She’s not ruling out a comeback.
After five seasons and 64 episodes over seven years – making it, chronologically speaking, the longest-running Star Trek series ever – Star Trek: Discovery has come to an end.
The series finale Life, Itself saw a final confrontation between Starfleet and the Breen, and followed Michael Burnham as she solved the mystery of the Progenitors – before flashing forward in time to reveal that Burnham would go on to become an admiral and start a family with partner Cleveland Booker.
Of course, just because the series has ended doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the last time we’ll see any of these characters – yes, we know that Burnham becomes an admiral, and that Tilly becomes the longest-tenured instructor Starfleet Academy ever has, but there are a lot of stories in those intervening years.
Might we one day see Sonequa Martin-Green return to the captain’s chair and fill in some of those stories?
After all, Patrick Stewart returned to the role of Captain Picard in Star Trek: Picard, decades after the end of The Next Generation, for example, while Kate Mulgrew similarly reprised the part of Captain Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy in 2021, long after the end of Star Trek: Voyager.
According to the actor herself, who spoke to RadioTimes.com ahead of the premiere of Discovery’s fifth season, it’s certainly possible.
“Well, the door is definitely open,” Martin-Green smiles, obviously fond of playing Michael Burnham.
“Right? You know, there’s no real goodbyes in Trek. So, I would definitely be willing – I think we all would, you know, it’s in a special place in our hearts.”
Whether we’ll see Martin-Green return to the bridge of a starship in decades to come (Star Trek: Burnham in 2045, perhaps?) or see the crew of the Discovery lead a guest lecture or two in the upcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy spin-off is anyone’s guess for the moment.
Still, even if it’s too early to say whether we’ll see these characters again, it’s easier for Martin-Green to say what she hopes viewers will take from Discovery’s finale.
“I hope that they’re left with hope at the end. I hope that they see themselves, that they see examples of their potential.
“I hope that they find ways in their own lives to implement these truths – to implement the unconditional love that’s really at the at the root of the story, reaching out, cross-connecting, and also reaching up for yourself, thinking bigger, thinking outside the box, stretching your vision and your imagination all the way up to the divine.”