53 Years Later, Strange New Worlds Officially Makes Star Trek Characters Roddenberry Rejected Canon

Published Sep 25, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4's Finale - "Tomorrow's Enterprise" Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's finale makes animated characters created in 1973 official canon, years after Gene Roddenberry declared them non-canonical. Directed by Chris Fisher and written by Henry Alonso Myers and Robbie Thompson, "Yesterday's Enterprise" brings audiences aboard Captain James T. Kirk's (Paul Wesley) USS Enterprise one year after the events of Strange New Worlds season 4. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's finale sees Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) meet and switch places with her future self who serves on Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise. To save Scotty's (Martin Quinn) life, the two Uhuras work together to solve the mystery of a black and white hole, which Kirk and Captain Christopher Pike's (Anson Mount) Enterprises are investigating one year apart. Along with Lt. Uhura, Captain Kirk's USS Enterprise has many familiar crew members, like Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck), Dr. Phil Boyce (Brian Markinson), and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush). However, Kirk's Enterprise is far more diverse than it is in Star Trek: The Original Series, thanks to the addition of alien Starfleet Officers from Star Trek: The Animated Series. Strange New Worlds Season 4’s Finale Makes Star Trek: The Animated Series Characters Canon Making their live-action debut in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's finale are Lieutenant M'Ress, Aleek-Om, and Sord from Star Trek: The Animated Series. Although M'Ress and Aleek-Om have been referenced in Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: very Short Treks, Strange New Worlds confirms that M'Ress and Aleek-Om serve aboard Captain Kirk's Starship Enterprise. Lieutenant M'Ress is a Caitian Starfleet Officer who appeared in a half-dozen episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, where she was voiced by Majel Barrett Roddenberry. Caitians are a feline humanoid species, and the most prominent Caitian of all is Dr. T'Ana (Gillian Vigman), the USS Cerritos' Chief Medical Officer in Star Trek: Lower Decks. An Aurelian, a humanoid bird species, Aleek-Om is a United Federation of Planets historian. Aleek-Om appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Yesteryear," where he was voiced by James Doohan. Both Aleek-Om and M'Ress are seen in the shuttle bay of Captain Kirk's future Enterprise, interacting with Nurse Chapel and James as Uhura prepares for a spacewalk to save the birth of a "space baby." Finally, Sord was seen in Kirk's USS Enterprise shuttle bay in "Tomorrow's Enterprise." The reptilian Sord first appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, "The Jihad," where he was voiced by James Doohan. Chris Fisher, director of "Tomorrow's Enterprise," told The 7th Rule podcast hosted by Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk that the inclusion of Star Trek: The Animated Series' alien characters was to show that positive things happened during Kirk's first year as Captain, and the Enterprise's crew gained more diversity. Fisher also praised Legacy Effects for creating the TAS characters practically. See The 7th Rule below: Why Gene Roddenberry Didn't Consider Star Trek: The Animated Series Canon Gene Roddenberry created and was executive producer of Star Trek: The Animated Series, but he 'de-canonized' the cartoon and the new characters created for it. This is because the rights for Star Trek spinoffs were renegotiated in 1988. Hence, TAS was excluded from official Star Trek histories like Michael and Denise Okuda's Star Trek Chronology, although a few aspects, like Robert April being the first Captain of the Enterprise, remained. Star Trek on Paramount+'s series have reintegrated Star Trek: The Animated Series into canon. However, Star Trek on Paramount+'s series have reintegrated Star Trek: The Animated Series into canon. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 introduced a three-armed and three-legged Edosian bartender, anticipating Lieutenant Arex, the Edosian navigator of the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Strange New Worlds Season 4’s Finale Shows An Alternate Future Of Kirk’s Enterprise Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4's finale establishes that Lieutenant M'Ress, Sord, and Aleek-Om are aboard Captain Kirk's USS Enterprise, but the future seen in "Tomorrow's Enterprise" is an alternate timeline. Strange New Worlds season 4 takes place in 2262, and the future in "Tomorrow's Enterprise" is set one year later. Star Trek IV and Star Trek V depicted the first live-action Caitians, but M'Ress in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is an accurate live-action adaptation of the Caitian Lieutenant. However, James T. Kirk doesn't canonically become Captain of the Enterprise until 2265. "Tomorrow's Enterprise" moves that event up three years and promotes Christopher Pike to Admiral instead of Fleet Captain, as Pike (Sean Kenney) was in Star Trek: The Original Series' "The Menagerie." In an interview with ScreenRant, Celia Rose Gooding said "Tomorrow's Enterprise" was set three years in the future during filming, but that was changed to one year in the finished episode. This makes "Tomorrow's Enterprise" an alternate timeline, and events will play out differently when Kirk becomes Captain of the Enterprise at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' fifth and final season. Executive producers and co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers also confirmed changes to the original version of "Tomorrow's Enterprise," which was intended to be the series finale before Paramount+ greenlit the six-episode fifth and final season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Time will tell if Lieutenant M'Ress, Sord, and Aleek-Om will be aboard Captain Kirk's Enterprise when it launches at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It's very cool, though, that modern technology can place Star Trek: The Animated Series characters aboard the Starship Enterprise in live-action and make them canon decades after Gene Roddenberry declared TAS apocryphal. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming on Paramount+ Release Date 2022 - 2027-00-00 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman Directors Dan Liu, Amanda Row, Maja Vrvilo, Akiva Goldsman, Dermott Downs, Eduardo Sánchez, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jonathan Frakes, Jordan Canning, Leslie Hope, Valerie Weiss, Sydney Freeland, Christopher J. Byrne, Rachel Leiterman Writers Onitra Johnson Franchise(s) Star Trek Creator(s) Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet