Summary

• Captain Pike of Strange New Worlds is set to become the most important active Captain in the Star Trek franchise.
• As Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard come to an end, Captain Pike steps into the spotlight on Paramount+.
• Pike's portrayal embodies classic Star Trek virtues while modernizing for the 21st century, making him a worthy lead.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) will become Star Trek's most important active Captain when Star Trek: Discovery ends. Pike was reintroduced in Star Trek: Discovery season 2, updating the character from the original version played by Jeffrey Hunter in Star Trek's original pilot, "The Cage." The revamped Captain Pike, Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) proved to be so popular that they received their own spin-off, the critically acclaimed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Star Trek on Paramount+, until recently, had 5 new series featuring multiple starship Captains, although the most prominent are Star Trek: Discovery's Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Star Trek: Picard's iral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Star Trek: Lower Decks' Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), Star Trek: Prodigy's Dal R'El (Brett Gray) and iral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and Captain Pike. As an enduring icon of Star Trek: The Next Generation, iral Picard's stature can't be denied, but his days of being a starship captain are long over, and Star Trek: Picard ended with season 3 in 2023. With Star Trek: Discovery season 5 also marking its final season, Captain Pike of Strange New Worlds is about to take Star Trek's center stage in a grander way.

When Discovery Ends, Strange New Worlds' Pike Becomes Star Trek's Most Important Captain

Strange New Worlds becomes Star Trek's flagship TV show

Captain Pike will become Star Trek's centerpiece Captain when Star Trek: Discovery ends. As the first Star Trek on Paramount+ series, Discovery was the flagship, and Sonequa Martin-Green's Captain Burnham was on par with Pike in of her importance to the current Star Trek franchise. With iral Picard gone and Burnham bowing out, Captain Pike becomes the top Star Trek Captain on Paramount+ in live-action (if he isn't already). Indeed, Strange New Worlds will formally succeed Discovery as Star Trek on Paramount+'s flagship show.

Captain Pike also commands the USS Enterprise, the most important ship in Star Trek, so it's fitting that Star Trek on Paramount+ is about to revolve around Strange New Worlds.

Unfortunately, the only live-action Captain who could equal or exceed Pike's prominence doesn't have a Star Trek TV series in development at Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard season 3's ending set up a new show about Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and the USS Enterprise-G, but that potential series is in limbo and may not happen at all. The same can be said for Chris Pine's Captain James T. Kirk since it's been nearly a decade without another J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie hitting movie theaters. Captain Pike also commands the USS Enterprise, the most important ship in Star Trek, so it's fitting that Star Trek on Paramount+ is about to revolve around Strange New Worlds.

Why Pike Becomes More Important Than Lower Decks & Prodigy's Captains

Pike embodies Star Trek's TV future

Star Trek: Lower Decks, which is about to enter season 5 on Paramount+, and Star Trek: Prodigy, which soon premieres season 2 on Netflix, are popular and highly regarded by Star Trek fans. Unfortunately, as animated series, they don't have quite the same cache as live-action Star Trek series regardless of how excellent Lower Decks and Prodigy are. When Star Trek: Discovery ends, Captain Pike will lead the lone Star Trek on Paramount+ live-action series until the debut of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. And even then, Strange New Worlds about the Starship Enterprise is more high-profile than Starfleet Academy's experimental YA show about young cadets.

Captain Pike has all the worthy qualities to be the primary Star Trek Captain, and his time is nigh.

Much of Captain Pike and Strange New Worlds' success is due to how he and his show embody the virtues of classic Star Trek while also modernizing it all for the 21st century. Anson Mount portrays Captain Pike as smart, comionate, and fair, but also decisive and authoritative, and audiences have responded positively to Chris and to Strange New Worlds. Thankfully, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is guaranteed to return for season 3, and will hopefully have many more seasons of exploring the final frontier. Captain Pike has all the worthy qualities to be the primary Star Trek Captain, and his time is nigh.