Paramount+’s flagship Star Trek series, Star Trek: Discovery, will be back for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, and here’s everything we know about when Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery will return. Star Trek: Discovery is one of five new Star Trek series streaming on Paramount+, along with Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy. Star Trek: Discovery season 4 broke its own mold by focusing less on the action, instead tackling the Dark Matter Anomaly — a season-long threat that led Burnham and the USS Discovery into a brand-new galaxy. Going where no one has gone before, Discovery made First Contact with Species 10-C, the alien creators of the DMA, so that they could save Earth from imminent catastrophe.
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 also introduced new characters like Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) and mad scientist Dr. Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle), which also spotlights the romantic relationships of Burnham and Book (David Ajala), Saru (Doug Jones) and President T’Rina (Tara Rosling), and the trials of Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), who, as Ship’s Counselor, was responsible for the mental health of Discovery’s crew. Set in the distant future of the 32nd century, over 700 years ahead of Star Trek: Picard season 2’s 25th-century timeframe, Star Trek: Discovery has the luxury of being able to redefine Star Trek and write new canon every step of the way. Now that Burnham and her crew have saved the galaxy once again, here’s the current status of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
News
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 was confirmed in January 2022, and it was announced in June 2022 that filming had begun. Filming for the next installment has since wrapped, meaning there should be a Star Trek: Discovery season 5 release date on the way. The Star Trek: Discovery season 5 cast has been announced, with most of the season 4 cast rolling over to the latest season. A Star Trek: Discovery season 5 trailer was released to the public at the New York Comic Con back in 2022, and premiered to the public in November 2022.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Is Confirmed
Paramount+ officially renewed Star Trek: Discovery season 5 on January 18, 2022. With its fifth season, Discovery officially becomes the longest-running new Star Trek series since Star Trek: Voyager ended its 7-season run in 2001, taking the spot from Star Trek: Enterprise (which was canceled after season 4). Star Trek: Discovery season 5 will be 10 episodes, which is the shortest season of the series thus far. But the 10-episode season 5 order puts Discovery in line with the rest of Paramount+’s Star Trek shows which also have 10-episode seasons (except the younger-audience aimed Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, which has 20).
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Trailer
The Star Trek: Discovery season 5 trailer starts off with Burnham being tasked with the aforementioned treasure hunt, and it looks like she and her crew are set for quite the wild ride. The trailer details numerous fight scenes and galaxy-spanning travels as the Discovery team is taken on a manhunt. It also looks like the treasure will contain a puzzle of some kind, or perhaps the puzzle is on the way to the treasure. Either way, the Star Trek: Discovery season 5 trailer showcases tons of new worlds for the Discovery crew to explore along the way.
What Is Star Trek: Discovery About?
The series Discovery was originally set quite early within the Star Trek timeline, taking place around ten years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series. All that changed after a time travel incident at the end of the second season which sent the crew forward in time by about 900 years.
Unlike most ships in Star Trek which use dilithium to achieve faster-than-light travel, the Discovery uses a highly experimental mycelial spore drive. This fungi-powered drive becomes invaluable when Burnham and the crew discover that in the 32nd Century, there is no more dilithium, making it impossible for most ships to even travel at Warp 1 (light speed).
Who Is in the Cast?
Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham. Burnham hasn’t had an easy go of it over the course of the series thus far, but the end of the fourth season sees Burnham shining in her role as Captain of the Discovery as she works to help Starfleet and the Federation rebuild. Martin-Green has received rave reviews for her portrayal of the complicated Burnham and has even won two Saturn awards. She was previously in The Walking Dead, where she played the role of Sasha Williams. Martin-Green has also had recurring roles in The Good Wife, New Girl, and Once Upon A Time. She also played the wife of LeBron James in Space Jam: A New Legacy.
Doug Jones plays the role of Saru, the previous captain of Discovery, a role for which he won Saturn Awards in 2019 and 2021. Jones is a skilled contortionist and has played roles including Abe in Hellboy and Hellboy II, the Faun and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, and the “Amphibian Man” in The Shape of Water.
Anthony Rapp, the Broadway icon who played Mark in RENT, plays Paul Stamets. Stamets is a brilliant and intense scientist who invented the mycelial spore drive. (The character was even named after a real mycologist!) Stamets is also the first regularly appearing character in Star Trek to be openly gay.
Stamets’s husband Dr. Hugh Culber is played by Wilson Cruz. Cruz played Ricky Vasquez in the 90s teen classic My So-Called Life. He currently voices Romeo on the children’s series The Casagrandes and played Dennis Vasquez in the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why.
Slyvia Tilly, the young and often naive cadet who has slowly worked her way up, is played by Mary Wiseman. Tilly is Wiseman’s most well-known role, but she also played Trinity in the dramedy Baskets, starring Zach Galifianakis, and was also in the series Longmire.
Adira Tal is played by Blu del Barrio. Both del Barrio and Tal identify as nonbinary, a first in the Star Trek franchise. Del Barrio also plays Raine in The Owl House and was recently in Steve Buscemi’s The Listener.
The character of Cleveland “Book” Booker, will also be returning for the fifth season. Book, an empath, is played by David Ajala. Ajala previously played Manchester Black in Supergirl and was also in Nightflyers.
Be sure to keep an eye out for David Cronenberg as well. The legendary director of films including The Fly, Videodrome, and eXistenZ plays the role of Kovich, a Starfleet operative with mysterious motives.
Some new actors joining Discovery for the fifth season include Callum Keith Rennie of Battlestar Galactica fame, Eve Harlow of The 100, and Shadowhunters’ Elias Toufexis.
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Release Date
As of February 2023, the Star Trek: Discovery season 5 release date hasn’t been announced. Production for the latest Star Trek installment wrapped in November 2022, the same time that the Star Trek: Discovery season 5 trailer was released. Presumably, a release date should be revealed sooner rather than later for the Paramount+ series.
