Star Trek: Section 31 - Everything You Need To Know

Since hitting the streaming realm in 2017, "Star Trek: Discovery" has been one of the best of the various incarnations in the greater Trek-verse. It's also become one of the more gloriously diverse editions of the "Star Trek" franchise, with creators populating the USS Discovery with a crew befitting a narrative that has always purported to explore brave new worlds. And just like its predecessors, the series has indeed boldly gone where no prior iteration — streaming or otherwise — has gone before. 

It seems the journey begun in "Star Trek: Discovery" will push that exploration even further when the series' first spin-off finally makes its way to the Paramount+ platform. That project will be a Paramount+ original movie with the working title "Star Trek: Section 31," and it's set to expand on one of the most thrilling storylines from the first three seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery." 

Here's everything new and returning fans need to know about "Star Trek: Section 31."   

If you've been watching "Star Trek: Discovery" since its early days, the name Section 31 no doubt rings a few particular bells. And you might also know a Section 31 spin-off project has been in the works at Paramount+ for a few years. That fact was initially reported by Entertainment Weekly in 2019, and it's only fitting that the outlet was among the first to note that the project is now finally happening. 

As EW notes, it appears that "Star Trek: Section 31" will now hit Paramount+ as a single, feature-length movie instead of the series its creators initially envisioned. It will still detail the inner workings of the titular Starfleet sect, which are basically like the Central Intelligence Agency for the Federation of Planets. To the delight of "Star Trek" fans, the movie will be centered on the "Discovery" character who essentially introduced the clandestine agency to the Trek-loving masses. 

That character is Emperor Philippa Georgiou, and the series will follow the woman as she joins the secret Starfleet agency, doing so as she attempts to address her past transgressions. And as "Discovery" fans know, that will be no minor feat.

As thrilled as "Star Trek: Discovery" fans will be by the return of Emperor Phillipa Georgiou, they'll be even more over the moon to learn the character will be played by the actor who portrayed her on the series, Michelle Yeoh. The "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star was a major get for "Discovery" when she joined the series in its first season, but it's safe to say that's even more true these days. Yeoh is, of course, coming off a career year thanks to the runaway success of her film "Everything Everywhere All At Once," for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

As it is, that big win, and the career boon that will surely follow, may help explain why "Star Trek: Section 31" has transitioned from a time-consuming series to a standalone movie. Whatever the case, it'll be great to see Yeoh back in Trek mode, as her character was a fan-favorite over the first three seasons of "Discovery." 

Phillipa Georgiou was actually two characters as it were, with Yeoh playing both the Prime dimension version of the character and her mirror dimension counterpart. Given the fate of the Prime iteration, Yeoh will understandably return as the mirror-verse version. And it should be fascinating to watch that character's "Section 31" journey. For now, Yeoh is the only confirmed cast member of "Star Trek: Section 31."

As Entertainment Weekly reported, the telling of Emperor Phillipa Georgiou's story in "Star Trek: Section 31" will be in capable hands, with Craig Sweeny serving as the film's writer and Olatunde Osunsanmi on board to direct. Both writer and director are alums of "Star Trek: Discovery," so they're familiar with the world in which "Section 31" is set. 

As for Sweeny, "Discovery" was hardly his first rodeo in Hollywood, with the scribe also earning credits on hit series like "The 4400," "Medium," "Elementary," and "Limitless." And Osunsanmi has been working as an executive producer on "Discovery" since its inception, helming 12 episodes of the series himself — including several fronting Michelle Yeoh's characters. In addition, Osunsanmi has also directed episodes of "Under the Dome," "Falling Skies," "Gotham," "Colony," and "Bates Motel," just in case you were questioning his genre cred. That sort of behind-the-scenes talent should get fans excited to see what they do with "Star Trek: Section 31."

Unfortunately, no official date has been set for the movie's streaming release. The good news is that fans will likely not have to wait that long to get eyes on it. According to Entertainment Weekly, "Star Trek: Section 31" is set to start shooting later this year. And that means the film may be lining up to hit Paramount+ sometime in 2024.

That is pure speculation, of course, with much relying on "Section 31" not hitting any production snags along the way. But given the Twitter reactions from some fans, people are pretty excited about Yeoh's return to the franchise. That includes user @nancywyuen, who celebrated the news with the post, "Best news of the day: Michelle Yeoh headlining a #StarTrek movie." They were not alone in their excitement, with @wenbbilliams replying to the news with "In other news I'm now a 'Star Trek' fan," and @OkDoomsday summing up the general feeling of fandom by stating, "Michelle Yeoh was by far the best thing about 'Discovery.' Looking forward to this."

Thus begins the wait to see Michelle Yeoh back in action in "Star Trek: Section 31."