Star Trek: Discovery wrapped up its third season earlier this month, but the good news is another run is in the works, so it should be with us fairly soon. Production began on another season of the hit CBS All Access show back in the fall, and a release sometime later this year appears to be highly plausible. Meanwhile, EP Alex Kurtzman has teased exactly what we can expect the next time the U.S.S. Discovery blasts on our screens.

The co-showrunner, alongside Michelle Paradise, spoke to Deadline in an interview reflecting on the season, but the conversation turned to the future until it wrapped up. To start with, Kurtzman teased the next batch of episodes will have a technological advantage. “We are researching – we’re diving deep into a science – in the fourth season, at a type of new and interesting manner,” he clarified. Then he proceeded to tease that the Upcoming main villain may be more conceptual than usual, saying:

“There have been many kinds of villains over the course of Star Trek. What occurs when the villain is not any kind of living, breathing thing, but something else? How do you solve that issue?”

One thing we can work ourselves out about season 4 is it will stick to the newly promoted Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) embarking on a mission to bring (odd ) new worlds in the Federation, that is now back in business again as a result of the restoration of the supply of dilithium. Kurtzman theorized that this noble, optimistic assignment will have some challenges Burnham and her crew must face, though, explaining:

“The Federation is coming back together but it is not fully back together. And thus the continued mission of bringing different worlds in and fulfilling the standards and standards of what it means to be a member of the Federation but not to rob other civilizations of their identity is something that we’ll investigate.”

Last but not least, Kurtzman promised that Burnham’s captaincy won’t be plain sailing as she will need to figure out what being a leader means, not to mention that the altered power dynamics will interfere with her relationship with David Ajala’s Book.

“Burnham has spent a lot of time believing she had to be something or the other and ended the season being rewarded with the captain’s seat for being two distinct things. Vance essentially says, ‘You don’t need to select. You do things your way and that’s why I want you at the chair. Because you are constantly fighting for what’s right.’ Burnham will need to keep figuring that out. She is going to get to keep learning exactly what that means. Her connection with Book is going to be analyzed in many ways, for reasons that I won’t inform you.”

It’s previously been confirmed that Doug Jones will reunite as Saru, regardless of the character carrying a sabbatical from Starfleet in the season 3 finale. David Cronenberg will also be making another appearance the second time around.

If you haven’t caught up yet or just feel like seeing it from the top, all Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream on CBS All Access at this time.