On Wednesday, Paramount+ dropped a trailer for the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In a twist, it shows a live-action crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks, the streaming service's offbeat, comedic animated series set in the same universe.
Strange New World's cast, including Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley and Ethan Peck as Spock, are all back on board the Starship Enterprise.
"Our job puts us up against death," Captain Pike tells a crew member. "We don't have to like it. But we do have to face it."
But amid the action, interstellar intrigue and romance, there's a tension breaker: The action-packed preview also reveals The Boys' Jack Quaid as Brad Boimler and Brockmire's Tawny Newsome as Beckett Mariner — the same characters they voice on Star Trek: Lower Decks — but in the flesh.
"Surprise!" Mariner says, hinting that the quirky characters won't be changing their stripes in live-action form.
At the trailer's close, Spock sends off Quaid's character with the other crew members in the ship's transporter room. "Live long and prosper," Spock tells the jittery Starfleet officer, as he's about to be beamed off the ship. "Ah, you, uh, also live and ..." Quaid stammers in reply, trying his best to mimic the Vulcan salute.
The second season debuts June 15.