In only a few more weeks, the Enterprise is charting a course for San Diego, where, as Deadline reports, several members of Star Trek royalty will celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the franchise with a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. This year marks 50 years since the launch of the original Star Trek series. Most notable among the planned panelists is William Shatner, who originated the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, which aired on NBC beginning in 1966.
Since its debut in 1966, the Star Trek franchise has launched seven different television series, including the highly-anticipated series from CBS due out in 2017. These series include Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Star Trek has also generated thirteen feature films, including this year’s Star Trek: Beyond, which is the third installment in the J.J. Abrams produced series of reboot films starring Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.
The panel, entitled Star Trek: Celebrating 50 Years, will take place Saturday, June 23rd at 2PM in Hall H, the biggest venue at San Diego Comic-Con. Deadline announces that along with Shatner, the panel will feature Scott Bakula of Star Trek: Enterprise, Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Jeri Ryan of Star Trek: Voyager.
Deadline reports that San Diego Comic-Con will also feature five other Star Trek panels, including two different panels discussing on the science of Star Trek — one with the Smithsonian Institute and one with NASA. Star Trek fans can also see a panel featuring five decades of Star Trek comics, a panel about the design of the Star Trek starships and a panel that features never-before-seen photos and clips from the original Star Trek series.
Along with panels, Deadline reports that Comic-Con will feature an art exhibit entitled 50 Artists, 50 Years featuring art created by 50 artists around the world, including Leonard Nimoy, who played the original Mr. Spock. Nimoy also made appearances as a version of Mr. Spock from the future in two of the J.J. Abrams Star Trek films, before passing away last year. The art piece created by Leonard Nimoy that will be on display is the last piece he created.