New Star Trek has Captain Pike take command in franchise return to form

The future is bright for the Star Trek universe, with the announcement of yet another new flagship series - this time a direct prequel to the original TV show, called Strange New Worlds. For a franchise which was once viewed as a relic of the past, Trek fans have not lacked for new content these last few years. Motivated by the twin cultural movements of big-money geekdom and “cinematic universes” built around properties like Marvel and Star Wars, rights-holder CBS revived the beloved Star Trek canon in 2017 with Star Trek: Discovery. Further spin-offs have followed rapid-fire, valuable content to populate the CBS streaming platform, “All Access”. But their producers have found that just putting the Star Trek name back on the air is not itself a guarantee for success and acclaim.

Dedicated trekkies have repeatedly questioned whether the current crop of Star Trek content lives up to the legendary standards of creator Gene Roddenberry. The humanist, optimistic tone of the Star Trek setting and the episodic storytelling used in the original series and beloved follow up The Next Generation are signatures of Star Trek’s cultural imprint. Discovery and other recent adaptations have seemed to misunderstand the importance of those elements, instead crafting grandiose, cynical and violent sagas in the vein of modern prestige television. Bringing back star Patrick Stewart for this year’s Star Trek: Picard only highlighted the contrast between that version of Star Trek and the one fans have loved for decades.

But with the announcement of the next CBS iteration of Trek, there seems to finally be a reaction from those steering the franchise. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds immediately calls back to the iconic framing of the first few Star Trek shows: the USS Enterprise on a mission of discovery and diplomacy on the frontier of space. That’s not the only throwback present, either. The characters are familiar, with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his first officer Number One (Rebecca Romijin) as well as Mr. Spock (here played by Ethan Peck) all appeared in the 1965 pilot for Star Trek. And both those lead actors and their producers have hinted they will be following in the footsteps of that series more closely with this instalment.

“We’re going to try to harken back to some classical ‘Trek’ values, to be optimistic, and to be more episodic,” said co-creator Akiva Goldsman in a Variety interview. “Obviously, we will take advantage of the serialized nature of character and story building. But I think our plots will be more closed-ended than you’ve seen in either Discovery or Picard… I imagine it to be closer to the original series than even DS9. We can really tell closed-ended stories. We can find ourselves in episodes that are tonally of a piece.”

While Goldsman and current Star Trek franchise director Alex Kurtzman emphasised that they would still be writing character arcs which connected these episodic stories across a season, it sounds promising for those who long for the feel of classic Trek. The stars of Strange New Worlds are committed to winning over any skeptics, with Peck emphasising what a labor of love the show represents for its cast. 

“Last year, I basically told myself I was gonna do as many conventions as possible to connect to the fan base and campaign for a spinoff show for Anson and Rebecca and I,” he says. “We all got along so well, and we all loved the content so much and the message of Star Trek.” And Peck is bullish about the relevance of that message, six decades after the franchise’s TV debut. 

“I believe so much in what we’re doing,” he says. “I don’t think that there’s ever been a better time for Star Trek, because of its ideology. It’s all about coming together and using the ways that we’re different from one another for the advantage of people as a whole.”

MTG takes next step in esports transformation with online tournaments for cash

The world’s oldest trading card game was once again in the news this week, as publisher Wizards of the Coast made the unprecedented announcement that they would be hosting a new series of online tournaments - with cold, hard cash as the prize.

While Magic: The Gathering has a proud, decades-old tradition of tournament play both with physical and digital decks, the addition of a winner’s purse is something that has been limited to the tabletop game until now. The Magic Pro Tour has handed out hundreds of thousands in prizes each year, providing both a competitive incentive and a measure of status to the global circuit. But despite the increasing push by Wizards of the Coast to raise the profile of their online game clients and position Magic as part of the modern esports pantheon, those rich purses were mysteriously absent from MTG Arena. 

The idea of open-entry cash tournaments in an online setting, without the pressure and inconvenience of a packed convention hall to distract from your game, is a hugely enticing one. The appeal is not lost on Wizards, who highlighted their key goals for this tournament series in their monthly “State of the Game” update:

“Easy Access – No ladder climb or Mythic Rank required, and everything wraps up within the two days of the event. Day 1 allows for you to join throughout the day, and if things don't go well at first, you can always try again.

Convenience – Play from home at the touch of a button! You can take breaks as needed between matches, so stay hydrated and step away from the keyboard for a few minutes if you feel yourself starting to tilt. You get to control the pace and intensity of your experience.

High Skill, High Reward – This is meant to be a competitive experience, and the first of its kind to reward monetary rewards. You'll need to step up your game and put your best foot forward, but we still hope you have a lot of fun getting there!”

Why wait until now to open the coffers? It’s possible there was a change in the legal advice Wizards had surrounding the thorny issues of gambling, cheating and underage participation. But they insist this idea was in the works for a long time, and they “decided to fast track (it) a bit” given the current lack of paper events. The next month of MTG Arena looks to be a banger, with fan-favorite game mode “Cube Draft” also set to make it’s long-awaited debut! 

Fast fandom

As always, there is a ton going on in the interconnected world of pop culture and fan media. Here are a few of the stories that caught our eye:

Tech giants lead multi-industry movement to keep work-from-home policies

While not directly concerned with pop culture and nerd-dom, big movements in the tech industry disproportionately affect those audiences due to the obvious tech-geek connection. And not many such movements could be more impactful than the sudden confirmation by several big names this week that the “new normal” of working from home established during the COVID-19 crisis may outlast the pandemic itself. As the months wear on and pressure mounts to reopen economies despite the health crisis, industry leaders must consider long-term solutions to the dangers posed both by the novel coronavirus, and possible future viral threats. With the digital nature of many tech jobs lending themselves to remote work, it seems like Square, Facebook and other major names are simply following the path of least resistance.

“The Last Dance” leads to landmark surge in Jordan collectibles

It would be impossible to overstate the fame and cultural status of basketball GOAT Michael Jordan even before his starring tell-all role in new Netflix docuseries The Last Dance. But with two decades of fresh, LeBron-filled air between MJ’s playing days and the show’s premiere, it’s arguable that his legend had begun to settle into part of history, no longer firing the imagination of a younger generation of fans - who know him more for his line of sneakers than his finals dominance. Now, the two are once more indelibly connected in the public mind, and the result is a huge boon for anyone invested in the sports collectibles market - auction house Sotheby’s punched in a record-breaking $560,000 sale for an autographed pair of match-worn Jordons, and his famous rookie card from 1986 has more than tripled in price, about to breach the $100,000 barrier. The show’s mass viewership has cemented Jordon’s legend as one which will last the ages, and that can only be good for the value of anything connected to him.

Mythic Markets founder spreads the good word with the Nerds!

The debut of #MTG-94BOX has not gone unnoticed among the geek and investor media, and there has been some really constructive, positive coverage coming out of sites from HYPEBEAST to Buzzfeed. Mythic Markets founder and CEO Joe Mahavuthivanij (@epicsaurus) has been even busier than usual, representing our team in interviews and introducing audiences to the ideas behind our business model. One highlight is his guest appearance on the fantastic Nerds With Friends podcast - tune in to hear Joe wax lyrical about his own nerdy obsessions and our future plans!

One such future plan involves a new premium incentive, set to go out to our most prolific investors in the near future! This snappy branded Mythic Markets investment binder will offer fans a physical portfolio of their collectible investments on our platform, and will be crafted to accommodate both our share certificates and limited-edition pins. You can lock in your own binder by buying a total of 20 shares in our #MTG-94BOX offering - but with roughly a third of shares already gone, they won’t be available forever!

Trivia

While Christopher Pike is the first ever captain of the USS Enterprise to be shown on Star Trek (with William Shatner’s James T. Kirk assuming command immediately after that pilot episode was rejected), he was not the first man to captain the famous ship in the series canon timeline! Do you remember who is? And which Star Trek alumn played him?

While no major character in the show, a Capt. Robert T. April has been referenced on several occasions as the original skipper of the Enterprise. During his sole appearance in The Animated Series he was voiced by none other than James Doohan - much better known to fans as Scotty!