I hope Star Trek: Strange New Worlds casting Thomas Jane as Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy means what I think it could mean. In a holiday surprise, Paramount+ and CBS Studios announced that Bones, played by Jane, and Hikaru Sulu, played by Kai Murakami, would appear in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 5’s final episode, which is the series finale.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds recently wrapped filming its fifth and final season in Toronto. Paramount+ renewed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for a shortened, 6-episode season 5 last summer, and, at warp speed, the final season of Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) Star Trek prequel was filmed throughout the fall and completed before the Christmas holidays.

With two seasons banked in advance, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, which wrapped production in summer 2025, will premiere on Paramount+ in 2026. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 5 should follow in 2027, and fans won’t see Thomas Jane as Bones McCoy or Kai Murakami as Sulu until the final episode. However…

Thomas Jane Playing Bones In Strange New Worlds Could Mean New Star Trek Spinoff Will Happen

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds casting an actor as high-profile as Thomas Jane feels illogical if Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is merely a walk-on role in the series finale. Jane is a Golden Globe nominee with major roles in The Thin Red Line, Boogie Nights, and The Predator. Thomas has done comedy on Arrested Development, and he may be best known for starring as Frank Castle in 2004’s The Punisher.

It makes more sense to bring in a name like Thomas Jane as Bones McCoy, and also cast Sulu, if there’s a greater plan for him to keep playing the Starship Enterprise’s old country doctor. Which is why Thomas Jane coming aboard Strange New Worlds could be a hint that Star Trek: Year One, executive producers and co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers’ proposed Strange New Worlds spinoff, could indeed be happening.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will end with the transition into Star Trek: The Original Series, as Captain Pike turns over command of the USS Enterprise to Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). Goldsman and Myers’ idea for Star Trek: Year One is to tell new stories about Kirk’s first year as Captain of the Enterprise, with Spock (Ethan Peck), Bones, Sulu, Lieutenant Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the rest of his TOS crew.

It’s possible that Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami joined Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with the intention of continuing in those roles if Star Trek: Year One is greenlit. It’s unclear whether Star Trek: Year One has been pitched to Paramount Skydance, but Jane, especially, could be a clue that Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers’ Captain Kirk spinoff may go forward.

What Happens To Star Trek When Strange New Worlds Ends

Alternatively, it’s also possible that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds casting Thomas Jane as Bones McCoy, and announcing it months before season 4 premieres, much less season 5, is meant to get fans excited and hopefully build a groundswell of crowd support for Star Trek: Year One so that Paramount Skydance does green-light the Captain Kirk spinoff.

Star Trek on Paramount+ is bracing for changes under Paramount Skydance’s new management. The contracts for Alex Kurtzman and Secret Hideout, who have executive produced Paramount+’s Star Trek content since 2016, are reportedly up in 2026. Unsure of what Paramount Skydance will do next with Star Trek television, Paramount+ has filmed and banked two seasons of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

While there will be four seasons of two Star Trek series for a total of 36 new episodes coming to Paramount+ over the next two years, the future of the Star Trek TV franchise is uncertain. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have publicly stated their desire to continue making Star Trek, and they hope audiences will continue asking for their brand of Star Trek in the form of the Captain Kirk spinoff, Star Trek: Year One.

Production of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is over, although audiences can look forward to two more seasons and 16 episodes to come. The last of those episodes will feature Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami beaming aboard the Starship Enterprise as Bones and Sulu. And hopefully, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ series finale is the start of Thomas Jane and Kai Murakami’s runs as Bones and Sulu, not merely a one-off.

Release Date

May 5, 2022

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