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Michelle Yeoh Returning to Star Trek for Original Movie Section 31

First an Oscar, now her own Star Trek movie. Paramount+ announced Tuesday, April 18th, that it has officially greenlit the Michelle Yeoh-starring Star Trek: Section 31, an “original movie event” which will go into production later this year.

“I’m beyond thrilled to return to my ‘Star Trek’ family and to the role I’ve loved for so long,” said Yeoh in a statement. “Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of ‘Star Trek’ launched. To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”

Before Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh was… well, she was still an enormous star, which made her casting in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery a big deal. The character of Captain Philippa Georgiou was killed in the 2017 two-part premiere, which seemed like the end of Yeoh’s time in the Trek universe — until she made a surprising return later in the first season, when the crew of the Discovery found themselves in the Mirror Universe, a dark reflection of Federation society where an alternate reality Georgiou reigned as Emperor.

The far more warlike Georgiou crossed over from the Mirror Universe to the primary Trek timeline in the first season, where she continued to appear on Discovery through its third season, at which point the character stepped through a portal which would bring her to a different time period. (Thus removing Georgiou from Discovery, and setting up the premise for Section 31.) Section 31 is infamous in the Trek universe as the peace-loving Federation’s equivalent to the CIA (but arguably more evil) — an ideal place for a former evil Emperor to gain power.

This news is a bit of a comedown from the original plan, which was for Section 31 to be an ongoing series alongside other Trek series on Paramount+. This was originally announced in 2019, though, back when the service was still called CBS All Access. In the years since, other Trek shows like Strange New Worlds have been announced and launched without updates on Section 31, so the fact that it’s happening at all is a nice surprise.

Not that Yeoh hasn’t been busy: Since 2017, the international icon starred in Crazy Rich Asians, joined the MCU twice over in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and will be appearing in upcoming installments of Avatar as well as Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of Wicked. Her next big screen appearance will be in the upcoming Disney+ series American Born Chinese, set to premiere May 24th, 2023.