Star Trek: Strange New Worlds EPs Explain How That Bananas Lower Decks Crossover Came To Be

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will head into bold (and bizarre) new territory as Captain Pike & Co. mix it up with the crew from the animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Season 2 of Strange New Worlds — premiering this Thursday on Paramount+ — will feature a crossover episode that includes both live-action and animation when Lower Decks' Ensign Beckett Mariner (voiced by Tawny Newsome) and Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) drop by the Enterprise.

As co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers explains, this wild idea came from a random conversation between the writers.

"I feel like we were talking for what kind of episodes to do, and one of the things that comes up on all Star Treks is, 'Can we do a concept of a crossover episode?'" Myers tells TVLine. "One of our writers had worked on The Boys with Jack Quaid and just happened to be having a conversation about it. Jack was really excited about it, so then we're like, 'Why don't we reach out to him and Tawny and see if this is a possibility?' And then, somehow, it just grew from there."

Myers assures fans that this far-fetched concept will make sense when they see the episode. "This is a classic Star Trek episode," he notes. "You will watch this and feel like, 'Oh, I completely understand, because it's Star Trek, exactly why this makes sense.' Everything will make sense."

Co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman adds, "And I will say the words that are very familiar to all Star Trek fans: ancient artifact."

Are you looking forward to the upcoming crossover episode? Let your thoughts be known in the comments below! And don't forget to press PLAY on the above video to see the Strange New Worlds cast weigh in.