Star Trek: Lower Decks had a big weekend with the surprise drop of the Strange New Worlds crossover episode and season 4 trailer release. But there was a lot more Lower Decks fun to be had at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, including news about theater screenings, a choose-your-own-adventure book, new maquette statues, and ornaments, and even some amazing SDCC cosplay.
Lower Decks theater screenings
During the Star Trek: Animated Celebration panel at Comic-Con, it was announced that Star Trek: Lower Decks is headed to the big screen on Star Trek Day (Friday, September 8, 2023). The screenings will held domestically and internationally. According to John Van Citters (Vice President, Star Trek Brand Development), more details on their plans for Star Trek Day will be coming soon. He did say:
We’re very excited about the opportunity to put Lower Decks up on the big screen for fans to experience as cartoons are meant to be, on a 70-foot screen, luminescent. It’s going to be great.
During the Star Trek Universe panel at Comic-Con, it was revealed that season 4 of Lower Decks would premiere on September 7th with the first two episodes dropping on the same day. It’s likely these will be what is shown on the big screen. Van Citters also said there will be “other animated celebration elements” as part of these screenings, apparently including the new promotional shorts announced at SDCC.
John Van Citters announcing Lower Decks theater screenings at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
Warp Your Own Way interactive novel
During the IDW Publishing Star Trek comics panel at SDCC, editor Heather Antos announced they are doing another tie-in to Star Trek: Lower Decks to follow their widely praised Lower Decks comic mini-series from 2022. The new project is titled Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, and it’s a 200-page “choose your own adventure” graphic novel written by Ryan North, who wrote the Lower Decks miniseries, with art provided by Chris Fengolio.
Antos gave some insight into the development of the new original graphic novel:
It may be the most insane undertaking I’ve ever done as a comics editor. And Mike McMahan—the creator of the show—has been just wonderful letting us play with his toys and his children and do incredible things with them.
At the animation panel Antos offered a bit more info:
I will say Ryan is insane. He wrote this whole 200-page script I think in like two weeks and it’s perfect. We were able to play through it and without giving too much away, it’s not your traditional choose your own adventure story. There is a correct path and a way to “win the book.”
The new Lower Decks book is set for release in the fall of 2024. Antos promised more details will be revealed at New York Comic Con in October.
Slide from IDW Star Trek panel at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
Lower Decks statues and ornament
Artisan figure maker EXO-6 is partnering with Mondo and Funko on a new series of Lower Decks maquette statues, shown at Comic-Con for the first time. There are three planned statues: Mariner, Boimler, and Badgey. Each is roughly 5″ tall and made of PVC. The statues come with interchangeable heads and arms as well as accessories, allowing for a number of different poses. No pricing was available but they are set for release this fall.
EXO-6 Mariner statue displayed at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
EXO-6 Badgey statue displayed at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
EXO-6 Boimler statue displayed at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
Hallmark also showed off a mock-up of a Badgey ornament they are releasing in October. The ornament comes in pairs (evil and good Badgey) and will sell for $19.99.
EXO-6 Badgey ornament mock-up displayed at SDCC 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)
Lower Decks a winner at costume contest
Cosplay is a big part of San Diego Comic-Con, and the big event is the Masquerade costume contest. This year, UK fan Helen Collins won the award for Most Humorous Costume as Badgey (portraying both sides of the AI helper). You can see video of Collins as Badgey at the Masquerade (via RipCurl808 on YouTube).
Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan was impressed with the costume.
Haha she looks great!
— Mike McMahan (@MikeMcMahanTM) July 23, 2023
Lastly, there was another fun bit of cosplay when a fan dressed as Shaxs created a cool moment using a Lower Decks mural from the offsite Energize Lounge run by Star Trek licensee Hero Within.
Who did this?#EnergizeLounge #SDCC #ComicCon2023 #LowerDecks pic.twitter.com/9c6fgFppQq
— Hero Within @ STLV (@HeroWithinInc) July 23, 2023
Keep up with news for the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Really excited for the Warp Your Own Way interactive book and the Lower Decks figs from EXO-6.
Christmas in July!
It’s about freaking time we got some kind of merch for it. Though the statues probably won’t even be affordable for parts of the fandom.
that dude looks exactly like Shax
Crazy likeness! I thought that was the actor at first lol
Lot’s of love for Lower Decks, which is great!!!
Cue the outrage machine in three ….two…..one…..
Meh
And we know from who.
This sort of stuff is a perfect fit for LDS, so it’s not me who will be critical.
Actually I think this is great — LDS fan’s should absolutely have a human-size, latex Badgey doll in their homes to have fun with.
Oh my!
Don’t be fooled… He’s trying to trick us!
Trek fans having a thing about latex wouldn’t surprise me at all.
LOL!
Man whose complaining?? This is amazing news! It proves they know how loved this show has become to do something like this on Star Trek day! You would think maybe they put on a special TOS or TNG episode in the theater. No Captain Kirk, Worf or Picard. Instead it will be Mariner, Boimler and my girl Tendi representing!
Maybe my girlfriend will even like the show now…. miracles can happen! 🤣
This is great though. Can’t wait! I’m sooo excited!
Even if you don’t like the show personally, I have no idea why this would bother anyone? No one is forcing you to go lol.
It is a bit crazy out of all the shows out there, Lower Decks is the one to represent the anniversary in such a splashy way. Of course it just had great timing to have its new season out at this time, but now I’m wondering maybe it’s coming out at this time to specifically do this?
Anyway, it is a great opportunity for fans and to promote the show more. I’m definitely going to try and watch it. I thought after watching the Picard finale on IMAX with hundreds of die hard fans, it wouldn’t ever get better than that. But watching this in a theater full of die hard Lower Decks fans might be an experience I’m not prepared for lol.
Just the thought of watching this with other LDS fans will be worth seeing it alone. I’ll pay whatever it cost, I really want to do this one. 👍
Did they spell Boimler’s name wrong on his statue? Because that is exactly the kind of thing that would happen to Boimler.
You are right about a misspelling. The sign for the statue says “Boimer”, which is a very Boimler thing to happen.
After STRANGE NEW WORLDS cross-over, who wants more LIVE ACTION “Lower Decks” appearances…If Jack and Tawney can pull it off, how about the rest of the cast?
Since Tawney will be a writer on the new Starfleet Academy show I’m sure they could figure out a way to have more of the Lower Decks crew appear on the holodeck or something. Maybe Mariner and Boimler become folk heroes for future cadets.
That would be awesome. I just wonder how Noel would feel about being painted green, or how Eugene would feel about having all that crap stuck to his head.
She actually talks about that a bit in some of the audio commentary for “Hear All, Trust Nothing” on the LD S3 Blu-ray / DVD. The question of a possible live-action Tendi comes up (with reference to the then-impending SNW episode), and it’s brought up. As I recall, Wells sounds hesitant, like she’s maybe not exactly enthusiastic about being painted fully green everywhere not covered by clothing, but at at the same time she’s up for it, if needed – like, “whichever looks better”, whether physical on-set makeup or digital image manipulation.
I’ll have to go back and re-listen to that one to get exactly what’s said; I’ll try to do that. But really, this is just one example why we should all be buying the disc releases for the shows we love if we’re able to. Audio commentaries are great!
I have zero concerns about episode nine coming up. Voyager had fun with Capitan Proton, so a little song and dance should a fun departure.
Definitely me! :)
And it’s funny, a year ago people were questioning could they even pull off comedic and animated characters being in live action. Well the crossover episode resoundingly answered it and it was a tremendous success. I never doubted it at all personally, especially with the amazing writing and acting talent on these shows (but YMMV). And since this episode has gotten so much fanfare, it will definitely pave the way to bring them back in other live action productions and hopefully the entire cast in the future.
The book sounds fun, not sure why they insist on making Mariner the main hero in all the series artwork, Boimler is much more popular.
She’s number one on the call sheet…
I thought Ransom was number one.
He’s Numero Uno.
Mariner is the lead and she’s more popular. Boimler is her side kick and will always be her sidekick, nice try tho.
Because she’s the lead of the series, maybe? Co-lead at the very least.
I just hope we get this cinema screening internationally. It’s always annoying to see these things announced and then it just ends up being in NY and LA. Even when it does come to Ireland, trying to get it outside of Dublin. Don’t forget us international fans.
Agreed — plus Edinburgh and Gibraltar, hopefully.
The article stated it will be international screenings too! :)
That’s HUGE, they didn’t even do that for Picard. In fact, I don’t know if they ever done this for any special screenings outside of movie releases obviously but I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
I do wonder if it will be free like the Picard IMAX screenings or will they will just charge people? I actually prefer they just charge people because that will just open up a lot more theaters willing to show it like what happened with the DS9 documentary which I also saw in a theater.
I hope you can just pay for it too. Of course free is always better lol, but the problem is everyone will just try and get a ticket but don’t care if they use it or not.
Paying separates the devoted from the fence sitters. And we know this is very limited. So it will probably be much easier to get a ticket if you have to buy it even it’s a discount like $5-10.
But I suspect it will just be a free thing like Picard was. It’s really just to promote the show.
But bro if someone told me 3 years ago I would be talking about paying for tickets to see LDS at a movie theater I would’ve said they’re bleeding crazy! It’s no way this thing would even still be on by the fourth season and look where we’re at. 🤣
Yeah I think it will be free like Picard was as well. The point isn’t to make money, it’s to celebrate the show and the fans on Star Trek Day as you said.They may even do the same system again with the previous service they used for that event although I hope not since it was so badly managed. That’s the other problem when something is ‘free’, they do the bare minimum for stuff like this.
And I commented when I saw the Picard screening, the theater was only 90% full and this was the L.A. theater with the actors there. So I can imagine tons of people didn’t bother showing up in the other cities or ever cancelled. That really frustrated me because others could’ve gone and filled in those seats.
And I completely agree with the last paragraph. I don’t think anyone thought we would be here 3 years later lol.
Yeah I’m American but I still miss out on stuff like this not living in a big city all the time. It’s frustrating.
Hopefully it will be a theater near you. I hope when they say ‘international’ it just doesn’t mean Canada. But I imagine they will probably be in big cities though.
I have a friend online I met a year ago and he’s a huge LDS fan too. It’s the only Trek show we talk about. He lives in Australia but thinks even if a screening makes it there it will probably just be in Sydney or Melbourne and he lives in Alice Springs. That’s a tiny town in the middle of nowhere so he already assumes he’s out of luck.
The closest big city to me that it might be shown at is Dallas. Which is still over 12 hours from me. But I’m expecting it not to even be there. Chicago is more likely and that’s all the way north of me. I wish I could go but there’s no way I can. At least it’ll be out on P+ too.
I was actually shocked that one of the Picard IMAX screenings made it to the big city I was close to, but that still would’ve been a 2 hour drive for me. If I got a ticket I would’ve been willing to make the trip but it’s hard to motivate yourself when it literally lands on your phone the same day.
I’m not really hopeful a LDS screening will happen in my city but if it makes it to the bigger one and I get tickets I’ll definitely make the effort. But I’m still doubtful about it making it there too.
But 12 hours would definitely be a hard pass for me too lol.
BRUH!!!
Lower Decks is getting INSANE LOVE!!!! 😎
INSANE LOVE!!!!
It didn’t just have it’s first live action episode but also the best crossover episode in decades and it’s now getting an interactive book but the best news of all it’s going to the big screen on Star Trek day???! The biggest Star Trek holiday for Trekkies?
Like whaaaaat? As Dr T’Ana might say ‘BLEEP YEAH!” The only other show to get this honor is bleeping Picard! And unlike Picard it’s getting international showings too?? What is that?? C’mon! This is amazing and I will definitely be there! I love this show sooo much and apparently so does Paramount it seems. ♥️
And just think I thought they were going to cancel this thing after the first season! 🤣
I can’t imagine how much fun that’s going to be to see Lower Decker fans cosplaying and having a great time in the theater together. I’m not missing this at all and will pay whatever if its not free.
Show TOS in the theater too! That episode deserves it and would probably sell out of fans got to watch it again on the big screen!
Love Lower Decks and the Trekkie family! 🙂
(Still haven’t forgiven you for what you did to my other favorite show Prodigy Paramount!)
Wait, what???
I been pushing for 7 seasons and a movie since season 2, but 4 seasons and having a screening in a movie theater is pretty cool too! ;)
I’m kind of flabbergasted how much they are doing with this show lately. You don’t put this show up on movie screens for Star Trek Day other than to express how much the studio cares about this show…or knows how much its fans do.
But it still kind of feels like whiplash though. They unceremoniously dumped Prodigy in the worst way a show can get dumped but same time they are pulling out the red carpet for Lower Decks. It feels like the highest of highs mixed in with the lowest of lows.
But this is a great move by Paramount for sure and it’s going to make many fans out there happy!
Anyway, Warp Me!!!
I was just thinking about this, but since Paramount seems to have no trouble putting on these movie screenings for things like the Picard finale and now Lower Decks, there really should be no reason not to have a special screening for the Section 31 movie as well. I think that would be great, just something for the fans to see an actual Star Trek movie on the big screen again since it’s mighty obvious no one is pushing to make another one at Paramount any time soon.
Just make a special screening for a day like this one. Hopefully they will consider it if it still happens.
NGL, but the thought of Adolf on the big screen creating coups wouldn’t really motivate me to see it on the big screen. 🙄
HOWEVER, you throw in Worf or Bashir in the movie too, I’ll would be there opening day! 👍
Well you know I’m not a huge MU Georgiou fan either, but I’m hoping the movie itself is something worth watching or what’s the point? But this is assuming it still happens at all. And of course for people who are big fans of hers or just love Section 31 would probably check it out in the theater if they had screenings at least.
And I think having Worf or Bashier (or both ;)) would really hype this project up a lot, especially for others who still don’t like it. I see at least a few legacy characters being involved.
Yes, it would definitely make sense to have at least a limited theater run for that.
I also wouldn’t be surprised if they do some screening event for Discovery’s final season.
Yeah, definitely possible as well.