitous path to production. Although, that said, they'd been talking about a Starfleet Academy show for decades!

First announced as a series all the way back in the before-times of January 2019, and set up rather nicely in Star Trek: Discovery's second and third seasons, Section 31 went into pre-production in January 2020, to start filming in May 2020 for about seven months. Unless you're actually from space (not Iowa), we all know what happened next! For several years, Section 31 was still in development as a fully-fledged series, until April 2023, when it was announced that it would be made into a Long Trek movie instead. Oh, and just one small thing — Michelle Yeoh only went and won a bloomin' Oscar during all that! I've said it before, and I'll say it again — we are spoilt for talent!

It was back in January of this year, as production on the movie began, that we got our first look at those due to star alongside Yeoh — Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Sam Richardson, Sven Ruygrok, Robert Kazinsky, Humberly Gonzalez, and James Hiroyuki Liao. Then, in March, Variety, as they often seem to with their exclusives, dropped the biggest of bombshells since Jankom Pog used the sonic toilet, sending all our heads spinning right to next Tuesday! As the Variety article reported, Kacey Rohl of that list would be playing none other than a young Rachel Garrett (of, later, the Enterprise-C), which was awesome enough, but it also meant that at least part of Section 31 was set in the oh-so-very-much-talked-about-but-never-much-visited 'Lost Era'.

They really did peak high and well in advance of things Comic on the West Coast with that one. There is perhaps little more they could have revealed of equal clout on the panel, but, introduced by Yeoh herself, we did get a teaser — in places high octane, high glamour, and just a little bit naughty. That'll be those "colourful metaphors" the "Starfleet Command Media Division, Misfit Content" was referring to! And look at the eyes, the eyes, of the character played by Sam Richardson! He's a Chameloid — a shapeshifter first seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The trailer also featured the young Garrett, and it appears she will be assigned to keep an eye on Georgiou and her crew. At SDCC, her first major press for Star Trek, Rohl revealed that she had watched Yesterday's Enterprise "so many times" for the role. Also in younger form, and for the first time on screen, was Philippa Georgiou, played by Miku Martineau. We see her as she takes to the throne (or it takes to her, perhaps) as Emperor.

I have it on excellent authority from CinemaBlend's Mick Joest — who was in the room — that the trailer was so well received it was played a second time. That all bodes well for Section 31, to be released in early 2025. The Long Trek will also be a test bed for others, for more Star Trek: Lower Decks in movie form, we hope, for example. Such a heavy burden doesn't have to lie solely on the shoulders of one film, however. The Long Trek format is an idea worth giving a few solid shots, and one perhaps befitting a Legacy. In the meantime, there's a party at the club and some "Deltan fraternising" to do!