Star Trek: Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan teases “amazing legacy cameos” in season two

Pictured: Marina Sirtis as Commander Deanna Troi, Jonathan Frakes as Captain William T. Riker and Dawnn Lewis as Captain Freeman of the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screen Grab CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MAY 18, 2021 - In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan provided a bit of an update on the progress of the second season, teasing fans about what (and who) to expect in the next chapter of the series.

Without spoiling it too much…

When the first season of Lower Decks ended, relationships among the crew were in a state of turmoil, memories were lost, and unexpected, powerful enemies (in the form of Pakleds) were roaming the quadrant. For the writing staff, that’s going to be a lot to unpack in the second season. Mike McMahan knows it. When it comes to such an involved storyline, McMahan said “We have a lot of bills to pay [...] [That’s] how we wrote season 2. It's very funny. There are some amazing legacy cameos, there's some great standalone storytelling mixed with some season-long character arcs. I'm really proud.”

McMahan went on to say that the second season is currently in the “color phase”. With the addition of a musical score from composer Chris Westlake, McMahan told Screen Rant, “It really adds to the kind of cinematic nature of the emotion of the storytelling. I'm really proud of season 2.”

As you might expect, McMahan confirmed that not only would season two feature Star Trek legacy characters, but the recently announced third season would do the same. But just because they are legacy characters, it doesn’t mean those guests will be main characters from their respective Star Trek series. When it comes to guest characters, McMahan said “Everybody's on my wish list! [...] Look, would I love to work with Sir Patrick [Stewart]? Obviously! But is there any reason he would ever meet our Lower Deckers aboard the Cerritos? Not really.”

Citing his love for many of the lesser known Star Trek characters, McMahan said, “I find that if I utilize people that you don't expect to have on the show it ends up feeling more earned, more fun, more surprising. So there are some legacy guest roles in the second season and in the third season as well but I think it's people you're not going to expect when you get them.” In the interview, McMahan also let it slip that season three is currently being written, with at least half of it already written or mapped out.

Season two of Star Trek: Lower Decks is set to premiere on August 12th. Until then, you can catch up on the entire first season, available to stream now on Paramount+.

And of course, don’t forget, we’re giving away three copies of Lower Decks season one on Blu-ray, which just came out this week. To find out how to enter, visit dailystartreknews.com/lowerdecks.