Paramount+ brought a stacked slate to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, which returned to an in-person event for the first time since 2019. Given the current Star Trek renaissance of sorts, the network sent a whopping three shows from the franchise for one supersized panel featuring cast members from Star Trek: Picard, the adult animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks, and newcomer prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

I was lucky enough to be in the audience for Collider for the entire panel, and I’m excited to break down everything we learned about the new seasons of each series. Following an appearance from Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden for Picard Season 3, the rambunctious cast of Lower Decks hit the stage with their delightful brand of raucous humor. Season 3 of Lower Decks is set to arrive on Paramount+ next month, so these guys had a lot to share.

Producers Rod Roddenberry and Alex Kurtzman remained on stage for every panel and for the Lower Decks presentation they were joined by Tawney Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, Dawnn Lewis, and series creator, showrunner, and executive producer Mike McMahan. Newsome also brought a life-size cutout of Ensign Rutherford since Eugene Cordero could not be in attendance.

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Image via Paramount+

RELATED: 'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 3 Trailer Teases a Trip to 'Deep Space Nine'

The Lower Decks cast appeared at SDCC 2019, prior to the show’s premiere, however because of the pandemic this is only their first time attending with the show actively on air.

Moderator Lea Thompson opened the panel by asking each of the cast members about their experience on the animated series. Newsome joked that Starfleet is the only military she’d ever consider joining calling it the “kindness space military” before making a joke about cancelled Netflix series Space Force. Quaid then joked about his love for the scene where we see Boimler working at his family’s raisin vineyard, saying that Star Trek and Paramount need to make purchasable Boimler Family raisins the way that they’ve made Chateau Picard wines.

Wells was quick to shout out what a collaborative experience it is to work on an animated series, giving major props to the animators that bring the show to life. McMahan assured her that she provides such wonderful work as Ensign Tendi that the animators are working up to her performance. Long-time Star Trek fan Lewis then shared a fun story about her audition process. When she went out for the role she had no idea it was for a Star Trek series but as a fan, she drew from the performances of Avery Brooks as Captain Sisko and William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, and she landed the role. She also shared what an honor it was to then call up her friend Nichelle Nichols and thank her for opening doors with her performance as Lt. Uhura in The Original Series.

During the panel, audience members got a first look at the incredibly epic trailer for Lower Decks Season 3, which ended with the reveal that the USS Cerritos will be taking a trip to Deep Space 9. Following that huge revelation, McMahan confirmed that the crew will be going inside the station, walking the promenade, licking junja sticks, enjoying the Cardassian architecture, and even saying hello to some friendly faces, prompting fans to instantly start theorizing which members of the DS9 crew will be making an appearance. McMahan told the audience that it’s an incredible episode that he can’t wait to share with fans of the series, saying “the Deep Space 9 episode is out of control.”

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Image via Paramount+

With a whopping five Star Trek shows currently in production, Kurtzman revealed that every few months the showrunners of each series will get together and discuss their plans to ensure that none of the shows contradict each other. He teased that because a lot of their timelines overlap, they’re able to cross pollinate, so to speak, with certain characters, having them appear on multiple shows. Later during the Strange New Worlds portion of the panel Newsome and Quaid crashed the presentation to announce, alongside series lead Anson Mount, that there will be a crossover episode between Lower Decks and SNW. The crossover will be part of the second season of Strange New Worlds and will feature a mix of live-action and animation. The two shows do happen at wildly different points in the Star Trek timeline, so it’s currently anyone’s guess how they’ll come together!

Season 2 ends with a huge triumph for the lower deckers and the crew of the Cerritos before Captain Freeman (Lewis) is hauled away in handcuffs and wrongfully accused of treason. Newsome teases that the Season 3 opener dives right into their mission to get her back, saying “it feels like an epic adventure, it feels like a movie.” The cast also teased how fun it is to see Earth on the animated series and to see their characters in that environment and in new outfits.

The cast wrapped up their panel with a lower decks chant that echoed throughout Hall H. Season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks premieres on Paramount+ on August 25, and you can watch the new trailer down below.

Read more of our Star Trek coverage from San Diego Comic-Con: