With season 3 set to debut on Paramount+ on August 25th, the cast and executive producer of Star Trek: Lower Decks arrived at San Diego Comic Con in a party mood.
Not only was Lower Decks premiering the new trailer for season 3 at the Star Trek Universe Hall H panel, but Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner) and Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler) hilariously crashed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' panel to announce a crossover episode with Lower Decks!
Prior to Hall H, Screen Rant had an absolute blast interviewing Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells (Ensign D'Vani Tendi), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Carol Freeman), and executive producer Mike McMahan about season 2's cliffhanger, the new alien in season 3, and Lower Decks' upcoming visit to Deep Space Nine.
I have Boimed Up the cast and executive producer of Star Trek: Lower Decks! Welcome to Comic Con - in person! The transporter worked! You all got here.
Jack Quaid: And thank you for repping our ship with your shirt.
Of course. I am one of you.
Noël Wells: Do you change your shirt, though?
Well, Strange New Worlds is coming later, so yes.
Mike McMahan: Oh boo!
Noël Wells: I caught you!
I am here for you guys, though.
Tawny Newsome: We appreciate it.
You all will be part of the Star Trek universe panel in Hall H a little bit later. Are you excited to get in front of fans and feel the love?
Tawny Newsome: Oh yeah, I also have a beef that Mike and I have to settle on stage. So I'm excited to do that in front of thousands of people
Noël Wells: Right now, I'm mediating the beef.
Tawny Newsome: Yeah, don't look in my direction until we settle this in front of thousands of people.
Mike McMahan: Is this what came up? We thought we had to sit outside for Hall H all night last night.
Tawny Newsome: Yeah, we camped out all night.
Mike McMahan: But it turns out we have badges.
Tawny Newsome: Someone was like, "Why are you guys here?"
Mike McMahan: Wait, what's our beef?
Tawny Newsome: I don't know. I'll think of one.
Mike McMahan: We gotta come up with a beef?
Tawny Newsome: I'm gonna come up with a beef between now and the panel.
Jack Quaid: Noël's gonna mediate the beef, and Dawnn and I are gonna come up with what the beef is. We'll have a beef meeting. Where's the beef? What's the beef?
Will you be wearing your Starfleet uniforms again on stage? Or is that a secret?
Lower Decks cast: Noooo.
Noël Wells: Nooooooo.
Tawny, you've seen the giant Mariner on top of the Marriott.
Tawny Newsome: Big Mare!
Do you think they'll let you tear it down and take it home with you?
Tawny Newsome: Yeah, I said when you're done with it, please give it to me. Like don't throw it away or recycle it. Give it to me because I'm just gonna wrap my house in it so that planes that fly overhead know who lives there.
But sometimes also Picard.
Mike McMahan: Oh, you want her to take the whole thing.
Tawny Newsome: I'm gonna take the whole thing, absolutely. So it's just like Picard and Sonequa and Mariner just staring up at the sky.
Jack Quaid: Solid house wrap.
Tawny Newsome: Yeah. You know, like a car wrap, house wrap. That's what I want.
Mike McMahan: Your neighbor getting up every morning staring at the big Mariner.
Tawny Newsome: I see them everywhere and I'm like, "Big Mare! Big Mare!" They're like, "We know."
Jack Quaid: We know Big Mare.
Jack, you are like the Prince of Comic Con...
Jack Quaid: Well, that's what I say every day in the mirror.
Mike McMahan: Oh, my liege!
Jack Quaid: I look at myself in the mirror and go, "I'm the Prince of Comic Con."
But it's true, though. Boimler, The Boys, Scream...
Jack Quaid: Oh cool.
Do the crowds part when you walk by?
Jack Quaid: Oh no, everyone's been cool. It's nice to be back and doing this again after years of just nothing, or the virtual version of this. And look, we really tried with a virtual version. It was great for what it was.
But it's so good to see the fans in person again and see these guys in person again. It's just been an absolute joy. And I know that we've been like hopping in and out of elevators today, but just to be back in that Comic Con energy at all is so so awesome.
Let's talk about the show a little bit. Dawnn, last time we saw her, Captain Freeman was arrested for blowing up Pakled planet. Why did you do it?
Dawnn Lewis: Damn!
I'm sorry, that was a really bad Starfleet prosecutor thing.
Dawnn Lewis: We're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. As far as I know this isn't a Klingon court.
Tawny Newsome: Cardassian court.
Dawnn Lewis: But no, I mean, we're supposed to be at a party. I'm supposed to be getting a promotion, moving to a new ship. I've got the support of my entire Cerritos crew showing me love and then the popo shows up. I am, clink clink, being marched out. But you know what? It's all good because I've got right on my side. I'm innocent.
Tawny Newsome: But Dawnn, every good Starfleet Captain has a jacket. Every good Starfleet Captain has some kind of a rap sheet. It's tradition.
Dawnn: It's true, but this particular thing, I'm not guilty of.
Tawny Newsome: We gon' see.
Mike McMahan: We'll have to see. That's what you think.
Dawnn Lewis: We will see. So, beginning of season 3, we shall see. We shall see.
Noël...
Noël Wells: Yes. [Takes all three microphones]
Give her all the mics.
Jack Quaid: Is this a problem?
Mike McMahan: We were so ready to give you all three mics.
Jack Quaid: We actually did give her all of the mics.
Can I call you Mistress of the Winter Constellations?
Noël Wells: I demand it.
Jack Quaid: The Prince of Comic Con. The Mistress of the Winter Constellations...
Mike McMahan: And Mike!
Tendi goes through a big career change in season 3. What's life like training as a Science Officer?
Noël Wells: Well, she's... We're gonna see.
Mike McMahan: You can tell them; it's fine.
Noël Wells: Are you sure? I don't know what's a spoiler. I mean, it's exciting for her. She's very excited, and she's going to be paired with somebody really exciting. And we get to see her sort of learning the ropes and coming into her own and wanting to prove herself, like I am right now.
Tawny Newsome: Nooo. You don't have to prove anything.
Mike McMahan: It's Noël's first Comic Con.
Noël Wells: This is my first Comic Con. I'm kind of nervous.
Mike McMahan: I love at the beginning of that you looked at me like, "Oh no, what am I allowed to say?"
Noël Wells: I know, I know!
Mike McMahan: But this is Comic Con. You're allowed to say whatever you want, and then it's out there.
Noël Wells: Is that true? Well, I don't know! I don't want to spoil things.
Tawny Newsome: Yeah, try to spoil something right now. Let's see what happens.
Noël Wells: No! Noooo. I'll feel so bad if I spoil something really big. Because yeah, we were saying, "We'll see... We'll see.."
Tawny Newsome: Pull a Jonathan Frakes and spoil something. It's tradition.
Dawnn Lewis: Talk about the engagement party. Talk about that.
Mike McMahan: No no no. Listen, I'm looking at our Screen Rant friend. They're not gonna believe us when we do it.
Mike, something dropped this morning. A new alien. Who and what is K'Ranch?
Mike McMahan: K'Ranch is a Kromsapiod. He is partially based on one of my favorite Deep Space Nine species, Tosk. I think it's called "The Hunted." and I love when Tosk shows up and is like, "Somebody hunt me? Somebody hunt me!" And they're all like, "No." And O'Brien is kind of like, "I think we should hunt him."
Tawny Newsome: Yeah:
Mike McMahan: He shows up on the Cerritos and encounters Boimler. Boimler's eager to please and Kromsapiods love to hunt. They're always looking for somebody to hunt. So, now instead of Tosk wanting to be hunted, it's our little Boimy.
Jack Quaid: That was fun. That was a fun time.
Tawny Newsome: Can you tell them the inspiration for the name K'Ranch, please?
Mike McMahan: No, I don't think legally we can.
Tawny Newsome: Well, it made me laugh out loud.
Mike McMahan: There's two condiments that come into this name. You'll have to put it together on your own. It's a secret.
Jack Quaid: Any time Mike doesn't want to say, he just goes, "Legally..." The condiment people will be mad at me.
Tawny Newsome: The other option for the name was "Mayostard," right?
Jack Quaid: "I'll be hunted, Mayostard! Please!"
Since your show is animated, I can't ask you what's the best thing you guys ever stole from the set. If you go to the Strange New Worlds or Picard set, what are you going to steal?
Mike McMahan: I'm stealing Ethan [Peck] in his entirety. Just picking him up, putting him in the car, gonna go have fun with him.
Jack: We're going to Dairy Queen! Sorry, the Dairy Queen people are gonna be really mad at us.
Mike McMahan: Legally, we can't say we're stealing the entirety of Ethan.
Tawny Newsome: I would steal the Starfleet do-rag that Celia Rose Gooding wears. That Uhura wears. It's got the little delta on it. Starfleet do-rag, we gotta start selling that in the merch store. If we don't, I'm going to that set and taking all of them.
Mike McMahan: I'd wear that.
Yeah, let's all wear it.
Dawnn Lewis: It would keep your ponytail tight. It would keep your edges nice and smooth.
Well, next Comic Con. That's your uniform.
Tawny Newsome: Absolutely.
Mike, here's the big moment for season 3: Please spoil everything. I don't mean Lower Decks. I mean, Picard season 3. They won't mind.
Mike McMahan: Picard season 3. The rare Star Trek season that doesn't go to space, has no Star Trek characters. It becomes a workplace comedy, and they bring back selling stuff. It's not a post-scarcity future anymore in season 3; it's all about Picard trying to sell pencils.
Jack Quaid: [Picard accent] Someone buy my pencils!
But for real, something about season 3?
Mike McMahan: About our season 3?
About your season 3, of course.
Mike McMahan: In Lower Decks season 3, what can I give you guys? Is this gonna air after our panel?
After. 100% promise. This is not live.
Mike McMahan: So, in our panel, you'll see that this season on Lower Decks, we go to Deep Space Nine.
Jack Quaid: YEAH!
Mike McMahan: We don't just go, we GO.
Boldly going where no one has gone before, Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the underdogs of Starfleet and their crazy adventures traversing the universe, helping civilizations and new life, and keeping up appearances without making total fools of themselves along the way.
Check out our other Star Trek interviews at SDCC with the cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the execs of Roddenberry Entertainment. You can also catch our previous interview with Tawny Newsome.
Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3 premieres August 25 on Paramount+.