Last night, Star Trek: Discovery brought the franchise back to television for the first time in 12 years. The early word is that the series premiere brought in 8.2 million viewers, which is a very impressive number. We also thought it was pretty great as well. While it’s far too soon to say if Discovery will get a renewal, we may be in for another long wait to see new episodes of the series beyond this season.

Star Trek: Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman had a very candid discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, in which he indicated that a potential second season wouldn’t arrive until at least early 2019. However, Kurtzman also noted that the story threads for a new season have already been laid out. “We have a larger picture for season two — if we’re lucky to get a season two order,” said Kurtzman. “As you’re breaking the season you get a bunch of ideas you love and realize they won’t fit in this season, so you put them on index cards and up on the board. We have a bunch of those as well as a big idea that emerged mid-to-late-season one for something we want to do for season two. That’s now become the spine of what we want to do for season two. We have an emotional compass pointing toward a big idea for a second season. But given the scope of this thing, we’re also focused on finishing strong.”

Kurtzman also expressed his willingness for former Discovery showrunner, Bryan Fuller, to potentially write an episode down the line. Additionally, Kurtzman noted that the one of the big reasons that Discovery was delayed in the first place was that the initial release date wasn’t realistic for a show that takes three-to-four months to produce an episode from start to finish. Kurtzman indicated that CBS was ultimately supportive of the delays in order to ensure the quality of the first season, and he expressed his hope that fans will look past the long wait once they see the rest of the season.

You can read Kurtzman’s complete interview here, and you can also check out our review of the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Spoiler alert: we loved it!

Are you looking forward to a potential second season of Star Trek: Discovery? What did you think of the series premiere? Let us know in the comment section below!

Images: CBS All Access

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