Star Trek Discovery season 4: Release date, cast, trailer and latest news
Star Trek: Discovery has boldly gone further than ever before... but the journey isn't over yet.
Star Trek fans will be thrilled to hear that season 4 of Discovery has a new home, and a premiere date on the horizon.
International fans were left reeling when the season four launch on Netflix was scrapped on 19th November, just two days before it was due, with Star Trek franchise owners ViacomCBS announcing that Star Trek: Discovery was coming home to its own streaming service, Paramount Plus.
Without Paramount Plus in the UK and many other regions until 2022, fans were left gutted by the huge decision.
Thankfully, a UK premiere date is now just around the corner, which will be welcome news to fans clamouring for the next instalment in the saga.
With the UK premiere date now on the horizon, what does the future have in store for the crew?
Read on for everything we know so far about Star Trek: Discovery season four on Netflix including its release date, cast and latest news.
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 release date
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 premiered on US streaming service Paramount+ on Thursday 18th November, but remained unavailable for international territories outside of the US, including the UK.
In huge news, the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery will now be available to watch on the Pluto TV Sci-fi channel in the UK on Friday 26th November at 9pm.
The news of a UK premiere in November 2021 comes as a surprise to fans when, just two days before the US launch of season 4 on Paramount+ on 18th November, it was announced that the show was being pulled from Netflix worldwide.
Star Trek’s official Twitter account confirmed that Paramount+ wouldn’t be launching in regions outside of the US until 2022.
“To our international #StarTrekDiscovery fans…”, the message read. “Internationally, the upcoming season of Star Trek: Discovery season four will now premiere exclusively where Paramount+ is available in early 2022.
“This means the new season, and all previous seasons, will be available internationally in 2022 as Paramount+ expands globally.”
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Star Trek: Discovery season 4 plot
Star Trek: Discovery 4 will continue to follow Michael Burnham's crew as they explore the distant future.
Burnham finally made it the rank of Captain in the season three finale, meaning she will be leading the crew of the Discovery on their next expedition - wherever it takes them.
It's a tough gig at the best of times but she may face some particularly stern opposition from engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), who is seemingly still harbouring resentment over Michael's decision to expel him from the ship in There Is a Tide.
But generally, the characters on this show find themselves in a remarkably optimistic position heading into season four, following the defeat of the villainous Osyraa (Janet Kidder) and the identification of what caused The Burn.
The latter can be chalked up to Kelpien survivor Su'Kal (Bill Irwin), who appears determined to set things right after some encouragement from Saru (Doug Jones).
The relationships between the crew members will no doubt continue to evolve in exciting new ways as they are thrown into new situations, with some speculating romance could be on the cards for Keyla (Emily Coutts) and Joann (Oyin Oladejo).
We'll also see the return of at least one other familiar face (more on that below).
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 cast
Much of the main cast are returning for the fourth season, most notably Sonequa Martin-Green (Walking Dead), who plays the series lead and, crucially, the show's first Black female captain, Michael Burnham.
“You know, to have a woman of color as the captain of a show is a long time coming and it should have happened a long time ago,” showrunner Alex Kurtzman told Deadline.
Speaking to Den of Geek, Martin-Green said: “It’s such a blessing to me to play someone like Michael Burnham. I think that being able to see this woman grow into the captaincy is what’s really special and different of course, than other captains.
“[Michael Burnham] is brilliant and a genius. One of the smartest in the room and all of that good stuff, but [she’s] also sacrificial. To be a woman of honor it actually floors me when I really think about it. It’s like, if you really contemplate what that must mean to be a person to be ready and willing to lay down your life much like the essential workers in this global pandemic," she continued.
"That is a different type of person who is just willing to die or for anyone, not just their child or their spouse or their sibling or their parent, but somebody you don’t know, or somebody you just met or whatever, that there is just something to be said about a person like that.”
In addition, fans can expect to see more from Doug Jones as Saru, Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber and David Ajala as new addition, Book.
Also confirmed to be returning are Blu del Barrio and Ian Alexander as Adira and Gray Tal, who broke new ground as the first major non-binary and trans characters to be featured in Star Trek.
In an interview with Inverse, Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise promised fans that "Gray will be seen" in season four, following the introduction of a new holo-program.
"Representation matters," she added. "It matters to see a version of yourself on screen. It matters there are non-binary and transgender characters. It matters that there is a Black woman in the captain's chair. It matters that there is a gay couple on our show. We will continue to do that for the show, and the world we live in, but also, to honour the Star Trek legacy."
Legendary director David Cronenberg is also reprising his role of Kovich, a mysterious yet influential figure in the Federation.
In addition, Tig Nataro (Netflix’s Army of the Dead) is returning for season four as popular character Jett Reno.
Talking about how happy she is to make time for Star Trek, she told Trekmovie.com: "I love it. There is something so fun and freeing about not being the producer, not being the writer, not being the star. One of the fun parts about Star Trek: Discovery, for me, is that they let me just pop in from time to time. Often I hear like, “Oh, they don’t use you enough,” or, “How come they’re not letting you…?” I’m like, “Star Trek lets me do whatever.”
Star Trek: Discovery season 4 trailer
This year’s New York Comic-Con saw the launch of an action-packed Discovery season four trailer, teasing the next adventure for newly promoted captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
The teaser sees the crew of the Discovery go boldly “where no one has gone before” – in a reference to the franchise’s iconic tagline – as they enter an anomaly that threatens the survival of life across the universe.
However, we still haven’t got a clue what they’ll find inside, as Discovery has proven itself to be a truly unpredictable series, with season three jumping far into the future for a survival tale on a desolate planet. Watch below.
Another sneak peek at the upcoming season was released back in April 2021. Watch below.
Star Trek: Discovery will be available to watch on the Pluto TV Sci-fi channel in the UK on Friday 26th November at 9pm.
Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
