Check out live-action Boimler and Mariner in Strange New Worlds S2 trailer

We already knew that the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would feature a crossover episode with Star Trek: Lower Decks. Paramount just dropped the full trailer for S2, giving us our first glimpse of Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid playing the live-action counterparts to their animated Lower Decks characters Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler. They definitely nailed their respective looks. And yes, part of the crossover episode will be animated in a similar style just to keep things fun.

(Some spoilers below, notably for S1.)

As reported previously, the series features classic The Original Series characters Capt. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), and Spock (Ethan Peck). Babs Olusanmokun plays Dr. M'Benga; Celia Rose Gooding plays Cadet Nyota Uhura; Jess Bush plays Nurse Christine Chapel; Melissa Navia plays Lt. Erica Ortegas; and Christina Chong plays La'An Noonien-Singh (a relation of the classic revenge-obsessed Star Trek villain Khan).

Alas, we bid farewell in the penultimate S1 episode to Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horak), an Aenar, aka an albino subspecies of Andorians that are generally depicted as blind. When an infection of Gorn eggs hit the ship, Hemmer helped fight the spread, only to become infected. When he sacrificed himself, perishing along with the Gorn eggs he carried inside, there wasn't a dry eye in millions of homes around the world. And the S1 finale gave us a bona fide cliffhanger when Number One was arrested for being a genetically modified Illyrian. So the Enterprise is getting a new chief engineer for S2: Pelia, played by the legendary Carol Kane.

There was a short teaser for S2 last month, but it didn't tell us much about any plot details. Mostly the teaser emphasized the diversity and camaraderie of the crew as they embark on new adventures and face fresh challenges, both personal and professional. This full trailer gives us more of the same. Even the brief official synopsis is maddeningly vague: "Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Number One (Rebecca Romijn), Spock (Ethan Peck) and the rest of the Enterprise crew are back exploring strange new worlds and boldly going where no one has gone before." That's probably due to this show's (welcome) episodic nature, a return to classic Star Trek standalone stories each week.

The trailer opens with Ortegas attempting a daring shuttle descent to a planet's surface as Captain Pike looks a bit queasy. "Don't worry, I did this a hundred times during the war. It's like riding a bike," she assures him--and she pulls it off because this is Ortegas we're talking about. There are aliens and explosions and at least one shot of each main cast member in action, plus the occasional bit of poignant philosophizing. "Our job puts us up against death," Kirk tells Singh. "We might not like it but we do have to face it."

And yes, that is Spock locking lips with Nurse Chapel in a passionate embrace, finally giving in to the sparks that flew between them in S1. It looks like Spock may also bond a little with Boimler, giving the latter his best Vulcan "live-long-and-prosper" salute as Boimler is about to be transported. Boimler naturally fumbles his response.

The second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debuts on Paramount+ on June 15, 2023.

Listing image by YouTube/Paramount+