New animated Star Trek series is officially a go at Nickelodeon

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Star Trek: Discovery may have wrapped up its second season last week, but there's still plenty of Star Trek in our future as CBS is developing a handful of new shows set in the Star Trek universe. Franchise producer Alex Kurtzman dropped a hint earlier in the year that one of those projects would be an animated series aimed at younger audiences, and CBS announced today that the project is officially a go at Nickelodeon.

The new CG animated series follows a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation. Kevin and Dan Hageman, the screenwriting brothers behind THE LEGO MOVIE, Trollhunters, and SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, will be developing the series which will debut exclusively on Nickelodeon. "'Star Trek,' Nickelodeon, and the state of animation are doing incredibly ambitious things as of late. We couldn’t be more excited to jump aboard," said Dan and Kevin Hageman in a statement. Alex Kurtzman added, "Star Trek’s mission is to inspire generations of dreamers to build a brighter future. Dan and Kevin have crafted a story that honors its exploratory spirit in a way that’s never been done before, while the Nickelodeon team blew us away with their excitement at bringing Trek to a younger generation around the world." Kurtzman has previously teased that the kid-friendly series would take a little inspiration from the STAR WARS franchise.

I go back to my childhood and Luke Skywalker, the [Star Wars] farm boy who looks out at the twin suns of Tatooine and imagines his future. Trek never gave me that. Trek was always fully formed adults, already in Starfleet and people who have decided who they are. And it never was aspirational that way. It's important to me to find a way to go back and reach younger kids in a way that Trek should and never really has.

This new series isn't the only animated Star Trek show in development, as Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) is also working on Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated series which will put the focus on the the support crew serving on one of Starfleet's least important ships. Our next dose of Star Trek will be the as-yet-untitled series focusing on Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), which is slated to debut at the end of the year.