Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunner Explains The Choice To Retcon The Gorn

Even the most casual of Trekkies know that the fandom pretty much holds franchise canon to the highest of standards. After over 50 years of "Star Trek," that's a heck of a lot of minutiae to keep track of. Luckily, few properties are better equipped to handle such intense scrutiny, and "Strange New Worlds," in particular, has a lot of fun coloring in between the lines of established history. The prequel series is currently ramping up for its third season (which /Film's Jacob Hall reviewed here), and, as you can imagine, there are plenty more instances of playing fast and loose with the "rules" of the world at this point in the timeline. It's no spoiler to say there are holodeck hijinks and even more setup for "Star Trek: The Original Series" to come, but what about those pesky questions surrounding the alien antagonists known as the Gorn?

When "Strange New Worlds" first reintroduced the Gorn back in season 1, the famous villains from "The Original Series" were given quite the makeover for audiences these days. Gone was the slow, janky, man-in-a-suit silliness that William Shatner's James T. Kirk had to contend with, replaced by fearsome lizards created with visual effects and obviously meant to take a page out of the Xenomorph playbook. To say that these changes were controversial would be an understatement, but there was always a method behind the approach.

That news comes straight from showrunner Akiva Goldsman, who recently indicated that he thought the series was the perfect opportunity to take one of the most beloved aspects of the original show and add a thoroughly refreshing twist to our conception of the property. To hear him tell it, this goes far beyond simply modernizing the Gorn — he wanted to add a unique thematic flavor to "Star Trek" and its typical approach to good versus evil.

Throughout three seasons of "Strange New Worlds," the Gorn have certainly claimed their fair share of victims: the Aenar Starfleet officer Hemmer (Bruce Horak), the family of La'an (Christina Chong), and the general peace of mind of pretty much anyone unfortunate enough to cross paths with them. For those who assumed the history of the Gorn had been set in stone decades ago, well, think again! Viewers will remember that season 2 ended on a cliffhanger related to the Gorn Hegemony, leaving us desperate to see how this storyline may be resolved. Showrunner Akiva Goldsman addressed this very issue a few weeks ago following the season 3 premiere of "Strange New Worlds" in New York City.

During a special Q&A after the screening of the Gorn-centric debut episode, which /Film attended, Goldsman was asked about the choice to retcon the Gorn and, in the process, upend a certain "Trek" tradition dating back to its earliest days:

"What I loved about the Gorn was the idea that it was an opportunity to retcon something into 'Worlds.' What we do in 'Star Trek,' I think, is we start by seeing the 'other.' And often we end by engaging our empathy and understanding common ground. That's great. And it doesn't mean that there isn't real evil in the world. What we wanted to do with the Gorn was to create a monster. And a monster that, at least at first, seemed evil."

Straddling the line between seeing the good in all beings versus the abject "evil" of a species like the Gorn is just one of many ways "Strange New Worlds" has added a new flavor to "Star Trek." The series may be ending with its fifth and final season, but there are still plenty of episodes left to keep us on our toes. Season 3 premieres on Paramount+ July 17, 2025.