Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 release date speculation and news
Pike and the team are getting a major transformation for one eccentric episode.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will continue going boldly where the franchise has never been before – with the latest frontier being the glorious world of puppetry.
That's right: Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and his crew will appear in one season 4 episode as puppets, although the exact reason for their transformation is yet to be disclosed.
The zany idea follows an earlier musical episode as well as an unexpected crossover with animated series Lower Decks, which saw Jack Quaid (Brad Boimler) and Tawny Newsome (Beckett Mariner) bring their voice roles to live-action.
Clearly, this is a show that isn't afraid to keep surprising fans, whether longtime Trekkies or newcomers to the constantly evolving franchise.
If you're excited to see more, here's everything we know so far about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 on Paramount Plus.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 release date speculation
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 does not yet have a confirmed release date, but the episodes are confirmed to be dropping in 2026 on Paramount Plus.
Production got underway in March of this year, meaning that it's quite possible that season 4 will be ready by May or June 2026, thus returning it to the months that seasons 1 and 2 began in years' past.
Of course, the third was severely delayed by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, which saw members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) withdraw their labour from numerous high-profile projects.
The rapid progress on season 4 and the advance renewal of Strange New Worlds for a fifth and final season seems designed to help the show recapture its lost momentum after that longer-than-planned hiatus.
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 cast
Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Celia Rose Gooding are confirmed to be reprising their roles in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, having been pictured on the set of the upcoming episodes.
Other key cast members, such as Rebecca Romijn and Babs Olusanmokun, are also returning, alongside repeat guest stars Paul Wesley (James T Kirk), Adrian Holmes (Robert April) and Dan Jeannotte (Sam Kirk).
Here's a round-up of the Strange New Worlds season 4 cast announced so far:
- Anson Mount as Christopher Pike
- Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley / Number One
- Ethan Peck as Spock
- Jess Bush as Christine Chapel
- Christina Chong as La'An Noonien-Singh
- Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura
- Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas
- Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga
- Martin Quinn as Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott
- Paul Wesley as James T Kirk
- Adrian Holmes as Robert April
- Dan Jeannotte as Sam Kirk
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 plot speculation
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will once again send its crew on a number of wild adventures, including another comical foray into surreal territory with a puppet-led episode.
The light-hearted sci-fi series has previously toyed with its format, producing both a musical episode and an animated crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks.
This puppet edition marks one of their most ambitious efforts yet, with showrunner Henry Alonso Myers explaining that "a lot of time and care" went into it, estimating the work to have spanned "more than six months".
Other episodes will no doubt be teased as we get closer to the release.
Is there a trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4?
Alas, there's no full trailer for the next chapter just yet, but Paramount Plus did drop a sneak peek at a puppet-themed episode at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. Watch here:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount Plus. Sign up to your seven-day Paramount Plus free trial.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
