Walter Koenig 1936 - 2026

Star Trek has lost one of its key bridge crew of the Enterprise with the death of Walter Koenig at the age of 90. The actor is most famous for playing Pavel Chekov for Star Trek: The Original Series and the movies. A character remarkable at the time for his Russian origins at the height of the Cold War. 

The news of Koenig died Sunday and was reported by Zachery McGinnis of Galactic Productions who wrote "Walter’s legacy extends far beyond the screen. Through countless convention appearances and interactions with fans, he shared his kindness, wit, and appreciation with everyone fortunate enough to meet him. He understood what Star Trek meant to people and embraced the community that grew around it." Koenig was a Star Trek mainstay on the convention circuit willing to provide a smile, a story and signature to fans for many decades. 

George Takei (Sulu) wrote about his friend, saying “My heart is heavy. Walter Koenig, our Ensign Pavel Chekov, passed away early today. Walter and I met on the bridge of the Enterprise in the 1960s, and we stayed friends for nearly six decades. ...Walter was more than Chekov. He was a writer, a teacher, a thoughtful man, and a loyal friend. To the fans who loved him for so many years, thank you. He loved you too. Rest well, my dear friend. Keep navigating a steady course.” 

Walter Koenig was born on September 14, 1936 and started his career as a dancer before transitioning to acting. His earliest roles were guest spots on TV shows like The Untouchables, Gidget, I Spy, and the pilot episodes of General Hospital. In 1967 he was cast in Star Trek for its second season. After Star Trek's cancellation he continued with guest appearances on TV before returning to Star Trek with The Motion Picture and continued to play the role off over the years with the last official appearance as Pavel in Star Trek: Generations (1994). 

 For many sci-fi fans they may remember him as Alfred Bester in 12 episodes of Babylon 5 as one of the series bad guys. Walter later unofficially reprised the role of Pavel for Star Trek: Renegades, a fan created TV series in 2015. One of the last large scale fan created work before Paramount banned fan creations as part of their 2017 re-launch of Star Trek on TV. 

His final performance for Star Trek was the voice of Pavel's son Federation President Anton Chekov for Star Trek: Picard series finale in 2023. The use of Anton was a node to Anton Yelchin who played Chekov in the Kelvin universe films. 

Keonig joins his wife of 57 years Judy Levitt (died 2022 at 83) and his son Richard Stabone (died 2010 at 41). He is survived by his daughter Danielle Koenig and grandson Oliver. Along with his many fans and admirers from around the world.

Magic: The Gathering Star Trek Set Revealed

The first solid look at Magic: The Gathering - Star Trek set has been revealed via the video below. The set is entirely focused on 60 years of Star Trek, the 33 year card game will make use of renaming existing game mechanics while introducing new ones that are based on the Star Trek universe. 

Even if not familiar with Magic as a game, which is somewhat simple in concept but incredibly complicated in execution (think Chess), for me the main value of Magic has always been the art that is created for the sets and this one is no different as it taps into all many characters, worlds, ships, moments and franchises from the last 60 years that may act as a fun walk down memory lane.

I recommend viewing the video below whether a seasoned player or if only to check out the art. It starts with a couple of minutes with various actors from the franchise discussing the cards with the younger set knowing about Magic and the older set just briefly talking Trek. It then moves into members of the Magic team going over various cards and the mechanics being introduced.

The sets does have very rare signatures cards (250 copies each) from various actors from the franchise including William Shatner and Patrick Stewart but they are only possible to get in Collector Booster packs which often average $80 per pack (~$700 per box of 12 packs) so not really something I recommend aiming for. 

Collecting Magic cards can be expensive, I do not recommend approaching it with a "have to collect them all" mentality but approach it as something that may provide some neat artwork and maybe a game worth learning to play. Or if seasoned player, a way to devise new ways to defeat future opponents. 

Most local card shots and online stores have pre-orders available now for a release date of November 13, 2026. The pre-release weekend starts November 6 and allows you to buy Pre-Release box that lets you play with the set for the first time, check with local card stores for details. If just want to check out the cards, good chance Target, Walmart and stores like that will have individual packs available starting November 13 for around $7 each. 

Amazon also has sets currently for pre-order, be aware prices will flucuate wildly over time and never know if will be cheaper or more expensive. The nature of a collector's hobby. 

Packs: Booster Box of 36 packs | Collector Booster | Collector Booster Box of 12 packs 

Bundles: Star Trek Bundle | Beam Me Up Bundle | Draft Night 

Commander Decks: Federation Fleet | Landing Party | Klingon Fury | We Are The Borg 

Sets: Set of 4 | Collector's Edition Set of 4

Scene Box: Divergent | Enterprise-Q 

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Blu-Ray Set

Now available for pre-order on Amazon is Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Blu-Ray set for release on December 1st on two discs. A DVD or 4K release is not currently announced. The set will contain the ten episodes of the season but no other special feature details have been revealed. This post will be updated once more information is released.

The Center Seat II Out for Star Trek's 60th

Happy Birthday to Star Trek. Five years after it's first season, the second season of The Center Seat documentary is out now for the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek. The franchise official birthday is today as it marks the day the first episode of Trek aired on NBC. The first season covered the TV shows from TOS to Enterprise with Star Trek I to VI. The second six episode season covers the TNG movies and the Kelvin set movies. Both seasons are on YouTube from the Nacelle Company.

Star Trek Movie Potentially About Corruption In Starfleet

It seems the next Star Trek movie is moving along in its scripting phrase. The writers and directors of the film, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, spoke about the story. The short of it they are seeking to tell a story that is mostly independent of continuity that will hopefully be open for non-Star Trek fans and one that examines Starfleet and what could happen if its power was abused. 

 For The Discourse podcast, they compared their movie to two films with Goldstein saying “We’re less focused on, like, what continuity we’re in, which timeline. It’s more about how do we bring this franchise to audiences that don’t necessarily consider themselves Trekkies? What can we do that hasn’t been done before? Our approach is to really look at it from a question of, what is this institution of Starfleet that’s at the heart of ‘Star Trek’? And what would happen if all is not well in that institution? The movie that we talk about as the comp is ‘Training Day.’” Daley followed up saying, “And ‘Crimson Tide’. Those are the two that we sort of used as our spiritual benchmarks.” 

They also spoke with Inverse with Goldstein saying the goal of the project is to bring in new fans, "I mean, look, we don’t want to rely on fandom. We don’t want to just hope that there are enough fans of the original [TOS] or The Next Generation or whatever who will turn out for this. We want to just make a great movie that lives in the world that people are familiar with — some people are familiar with — and that others will discover. And then, with good fortune, we launch a new franchise into existence." 

In both films, it could be argued their commonality is the person in position in power intentionally (Training Day) or unintentionally (Crimson Tide) abusing their power for what they think is the greater good. That is just one interpretation but extending that to Trek, it would mean one possible story could be Starfleet captain in a position to cause great harm and thinking he is doing what Starfleet would want or possibly pushing against what Starfleet ordered. Which is actually a pretty standard Star Trek story. Not that I suspect these writers would know that as get impression their knowledge of Trek is limited to some of the movies and maybe a few episodes here and there. Which I suspect for current Paramount regime is a a strong reason for choosing this pair to write a script that they may or may not greenlight.

Any case, too early to get too excited as Paramount has been wanting to do a Trek film for 10 years and this is around script attempt number 8 or 9 that has been publicly revealed. No telling how many script attempts that never revealed to the public. The sticking point remains budget as suspect Paramount wants a film that is budgeted for $100 million or less and entirely designed towards bringing in new fans which is hard to do for any franchise. Especially harder for a franchise as famous as Star Trek and its tendency to be CGI heavy. This is before get into the merger and the debit it will create. As always time will tell.

New Star Trek 60th Anniversary Events Announced

Star Trek's 60th Anniversary celebration continues with new events announced for its birthday which is on September 8 for when the episode "The Man Trap" first aired in 1966.

The Writers Guild Foundation will be hosting a live reading with the cast of The Pitt. The script for the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Man Trap" will be read. Noah Wyle will be Kirk, Katherine LaNasa as Bones, Taylor Dearden as Spock with other members as the cast in unspecified roles. The reading will take place on August 30 at 7pm PT/10ET in LA with livestream and on-demand tickets costing $20. Proceeds will go to the Writers Guild Foundation who will use it for their various charity programs and events.

Next up is re-release in theaters of Star Trek 1 to 4 with an episode from Star Trek: The Original Series paired with each along with an all day marathon viewing by Cinemark and AMC Theaters. There will be "The Changeling" with Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director's Cut on Sept 4 and 8, "Space Seed" with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Cut on Sept. 5 and 8, "Amok Time" with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock on Sept 6 and 8 and lastly "The City on the Edge of Forever" with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8.  Cinemark has the schedule up on their website (search for Star Trek 60th) but AMC does not have their schedule up yet. AMC does have a look at their special 60th anniversary concession collectibles for the event. No price provided.

Not to be left out, Regal Cinemas will show the Star Trek 60th anniversary documentary "The Sixy-Year Mission" on October 9th. William Shatner, Walter Koenig and George Takei recorded new interviews for this documentary that is directed by Mark A. Altman (Free Enterprise, 50 Years of Star Trek). The doc will have interviews with all eras of Trek. Its synopsis: "This epic documentary reveals how bold artistic choices, behind-the-scenes conflicts, and groundbreaking ideas came together to create an enduring television classic. Through exclusive interviews and never-before-seen archival materials, The Sixty-Year Mission uncovers that truth is indeed stranger than science-fiction."

Last but not least, The Center Seat II: 60 Years of Star Trek was announced. Hosted by Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher).across five episodes that will cover the TNG and Kelvin movies of the franchise and can be found on Prime Video, Tubi and Apple TV starting September 8. The first season that first aired for the 55th anniversary of Trek air on the History Channel and can now be found on the Nacelle Company's YouTube channel. It covered TOS through to Enterprise along with the TOS movies and worth watching for any Star Trek fan (YouTube playlist).

SDCC 2026 Panel Brings SNW Season 4 Sneak Peak

Saturday Star Trek held its 60th anniversary Hall H panel (below) with about 30 minutes devoted to Trek alumni and then the last half devoted to Star Trek upcoming shows including Strange New Worlds. The alumni panel included George Takei (TOS), Michael Dorn (TNG, DS9), Robert Picardo (VOY, PRO, SFA), Cirroc Lofton (DS9), Dominic Keating (ENT), Doug Jones (DSC), Michelle Hurd (PIC), Jerry O’Connell (LDS), Christina Chong (SNW) and Karim Diané (SFA). The SNWs portion had  the main bridge crew with Anson Mount (Pike), Rebecca Romijn (Una Chin-Riley), Ethan Peck (Spock), Christina Chong (La’an Noonien-Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Uhura), Melissa Navia (Ortegas) and Paul Wesley (James T. Kirk) along with executive producers Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers and Alex Kurtzman.

As part of the panel they released an interestingly edited video celebrating 60 years of Trek. They also provided a sneak peak vide of the upcoming season 4 of Strange New Worlds where the first episode is now available on Paramount+. Both are below. 

On the news front, they revealed a new Star Trek: Starfleet Academy cast member "Ruaridh Aldington joins season 2 of Starfleet Academy as a series regular playing Keats, a young alien our cadets encounter on an away mission who possesses a mysterious backstory. When the cadets make the risky decision to bring him back to Starfleet Academy, they realize he’s a wanted man, and his life is in danger.” They also revealed that Star Trek Scouts, a series for pre-schoolers, will have its second season 2 premiere on September 8. The 30 episode season of 3 minute length vids was likely ordered with the first so this will probably be its final season due to Paramount ending Trek productions for the foreseeable future.

Star Trek Movie Script Update at SDCC 2026

In a panel for "Directors on Directing" at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, writers and directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley spoke for the first time about their work on a Star Trek movie script. The update can best be summed up as "still in progress" and they re-iterated that its new characters in a new setting. 

Its unlikely the now ending run of last ten years of TV shows factor in anyway in their plans and it remains unknown if the movie is a reboot, set in prime universe or elsewhere. Really the below is the most information have on a new Star Trek movie in years.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Premiere Now Available

The first episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is now available on Paramount+. A new episode will premiere each Thursday on the streaming service. The first episode called "Valles Marineris". Below is a clip from the episode which is not a western but just the opening scene of the season and really doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the episode. This episode will probably be called the one with dinosaurs.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Official Trailer

Here is the new trailer for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4. The 10 episode season begins its run on July 23 with new episodes released weekly until September 24. The already filmed final season does not yet have a date for its six episode run but at this time its assumed to be in 2027. 

That and the final season of Starfleet Academy will bring this ten year run of Trek to a close for at least the rest of this decade as the merged Paramount/WB will have different priorities due to estimated $79 billion in debt the company will have to pay monthly interest on when their summed value is currently around $80 billion.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Available On Digital

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1 is now available to purchase on digital platforms including Amazon, Google Play, Apple and all the others. The cost is around $22.99 for all 10 seasons. Bonus features include "First Year" BTS feature, featurette on show's props, gag reel, two deleted scenes and an extended scene. 

Currently no word on if the season will be released on Blu-ray. Also currently no release date for second and final season that is expected to close out this iteration of Star Trek for the foreseeable future.

Strange New Worlds Season 4 Debut Date, Teaser Trailer

Over the weekend, the CCXP (Comic Con Experience) was held in Mexico City, Mexico. As part of that Paramount+ revealed that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 will premiere on July 23. The 10 episode season will then have new episodes weekly to September 24. As part of that Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Celia Rose Gooding and Paul Wesley were on hand to introduce the teaser trailer for the season. From the press release:

In season four of the Paramount+ original series, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise — led by Captain Christopher Pike — embark on a series of thrilling and emotional adventures across the stars. As they journey to strange new worlds, they will battle inner demons and external threats, encounter colorful new characters, reunite with familiar faces and confront terrifying aliens. Through it all, they strive to embrace a bright, hopeful future.

The show has already filmed its fifth and final season of six episodes that all signs indicate will likely conclude this era of Star Trek for the foreseeable future in 2027 as Paramount and WB spend years dealing with their mega-merger and the fall out from that.

Paramount Reiterates Star Trek Movie Plans for Umpteenth Time

This is really a nothing burger of news considering its a repeat of ten years of the same news but its making the media news rounds so covering it. Thursday at CinemaCon, a convention for theater owners, Paramount held its presentation. As part of the that, the new owner of Paramount and soon WB David Ellison made a promise of 30 movies, 45-day window before selling digitally and SVOD (aka streaming to Paramount+) release at 90 days. Along with that he mentioned of vague future plans from Paramount including “World War Z,” “Top Gun,” “G.I. Joe”, "Star Trek", and “Transformers” sequels. None of which have scripts or anywone attached to them to direct. Literally that is the sum total of news. No one is clear how a studio can release 30 films to theaters without competing with its own movies.

New Star Trek: Discovery Auction Announced from PropStore

PropStore has announced an auction for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks props as Paramount begins to empty their storage spaces of all things Star Trek as they but the TV side to rest for unknown period of time. Unlike a previous auction that was location specific and did not ship anything to buyers, this one is online only so anyone can participate if they have the money. Bidding has already begun on the 340 lots that include customues, props and more. More details here.

Official Star Trek Auction Marks Unofficial End to Current Trek Era (Updated)

While not yet official, the announcement of 60th Anniversary Star Trek Universe Auction indicates the end has come for the current era of Star Trek which once that last seasons air will be from 2017 to 2027. The auction is an interesting one as its for charity, likely not include the most valuable items and requires winners to be a local Ontario, Canada resident. You can find the details here or here.

The Future of Star Trek Analysis

Usually the decision to cancel a show on streaming is rarely done in less than two weeks after its season has aired. Yet Paramount+ did that with Starfleet Academy. When its fast be it in streaming or regular TV it almost always indicates a show wildly underperformed and that seems likely here. 

Possibly could blame the merger with Warner Bros. and Paramount but with second season yet to air and likely time on actor contracts, there was no reason to make a decision this early and quickly except to clear the decks.

Strange New Worlds will likely have both seasons release this year and wouldn't be remotely surprised if its the entire seasons at once to save money on advertising. Same with season two of Academy once its completed post-production either late this year or early 2027.

I will be blunt - Star Trek television is dead for the foreseeable future. The movies remain a possibility but suspect the plan is a complete reboot of the franchise.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Officially Cancelled

Variety and Deadline are both reporting that Paramount+ has decided to cancel Starfleet Academy which just completed its first season run. The series has a second season in post-production that is expected to be released sometime next year. Rumors indicate that the second season ends in a cliffhanger that will now go unresolved unless they can save it in post-production.

Starfleet Academy Season 1 Finale Available Now

If you were waiting for Starfleet Academy to finish its season 1 run so could binge watch, the wait is over. The season one finale is now available on Paramount+ so now all ten episodes are available to view. Below is a click from the finale. Season 2 of the series have finished filming and now in post-production for a likely early 2027 release date. 

As for future of Star Trek after that season 2 and Strange New Worlds season 4 and 5, that is unknown as Paramount is very busy with their borgification of Warner Bros. Odds are things will be on standby for awhile.

The Doctor Now Available on Waze

If you use the Waze app on your mobile phone for directions, you can now have it use the voice of Robert Picardo as he channels The Doctor to give out directions. The actor reprised his Voyager role for Prodigy and can be seen now on Starfleet Academy. From Waze, "The Doctor, voiced by Robert Picardo, brings his signature charm and encyclopedic knowledge to your drive with analytic ease and wit to help you navigate everything from traffic hazards to the final frontier of your daily commute. As The Doctor says, problems are not insurmountable as long as you follow his precise directions." In general, the way to change it is go Waze, touch the menu icon (the three lines stacked on each other), then touch "Settings", then "Voice and sound", under Voice section, touch "Current voice". A list of available voice will appear including Mr. Wolf, just look scroll until find "English (US) - The Doctor". You may also see banner about it on the app which will make it real quick to switch. There are also options to change car icon to the USS Athena and your mood icon to Vulcan salute.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Wraps Production

The second season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy completed production today for what is looking to be its final season. Its first season is currently airing on Paramount+ with season 1 finale coming in a few weeks. It should be noted that Paul Giamatti did not return for season 2 but is open to returning if there is a season 3. As of now, there are no new plans for future shows or seasons of any show for Star Trek. Plenty of rumors but nothing concrete. With Paramount executives focused on acquiring Warner Bros., long term planning is pretty much impossible right now as planning requires a budget and budgets are in limbo right now. No acquistion and suddenly have to plan for the future and will have the money to do that. Acquire WB and money is extremely tight as the merged company will have a debt load nearly equal to its value. Star Trek could be put back in storage as ratings have been declining and the online trolls keep getting louder. The focus will shift to HBO streaming as its a greater profit center compared to Paramount+. Its a mess and a mess that may not be sorted out for weeks if not months as latest news is a $31 per share offer is seriously being considered for a company that hovered around $19 a share for years. Its the definition of overpayment. Congrats to the cast and crew of Starfleet Academy. It was nice meeting you this season and personally I am looking forward to season 2.