Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Pike And Spock Both Want A Next Generation Crossover
"Star Trek" has been boldly going where no one has gone before for upwards of 50 years at this point ... but for some, there's still a little more room left to push that pioneering spirit. We are well and truly living in the age of blockbuster crossovers and, for the first time in "Trek" history, even this typically high-minded property is starting to get in on the action. Perhaps inspired by Marvel doing its thing for the last 15 years and the recent multiverse trend sweeping the globe, the franchise has tabbed the hit series "Strange New Worlds" and the animated show "Lower Decks" as the perfect projects for an upcoming crossover episode. And after getting a taste of that, it sure seems like the two main co-stars of "Strange New Worlds" want even more of the action in the future.
In the new July 2023 issue of SFX Magazine, "Strange New Worlds" co-leads Anson Mount (who plays Captain Christopher Pike) and Ethan Peck (who plays the pointy-eared science officer Spock) were asked to aim for the stars and imagine their ideal "Star Trek" crossover. Naturally, the pair had the exact same answer: the fan-favorite "The Next Generation" series, following the adventures of Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D. But as for why they'd choose that show specifically, the two had very different and very personal reasons.
Crossover potential
Who wouldn't want to team up with one of the grandest captains in all of Starfleet and fly off on adventures to parts of the galaxy unknown, exploring the stars together? Even though there's a few hundred years of canonical history separating the crew of "Strange New Worlds" and "The Next Generation," well, Anson Mount and Ethan Peck aren't letting facts get in the way of their ultimate crossover wish list. Their reasons for picking this era of "Trek" in particular, however, come from a deeply personal place.
In the same interview published in SFX Magazine, Mount described having known Stewart since he was 22 years old in grad school, having met each other through an unnamed mutual friend of theirs. He went on to say, "That friend has now passed and every time Patrick and I see each other we marvel at how it's just so sad that she's not here to see it, because she really would have loved to see us as part of the same franchise. And if we could actually be on the same show or movie or something, that would really be the icing on the cake."
Peck's motives are no less touching. According to the Spock actor:
"I'd have to say 'The Next Generation,' just because I've gotten now to work with [longtime 'Trek' director and Will Riker actor] Jonathan Frakes and I've gotten to know some of the cast. They're so fun and wonderful and I've become a fan of the show. Furthermore, I think Data is my all-time favorite character. It would be a dream come true to have a scene between Spock and Data. Played by Brent Spiner, of course."
That sound you just heard is a billion Trekkies spontaneously combusting over this dream scenario.
Strange New Worlds: Endgame?
Season 2 of "Strange New Worlds" is shaping up to take the incredibly strong foundation established last year and push things to even greater heights ... but those hoping for crossovers beyond the scheduled one with the animated crew of "Lower Decks" — namely Jack Quaid's Brad Boimler and Tawny Newsome's Beckett Mariner — will have to keep waiting. As unlikely as it is that this hypothetical "Strange New Worlds"/"The Next Generation" mashup will ever come to pass (especially after the series finale of "Star Trek: Picard" recently wrapped up with a nice, nostalgic bow), that's not the only wild card that our favorite "Strange New Worlds" co-stars have up their sleeves.
When asked later on in the SFX Magazine interview for their most out-there suggestions of another genre or IP to smash together with "Strange New Worlds," their answers were pretty hilarious. Anson Mount offered up a very endearing answer with a self-deprecating laugh: "Man, I don't know ... I've been watching a lot of Hal Ashby films?" As much as we'd love to see the late director of 1971's "Harold and Maude" somehow get his "Trek" on, Ethan Peck's suggestion is even more wild:
"I'm always joking with the cast about how we could take, in a brawl, any other cast. So I think it'd be really funny if the Enterprise entered the Marvel Universe, and just whooped on Thanos. I just think it'd be so funny. But that's an impossible dream."
Well, you can't criticize the guy for a lack of imagination. Complicated rights issues probably make this about as likely as a "Star Wars"/"Star Trek" crossover ... but as our favorite captain always liked to say: Make it so!
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 2 debuts June 15, 2023, on Paramount+.