Star Trek x Titanic? A New Crossover Is Bringing Hollywood's Most Surprising IPs Together

Star Trek is set to collide with Titanic, bringing together two of Hollywood’s most surprising IPs for one wild crossover. While Star Trek: Lower Decks usually reserves its best jokes for the Trek franchise, it has not shied away from lampooning other pop culture properties. Now, in a first look at Star Trek: Lower Decks #6, from IDW Publishing, the Cerritos crew has a date with an iceberg–and dinosaurs.

IDW released solicitations for its April-shipping titles, including Star Trek: Lower Decks #6. Written by Ryan North and drawn by Jack Lawrence, the issue picks up where the previous left off, with the Cerritos crew pursuing a dangerous time traveler. IDW’s solicitation for the issue reads as follows:

When Mariner asked the Krulmuth-B portal to send her, Rutherford, Tendi, and Boimler to the moment when they could make the biggest impact on history, she meant, like, to the time period where they could help their crew the most. But they’ve ended up on board the Titanic! Yes, THE Titanic, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The time traveler who’s responsible for a deadly wave of Federation rewrites is still at large, and the Lower Deckers are now further than ever from stopping them.

In addition, IDW has unveiled Lawrence’s cover for Star Trek: Lower Decks #6, featuring Brad Boimler and Becket Mariner recreating Titanic’s iconic “King of the World” scene, all while dinosaurs roam the ship’s decks.

Both Star Trek and Titanic Are Pop Culture Giants

Titanic Was Unstoppable At the Box Office

The worlds of Star Trek and Titanic could not be further apart. The former is a pop culture juggernaut, with a diverse fan base stretched across the world. It has been a part of the cultural landscape since 1966, and has inspired countless spin-offs. The film Titanic, directed by James Cameron, was seemingly inescapable upon its release in 1997. Its soundtrack sat atop the Billboard charts for months. When its theatrical run was finished, Titanic ranked as the highest-grossing movie of all time, a record it would hold for over a decade.

Part of Titanic’s runaway success was how easily it blended Hollywood spectacle with historical events. While the film had its detractors, there was no denying it looked amazing. No detail was spared in recreating the world of 1912 and the hubris that led to the Titanic’s untimely destruction. Movies about the Titanic were nothing new, but the story had never been told on this scale before. The tragedy of the Titanic has exerted a pull on culture since the ship’s sinking, and Cameron’s film tapped into the various elements that make it a compelling story in the first place.

Star Trek's "Themed Worlds" Are A Beloved Trait of the Franchise

Star Trek Knows How to Creatively Pinch Pennies

Star Trek has also mined gold with stories from Earth’s history. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise will encounter more than one world that was based on a particular era in Earth history. Episodes like “A Piece of the Action,” “Bread and Circus” and “Spectre of the Gun” all take place on planets resembling different, darker times in humanity’s past, be it gangland Chicago or a modern-day Roman Empire. There are also time travel episodes throughout the franchise, such as “City on the Edge of Forever,” allowing for even more exploration of Earth’s history.

These “themed worlds,” while not as common in later permutations of the Star Trek franchise, have still become a trope nonetheless. The real reason so many of these episodes even existed was due to budget concerns. A show such as Star Trek often used much of its money for special effects, leaving little cash for costuming and props. Star Trek’s creators, in a bid to save money, recycled old costumes from the Paramount lot. This led to the Enterprise crew meeting Roman gladiators and 1920s-style gangsters. While perhaps stretching credibility, these episodes ensured Star Trek’s survival.

Star Trek: Lower Decks regularly sends up franchise tropes, and the “themed worlds” and historical episodes are two of them. The story running through issues five and six will give North and Lawrence plenty of ammunition to poke fun at Star Trek’s handling of history. Boimler, Mariner and the Cerritos crew are trying to bring a rogue time-traveler to justice, sending them on an odyssey in space and time. The sinking of the Titanic was a monumental event, and one practically begging to be filtered through the lens of the Star Trek franchise.

A Star Trek/Titanic Crossover is Long Overdue

Just How Did Dinosaurs Get On Board the Titanic?

Yet North and Lawrence are not merely sending the Cerritos crew back to 1912, they are also bringing dinosaurs with them. The mysterious time-traveler has somehow teleported dinosaurs aboard the Titanic, and now Boimler and company must protect the passengers, all while the ship is sinking. In addition to giving the crew an additional menace to fight, it also gives the story a humorous and bizarre layer, keeping with Lower Decks’ spirit. Writer Ryan North, who has penned every adventure of the Cerritos in comics, has proven he knows what makes this particular corner of the Star Trek franchise tick.

Star Trek: Lower Decks paid homage to other pop culture IPs in its five-season run. The Blues Brothers and Twin Peaks got shoutouts on Lower Decks, and now it is Titanic’s turn. Jack Lawrence’s cover uses Lower Decks’ characters to bring one of Titanic’s most iconic scenes to life, and when dinosaurs are thrown into the mix, it becomes downright hilarious. Beyond being an Easter Egg, the cover actually has a bearing on the issue’s story. Why the crew of the Cerritos was brought back to the Titanic remains a mystery for now, but the results promise to be fun.

Star Trek: Lower Decks #6 is on sale April 9 from IDW Publishing!