Star Trek executive producer praises Thomas Jane as “perfect” casting to play Dr. Bones McCoy at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Kurtzman directed the series premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, the newest Star Trek series that just premiered on Paramount+ and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wrapped production of its fifth and final season just before Christmas. At the same time, CBS Studios and Paramount+ announced Thomas Jane will play Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ series finale, along with Kai Murakami as Hikaru Sulu.
ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley interviewed Alex Kurtzman and his fellow co-showrunner, Noga Landau, at Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s junket. Kurtzman elaborated on what an “extraordinary gift” Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been, and spoke about why Thomas Jane is “totally right” as Bones McCoy. Read his quotes below:
Liam Crowley: Strange New Worlds wrapped production on season five just before Christmas. And big news right before Christmas, Thomas Jane getting involved as Bones McCoy. I’d love to talk about getting him involved in the Star Trek world, what his casting meant, and also just how it feels that Strange New Worlds is coming to a close.
Alex Kurtzman: Strange New Worlds was just such an extraordinary gift. When we introduced Number One and Spock and Pike on Discovery, the idea was, well, there could be a show here because obviously there’s a whole run of story before Kirk takes the Enterprise. But I think the casting was so perfect and the fans’ reaction to the characters was so profound that to be able to then turn that into a five season show was amazing. And I think Akiva [Goldsman] and Henry [Alonso Myers] and all the writers, everybody, all the directors did such a beautiful job harnessing the spirit of OG Trek, but also updating it in a way that was really unique and special.
And Thomas Jane’s just perfect. It’s always really daunting to recast those roles because they’re so iconic, but I think doing the films taught us that it can be done as long as you find an actor who really embodies the spirit of the character and the kind of gruffness and grumbliness and intelligence of [Bones]. Thomas Jane just felt totally right.
Liam Crowley: I don’t know if it was you specifically or Paul [Wesley] mentioning it, trying to put some good juju out there of a spinoff centered around him. Is there any update on that front?
Alex Kurtzman: We’ll see.
With Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ series production now over, hopes turn to the spinoff dubbed Star Trek: Year One that Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers talked about last year. Star Trek: Year One would be about the first year of Paul Wesley’s Captain James T. Kirk in command of the Starship Enterprise.
Many Star Trek fans theorized that Strange New Worlds’ casting Thomas Jane hedges bets towards Star Trek: Year One possibly happening. After all, why cast an actor as high profile as Thomas Jane as Bones McCoy for a lone appearance in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ending?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds now has two seasons and 16 episodes banked. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, which filmed earlier in 2025, is expected to premiere in 2026 on Paramount+, with the shortened, 6-episode fifth and final season happening in 2027.
Like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, fans will also get two seasons of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, with season 2 nearing the end of filming. However, fans will have to wait over a year to see Thomas Jane’s “perfect” casting as Bones McCoy in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ series finale.
- Release Date
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July 17, 2025
- Network
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Paramount+
- Episodes
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10
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
