Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh stars inStar Trek: Section 31, and here’s everything we know aboutStar Trek’s first made-for-streaming movie. A spinoff ofStar Trek: Discovery, Yeoh reprises her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, the former ruler of the Mirror Universe’s Terran Empire who joined Starfleet’s mysterious Section 31 inStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2.Star Trek: Section 31was originally planned as an ongoing show, and in January 2019, development began on aStar Trek: Section 31series, which was scheduled to film from May to November 2020.
Yeoh’s character, Emperor Georgiou, was written out ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 3, to segue her intoSection 31. However, the COVID-19 pandemic haltedSection 31’s production. Yeoh’s availability also impactedSection 31, especially when she won the Best Actress Academy Award forEverything Everywhere All At Once. However,Yeoh used her Oscar cloutto putSection 31into production, this time as a feature film to stream on Paramount+.
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Star Trek: Discovery is over, and soon Lower Decks will end, but even with fewer shows, there is still lots of exciting stuff ahead for Star Trek.
Star Trek: Section 31 Critical Reception
A Universally Reviled Streaming Movie Debut
After the movie’s long and laborious journey to get to the small screen,the reception forStar Trek: Section 31was as cold as the vast reaches of outer space. Securing a score onRotten Tomatoesbelow 30%, the Paramount+ exclusive was described as a “disaster” bySlate. More specifically, the site mentioned thatSection 31failed to feel likeStar Trekand was instead a cheap imitation ofGuardians of the Galaxyand the heist genre. Echoing those sentiments,IGNlamented the bland and derivative nature of the movie.
Screen Rantwas a bit softer on the movie (giving it a 6 out of 10 score), and mostly heaped praise upon Michelle Yeoh’s performance. However, even the more positive review couldn’t help but note thatSection 31was utterly devoid of theStar Trekmagic.
Star Trek: Section 31 Cast Details
Section 31 Includes New Faces & Star Trek Legacy Characters
Joining Michelle Yeoh (who plays Philippa Georgiou) inStar Trek: Section 31’s castare Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Kacey Rohl, Rob Kazinsky, Sven Ruygrok, Humberly Gonzalez, James Hiroyuki Liao, Joe Pingue, Miku Martineau, and Augusto Bitter. Rohl plays the younger version ofRachel Garrett,the doomed future Captain of the USS Enterprise-C, who was played by Tricia O’Neill in theStar Trek: The Next Generationclassic, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”.
Richardson plays the first Chameloid shapeshifter seen sinceStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, while Humberly Gonzalez plays a Deltan (a race seen inStar Trek:The Motion Picture). Meanwhile, Rob Kazinsky Zeph, while Miku Martineau plays the younger version of Georgiou.
Star Trek: Section 31 Trailer
Section 31 Is Unlike Any Star Trek Fans Have Seen
Star Trek: Section 31’s first teaser trailer premiered atSan Diego Comic-Con 2024. Highlighting more action thanStar Trekfans are typically accustomed to,Section 31’s trailer also evokes a central dilemma asEmperor Georgiou’s black ops spy team conflicts with the morality espoused by Starfleet.Section 31’s trailer introduces the entire team Georgiou assembles with the central characters appearing. It also shows intriguing flashbacks of Emperor Georgiou’s blood-soaked past, with the young Philippa played by Miku Martineau.
With only a few weeks to go until the movie’s premiere, Paramount dropped afull trailerforStar Trek: Section 31. The exciting trailer opens with Emperor Georgioubeing recruited on a Section 31 mission that has galactic consequences. Teaming up with a rag-tag group of other agents, Georgiou is willing to save others, but she will do it the Section 31 way. Besides showing off the movie’s slick visuals and explosive action, the trailer also drops a few more hints about the various alien races that will appear in the movie.
Star Trek: Section 31 Ending & Spoilers
A Time Travel Adventure In Star Trek’s “Lost Era”
While the main adventure of the movie was exciting in its own right,the ending ofStar Trek: Section 31was mostly devised to set up more stories in the future. The over-the-top doomsday weapon plot was tightly wrapped up by the final moments of the movie, but it’s clear that Georgiou and the black-ops group had only just gotten started. The ending also gave some closure to Georgiou herself, and it’s clear that she’s grown a bit from her previously ruthless form seen inDiscovery.
Star Trek: Section 31 Sequel Setup
Section 31 Is Given Another Assignment
a terrible critical reception, and a lengthy, complicated production timeline, might make Paramount+ reticent to green-light another movie.
As with most action movies,Star Trek: Section 31couldn’t end without very clearly nodding toward a sequel at some point in the future. All twists and reveals aside, the conclusion makes it clear that the events of the movie were only one mission for the titular black-ops group, and a cinematic franchise could easily blossom. However, a terrible critical reception, and a lengthy, complicated production timeline, might make Paramount+ reticent to green-light another movie.
Star Trek: Section 31
Cast
Star Trek: Section 31 follows Emperor Philippa Georgiou as she joins a clandestine Starfleet division tasked with protecting the United Federation of Planets, confronting the consequences of her past actions.
