Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31 streaming on Paramount+, 2024. Photo Credit: Jan Thijs/Paramount+
(Jan Thijs/Paramount+)

‘There’s always another story to tell’: Alex Kurtzman and Olatunde Osunsanmi break down ‘Star Trek: Section 31’

Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh returned to the Star Trek Universe as her Star Trek: Discovery character, Emperor Philippa Georgiou, in the Paramount+ original movie Star Trek: Section 31, which premiered on Friday, January 24.

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Section 31 director Olatunde Osunsanmi and the Trek universe’s creative overlord Alex Kurtzman spoke with The Mary Sue’s entertainment maven, Rachel Leishman, to promote the latest Star Trek film, which is, according to Osunsanmi, incredibly “fun” while offering “different colors, different textures, and different emotional feelings that we don’t ordinarily get to see in Trek.” They talked about how the film explores the universe’s dark underbelly while staying true to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s utopian vision of the future, and whether fans of the Kelvin Universe will ever get to see Star Trek 4 come to fruition.

Honoring Gene Roddenberry’s vision

While speaking with Leishman, Kurtzman defended the franchise’s attempt to evolve while staying true to Roddenberry’s vision, saying, “If you’re a true fan, I think you’ll recognize that every show, every movie, everything is always trying to reinforce Roddenberry’s ultimate vision of optimism.”

Through Star Trek, Roddenberry offered an optimistic vision of space exploration, presenting viewers with a utopian vision of the future—a post-capitalist world where all are treated equally and the evils of today no longer plague society. Although Roddenberry’s vision of a sci-fi world that emphasized principles of self-development and equity (at least equity for people of color and women) was progressive for the 1960s, when Star Trek: The Original Series first aired, it was also limited by the scientific knowledge and social norms of the times. Without today’s scientific understanding of health at every size and every ability, the Enterprise’s first crew often embodied unreachable standards of perfection (which, unfortunately, were rooted in colonialism).

While Roddenberry is the father of Trek, his obsession with perfection is no longer the franchise’s focus, with modern Trek taking a more contemporary understanding of what a utopian future would look like. The creatives behind modern Trek are telling diverse stories, which attempt to move the franchise beyond the ableism, healthism, and heteronormativity inherent in Roddenberry’s comments about his vision of a “perfect” future. While some parts of the fandom celebrate how these new creators have reinterpreted Roddenberry’s vision to incorporate our evolving understanding of what it means to have a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society, others in the fandom criticize the modern Trek shows for not religiously adhering to what they believe were Roddenberry’s original intentions for the franchise.

Kurtzman continued:

“The thing that’s really exciting about Section 31 is this notion that Starfleet as we love it actually can’t exist without the people who work in the shadows to keep it safe. [It] has to do that job so that Starfleet can keep its nose clean, and that’s exciting because it means that you’re more in Western territory than you typically would be. Even though Trek was called ‘Wagon Train to the Stars’ when it first came out in the ’60s, this is a different shade … and it’s fun because it’s a redemption story.”

‘There’s always another story to tell’ in the Kelvin Timeline

Trek’s Kelvin timeline movies, created by J.J. Abrams, Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci, are controversial among fans. However, at TMS, we’ve been waiting for what feels like several centuries to see Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto return as Captain James T. Kirk and Spock, respectively. 

Paramount has a history of playing with K-Trekkies’ heartstrings, previously having confirmed that Star Trek 4 is in the works and then secretly removing the fourth Kelvin Universe film from its production schedule. And though it was reported in February 2022 that Star Trek 4 was being considered again, many K-Trekkies are unsure if they should believe reports that Chris Pine is once again in talks with the studio about reprising his role as Captain Kirk for his fourth trip to the stars, in a film set to be directed by WandaVision’s Matt Shakman.

Hoping to clarify if fans will ever see the parallel reality crew return for Star Trek 4, either on the big or small screen, Leishman asked Kurtzman: “Is there a world where I can see the Star Trek 4 that I want?”

“I wouldn’t be the one to ask,” Kurtzman answered. “I’m not doing the movies right now.”

Offering a sliver of hope (seriously, I mean only a sliver of hope), he continued, “Here’s what I know: I know the cast would love to come back. I adore all of them, and there’s always another story to tell.”

Watch the full interview below:


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Ollie Kaplan
Ollie Kaplan (she/he) is a comics critic and entertainment writer, who's dipping her toes into new types of reporting at The Mary Sue and is stoked. In 2023, he was part of the PanelxPanel comics criticism team honored with an Eisner Award. You can find some more of his writing at Prism Comics, StarTrek.com, Comics Beat, Geek Girl Authority, and in Double Challenge: Being LGBTQ and a Minority, which she co-authored with her wife, Avery Kaplan. Rebecca and her wife live in the California mountains with a herd of cats.