Sonequa Martin-Green was told Star Trek: Discovery would run for 7 seasons, and she explains how Discovery’s series finale epilogue happened after Paramount+ announced season 5 would end the series. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 wrapped filming at the end of 2022, and the cast and crew expected to return for season 6. After Paramount+ pulled the plug on Discovery, the production was allowed to return to Toronto to film a coda to wrap up the series.
Star Trek: Discovery series lead and producer Sonequa Martin-Green joined Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer on The D-Con Chamber podcast for an in-depth chat about her career. Regarding Star Trek: Discovery’s ending, Martin-Green said going 7 seasons was “an afterthought” until the surprise that Paramount+ ended the series. Sonequa then describes how CBS Studios and Paramount+ greenlit Star Trek: Discovery’s filming of the series finale coda. Read Martin-Green’s quote and watch The D-Con Chamber video, with the discussion happening around the 1:08:00 mark, below:
Dominic Keating: Did you think you might do seven [seasons]?
Sonequa Martin-Green: Of course. And we had been told as much. So it was an afterthought. So season 5 was just the next season, and we went bigger than we had ever gone before. It was like, ‘See you in 8 months, and it’ll be great.’ And then we found out [Discovery was ending].
I mean, Alex [Kurtzman] and Michelle [Paradise] fought for us to be able to go back. And CBS Studios and Paramount+, they love the show. They were very grateful for us, which was lovely. Because we did do a lot, we did a lot for the platform. We helped establish the platform. We grew the platform. People were coming to see Discovery, and then they were coming to see Trek at large. We had a big part of that. And they know that.
So they were like, ‘Listen, we love you guys, so yeah, you can have it. It’s gonna have to be small. You know, we’ll give you twenty dollars to do it.’ (laughs) So we shot for three days… But we’re so grateful to them for giving us that. And the writers, Michelle and Kyle Jarrow, who co-wrote that coda,.. Man, they knocked it out of the park! Because they had, oh, I don’t know, twelve pages, nine pages, something like that, to tie up this entire show. And I thought that they just… And I never would have imagined that we’d jump ahead like that. I never imagined that we would… showcase legacy like that.
A New Star Trek Series Will Continue Discovery’s Timeline
Will Star Trek: Discovery ever return?
Star Trek: Discovery ended shy of its expected 7 season run, but the next Star Trek series will pick up from where Discovery left off in Star Trek’s 32nd century timeline. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy was set up by Star Trek: Discovery seasons 4 and 5, and will chronicle a new generation of Starfleet cadets. Starfleet Academy is toplined by Academy Award-caliber actors Holly Hunter as the Chancellor of the Academy, and Paul Giamatti, who plays the show’s recurring main villain. Kerrice Brooks, Bella Shepard, and George Hawkins have also been cast as cadets.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is taking over the Star Trek Stage at Pinewood Studios in Toronto, where Star Trek: Discovery used to film. This hammers home the finality of Star Trek: Discovery’s ending. But who knows what the future holds? It’s possible Star Trek: Discovery’s cast could reunite one day, perhaps for a Star Trek streaming movie on Paramount+. But even if Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is the last ride for Captain Michael Burnham and her crew, Discovery thankfully got to bow out with an emotional and satisfying finale.