One of the most exciting aspects of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is that it will bring the USS Enterprise back to prominence after years of the beloved starship largely gone missing from the Star Trek movies and TV shows. The Enterprise was featured in Star Trek: Discovery season 2 and in a few Short Treks but Strange New Worlds will be the first Star Trek show set aboard the greatest starship of them all since Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air in 2005.
The last Star Trek movie that was set aboard the Enterprise was 2016's Star Trek Beyond in which Captain James T. Kirk's (Chris Pine) starship was destroyed and replaced with the Enterprise-A. But other than its guest spots in Star Trek: Discovery, the Enterprise has mostly been in drydock while the newest Star Trek series have focused on new ships, such as the eponymous vessel of Star Trek: Discovery and the USS Cerritos of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Star Trek: Picard isn't even set aboard a Starfleet ship at all despite Jean-Luc Picard's (Patrick Stewart) status as arguably the greatest Star Trek Captain. Instead, Jean-Luc's ragtag crew flies aboard the non-commissioned La Sirena and Star Trek: Picard season 1 only leaned into doses of nostalgia for the glory years of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the USS Enterprise-D. It's also not clear if the planned 4th Star Trek movie will be about Kirk and the Enterprise.
The importance of the Enterprise to Star Trek can't be measured, especially the original NCC-1701 that Captain Kirk (William Shatner) led on Star Trek: The Original Series. Strange New Worlds, which is about Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), is a prequel to TOS, which could be seen as a knock against it, especially considering the uproar Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2 faced in terms of how it approached canon. However, the presence of the Enterprise helps mitigate such issues and that particular vessel, with its 1960s-style design and primary colors that Strange New Worlds is maintaining, uniquely is Star Trek. To Strange New Worlds' credit, rather than violate canon and upgrade the Enterprise to look "modern", they're wisely embracing the classic TOS aesthetic and somehow making it look functional instead of hokey.
Recently, Anson Mount tweeted that "old school fans are going to be VERY excited" about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Whatever the series does as it explores the 8-year time period between Star Trek: Discovery season 2's ending and the beginning of TOS, the fact that Captain Pike is commanding the Enterprise will already ensure Trekkers' nostalgia will be satisfied. Star Trek: Discovery had a controversial season 1 but it was the surprise appearance of the Enterprise that immediately created anticipation for season 2. The Enterprise's role in Discovery only made fans want a show set aboard her even more and that's exactly what Strange New Worlds is delivering.
Strange New Worlds will also be an episodic series, which makes it the kind of classic Star Trek the franchise has been missing for almost two decades and longtime Trekkers have been yearning for. But while the shows set aboard the space station Deep Space Nine, the USS Voyager, and other starships have been successful, there's a certain magic about the Enterprise - especially the original NCC-1701 - that can't be duplicated. For a segment of Trekkers, it simply isn't Star Trek without the Enterprise.
The Starship Enterprise is one of the most recognizable spaceships in pop culture and it's one of the most cherished symbols of Star Trek. Strange New Worlds will finally restore the classic starship as the center of the franchise. The NCC-1701, with its iconic saucer section and winged nacelles, is still the standard that all other Star Trek ships are judged by and its Captains are the measuring stick for everyone who wants to command their own starship, with Captain Pike already legendary as one of the greatest. The Enterprise warping through the final frontier in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will be a long-awaited homecoming for the franchise, which has gone too long without its greatest ship.