The final moments of Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 2 finale rocketed the ship and crew away from the pre-Original Series era into a distant future beyond any explored in Star Trek history — and in a new, extensive interview, Star Trek franchise boss Alex Kurtzman confirms that yes, we’re in for a whole new universe next season.

After strapping a supercharged time crystal to her back and guiding Discovery through a massive wormhole, we’ll rejoin Michael Burnham and friends in the 31st Century when the show returns for Season 3 — nearly 1,000 years ahead of Captain Pike and the Enterprise — Kurtzman told The Hollywood Reporter.

We are jumping 950 years into the future for season three… It’s fun to explore nooks and crannies of the universe that people haven’t fully explored yet. That being said, we felt strongly that we wanted to give ourselves an entirely new energy for season three with a whole new set of problems. We’re farther than any Trek show has ever gone. I also had experience working on the [J.J. Abrams] films where we were stuck with canonical problems. We knew how Kirk had died, and we wondered how we could put him in jeopardy to make it feel real. That’s what led us to go with an alternate timeline [for the Kelvin films]; suddenly we could tell the story in a very unpredictable way. That’s the same thought process that went into jumping 950 years into the future. We’re now completely free of canon, and we have a whole new universe to explore.

As for the rest of known Starfleet history, the Kirk and Picard eras aren’t going anywhere — after all, there’s a whole new series about to start shooting based in the late 24th Century — but Discovery will now be so far beyond known Trek events that we shouldn’t expect any character crossover next year, cautioned Kurtzman.

There will be canonical references to everything that has happened in the various shows; we’re not erasing that. But we’re so far past that point that all of that is a very distant memory. We’re very excited to see how you put the elements of Star Trek in an entirely new universe.

Regarding any loose ends from Season 2, Kurtzman noted that the crew won’t have to worry about Control any longer, but there’s plenty of stuff that they’ll need to deal with once they land in the future… including who will finally get to keep Discovery’s center seat.

All I can tell you is that Control is officially neutralized, but there will be much bigger problems when they get to the other side of that wormhole… We will definitely be exploring who inherits [the captain’s] chair. Obviously, there’s a very loaded look between Saru and Burnham. They’re both qualified in very different ways, and that’s something we’ll explore.

The time-traveling crew isn’t just Burnham, Saru, and the series regulars, of course; the entire Discovery secondary Starfleet cast was along for the ride, from Tig Notaro’s Jett Reno to Emily Coutts’ Keyla Detmer — and as part of this group of out-of-time refugees, Kurtzman says they’ll each get their due in Season 3’s storytelling, along with the show’s headliners.

Our bridge crew is so capable. Every single person is so wonderful and really rose to the occasion this year. What we discovered is we and the fans delight in stories being told about them. We’re going to be using all of them much, much more. Especially because this crew has forfeited their lives for each other. They’ve jumped 950 years into the future for each other. If we didn’t service them, we’d be doing something very wrong. [The Discovery crew] were very, very close in season two. But now all they have is each other. Their families are 950 years in the past. It will be very interesting to see the consequences of the choice they made. Saru said, “We all signed up for this, and we knew what we were doing. We love each other, respect each other, and need each other enough to know we’re going to make this decision as a group, as a family.” But it doesn’t mean that it won’t come with emotional consequences. That’s something we’ll explore in season three.

For more of Kurtzman’s comments on the Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 finale, along with a reiteration of the current plans for the ongoing Star Trek franchise expansion, head on over to The Hollywood Reporter’s full interview.

Our Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 wrap-up coverage is only just beginning, so be sure to watch for our next update soon!