various star trek characters including kirk, spock and picard
By
Shaun Corley
Published 6 minutes ago
Shaun Corley is a Staff Writer for ScreenRant, a position he has held for five years. While he enjoys many types of comics and graphic novels, he has a particular interest in the licensed Star Trek titles.
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Star Trek has set the stage for its next great series, but can it deliver? Earlier this year, IDW brought to an end an epic run of Star Trek comics that revealed much about how its universe works. One of these shocking revelations has also set up the next great Star Trek story.
In 2024’s Star Trek #20, written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens, a curtain was peeled back, revealing the existence of the “Pleroma.”
Image of the Theseus in the Pleroma, depicted as a spiral with houses in it.
This extradimensional realm is home not only to the Travelers, but also the “gods” of the Star Trek universe, such as the Guardian of Forever and Trelane.
The Lore War Changed the Star Trek Universe
IDW Has a Number of Potential Star Trek Comic Spinoffs
Star Trek #23, Lore backed up by a Romulan Warbird, says 'I've really been looking forward to this.'
When Star Trek fans last saw the Pleroma, it was in ruins, thanks to the machinations of the evil android Lore. During “The Pleroma” story arc, Lore tracked the Theseus to the realm, detonating a bomb that destroyed the Pleorma. In the aftermath, the Star Trek multiverse was effectively annihilated, and Lore rewrote it in his own image.
As seen in The Lore War, Ben Sisko and his band of Starfleet officers were able to restore reality to its rightful form. Star Trek: Omega, the one-shot wrapping the storyline up, set up many potential spin-offs, such as Ensign Sato and her adventures with the Fenris Rangers. Yet its most intriguing idea was seemingly ignored.
Star Trek Is Full of God-Like Beings, Such as Q and the Metrons
Some of Star Trek's Gods Are Good, Many Are Not
star trek gods sisko
The Pleroma was one of the coolest innovations in the Star Trek franchise in recent memory. Star Trek is chock-full of god–like beings, and this trope originates in the first pilot episode, “The Cage.” It also carries over into Star Trek’s second pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
Star Trek continued to introduce fantastic races and beings working at scales unimaginable to mortals. The program’s first season alone saw the introduction of the Metrons, the Organians and Trelane, a sort of forerunner to Q. Later seasons would feature even more awe-inspiring beings, some benevolent but many that were not.
Later entries into the Star Trek franchise, such as The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, revealed even more cosmic entities, namely the Q and the Bajoran Prophets. The first were a race of omnipotent tricksters who took a peculiar interest in humanity, whereas the latter were a race of non-linear beings who reside in the Celestial Temple.
The Pleroma Continues a Proud Star Trek Tradition
Star Trek Has Always Been Critical of Religion and Belief
Star Trek Council of the Gods
The recently concluded Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant were a glorious celebration of the franchise. The two books brought together multiple generations of Starfleet officers to fight a common menace, one that threatened the very fabric of existence itself. The two titles’ approach to Star Trek’s “gods” reflected this idea.
When the Pleroma’s existence was laid bare in Star Trek #20, there were gods present from every incarnation of the franchise. The Metrons were seated alongside Trelane, who sparred with Apollo. The Guardian of Forever watched them with detached amusement, and all seemed to be scared of the Bajoran Prophets.
The Pleroma is ripe with potential for compelling Star Trek stories. The franchise has held up mirrors to religion, belief and spirituality before, and the Pleroma’s existence can allow Star Trek to continue this tradition. Star Trek and Defiant were all about humanity’s relationships with its gods, and the Pleroma was perhaps one of its most pointed looks at it yet.
The Pleroma Offers Up a Number of Stories for Future Star Trek Creators
Future Star Trek Writers Can Tell Stories Both Small and Cosmic With the Pleroma
There are a number of routes IDW could take with a Pleroma-set Star Trek series, all of which could continue the “humanity vs gods” theme. While the gods in the Pleroma are extremely powerful, the story showed they have weaknesses, ones that can be quantified and explained using Star Trek “technobabble.” It revealed that even the gods can die.
A murder mystery set in the Pleroma would be the most obvious way to continue what Lanzing, Kelly, Christopher Cantwell and their collaborators began with Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant. The franchise established gods can be killed, and one dying under mysterious circumstances has all the makings of a great story.
The franchise established gods can be killed, and one dying under mysterious circumstances has all the makings of a great story.
Detective themes and tropes have found their way into the Star Trek canon, making a procedural-style story is not a stretch for the franchise. Data regularly indulges in Sherlock Holmes-inspired Holodeck fantasies, and Captain Picard cosplays as a hard-boiled detective. Either one of them could be invited to the Pleroma to solve the mystery.
The franchise need not limit itself to detective stories either. The Pleroma itself was warped and woofed with the fabric of the universe, so much so that any threat to it is a threat to all creation. Any number of villains could pick up where Lore left off. One of the gods could even go rogue.
Finally, future Star Trek creators can use the Pleroma to tell some truly cosmic adventures. Star Trek has never strayed too far into the realm of metaphysics, but the Pleroma gives it a chance to “stretch its legs” and tell grand stories of evil cosmic entities threatening the Pleroma and the entire Star Trek universe.
The Travelers Are Star Trek Mysteries, But A Book About Them Could Change That
Wesley Crusher Could Return For a New Star Trek Series
“The Pleroma” story arc also connected the dots between Star Trek’s gods and another one of the more intriguing developments to come across the franchise: the Travelers. Introduced early in The Next Generation’s run, the nature of these enigmatic beings has gradually changed, especially when Wesley Crusher joined their ranks.
A new Star Trek comic series following the Travelers could easily rival a Pleroma-set series. The fleeting glimpses televised Star Trek stories have provided of the Travelers frame them as the franchise’s answer to Doctor Who’s Time Lords. The Travelers can go anywhere in space and time, and there have even been hints that they have powers.
Wil Wheaton also returned as Wesley Crusher in season two of Star Trek: Prodigy.
Fans responded well to Wesley Crusher’s return in the season two finale of Star Trek: Picard, which seems to indicate interest in a series following the Travelers. Any series about them would be wise to center Wesley as its protagonist, using his adventures to further explore the metaphysical aspects of the Star Trek universe.
IDW Has Raised the Bar High for Future Star Trek Comics
The Pleroma Can Best Continue the Themes Star Trek Is Known Best For
the cover for Star Trek #1 from IDW
IDW’s recent run of Star Trek comics have been some of the best in the franchise’s history. Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant raised the bar high for future creators. So high in fact, following up on it may be impossible. The story was grand in scope, and tackled a big issue in a new and exciting fashion.
While creating a worthy follow-up may prove challenging, one of the best routes forward is to focus on the Pleroma. A Star Trek series about the gods themselves has never been done before, and can allow for new types of stories to be told, ones that keep proud franchise traditions going strong.
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