SDCC 2025: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Teases Puppet-Themed Episode for Season 4

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds already presented its musical episode in Season 2, and now it’s time for a puppet-themed episode in Season 4. During the Star Trek panel at SDCC 2025, a new sneak peek featured a puppet version of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Fans will be getting a puppet-themed episode next season.

Per Paramount+ and CBS Studios, the puppet-themed episode will feature puppets of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew designed by none other than the iconic Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. The episode will be directed by Jordan Canning (Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock). You can check out the newly revealed sneak peek for the upcoming episode with Puppet Captain Pike below.

The Star Trek panel at SDCC 2025 took place in Hall H and was moderated by Robert Picardo and featured co-showrunners and executive producers Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, executive producer Alex Kurtzman, and cast members Rebecca Romijn, Ethan Peck, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, and Paul Wesley.

Fans were also treated to a surprise advance screening of the upcoming Season 3 episode, “A Space Adventure Hour,” ahead of its July 31 debut on Paramount+. The episode is directed by Star Trek legend Jonathan Frakes and incorporates a murder mystery. La’an (Chong) tests a prototype holodeck aboard the Enterprise with a fictional case only she can solve. The consequences of failure become greater, and the Enterprise’s fate soon hangs in the balance.

“A Space Adventure Hour” also features a show-within-a-show, with the murder mystery taking place against the backdrop of an old sci-fi series that greatly resembles the original Star Trek series. Paul Wesley, who portrays a young James T. Kirk in Strange New Worlds, also performs a comedic performance, paying homage to the legendary William Shatner. Paramount+ also announced that the episode will be available to stream for free on Thursday, July 31, through Wednesday, August 6, on Pluto TV, Paramount+ channels on Amazon, Apple, and Roku, the free content hub on Paramount+, and the Paramount+ YouTube channel.

New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds debut weekly on Thursdays, and the season finale is set to drop on Thursday, September 11. Season 4 of the show recently wrapped production, and the show has already been renewed for its fifth and final season.