After years of speculation, the Michelle Yeoh-led Star Trek spinoff Section 31 will finally enter production this year. According to Yeoh, as well as Paramount Star Trek boss Alex Kurtzman, Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou won’t return in a new TV series, but will instead appear in a standalone Paramount+ movie. Georgiou was a loyal Starfleet Captain in one universe, and a cruel tyrant in another; the former is no longer with us, while the latter has been questioning their existence.
With this announcement comes one big question: when will the movie take place? We vaguely know what Section 31 will be about — it is, after all, named after Starfleet’s shadowy intelligence agency — but the when of it all is still up in the air.
Intriguingly, Section 31 could resolve an unfinished storyline from Discovery, and possibly connect to other disparate aspects of the Star Trek canon. Here’s how.
Does Section 31 have a release date?
While it’s unclear when the Section 31 movie will hit Paramount+, a new press release states it will go into production in late 2023. This makes the second half of 2024 a likely release date, which would put Section 31 sometime after the final season of Discovery. Because Yeoh helped launch Discovery with two versions of Georgiou from different universes, it would make sense to have Section 31 hit after Discovery wraps, bringing Mirror Georgiou’s journey full circle. But there are still a lot of mysteries to unravel here.
Where Will Section 31 Fit Into Canon?
In the Discovery Season 3 episode “Terra Firma Part II,” Georgiou entered the Guardian of Forever time portal and was sent to a point in the past where the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe had yet to drift too far away from each other. In the 32nd century of Discovery’s status quo, Georgiou couldn’t survive because she was from both the distant 23rd century and an alternate universe. So as soon as Georgiou stepped into the Guardian of Forever, a question was raised: would she end up back in the 23rd century, or somewhere else?
It seems unlikely Section 31 would put Georgiou into a time period we’ve never seen before. In fact, because there were so many references to Section 31 in Picard Season 3, it’s tempting to say the new movie could be set in the 25th century. Thanks to Picard, we know Section 31 has Captain Kirk’s body, among other curiosities, which suggests they’re up to something.
Putting Section 31 in the 25th century would also allow the movie to connect with other legacy characters who were roped into the spy organization, like Deep Space Nine’s Dr. Bashir. And if Georgiou were to see Section 31 a hundred years after she worked for them in Discovery Season 2, she may want to institute some big changes.
Discovery Season 3 ended Georgiou’s story by making it clear she no longer wanted to be the merciless dictator she once was in the Mirror Universe. Will that change in attitude carry over to Section 31? Will she want to conquer this facet of Starfleet, or just burn it all down?
All the Star Trek series currently stream on Paramount+.
