This week Star Trek boldly accompanying the first major movie of its streaming era: Section 31one long in the works former series turned into a streaming movie for Michelle Yeoh, who returns to the franchise for the first time since her leave a Finding in 2020. But aside from the controversial spy organization that gave the film its name, here’s what you need to know coming to the film.

What is Section 31?

First introduced in the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space NineSection 31 is a clandestine intelligence branch of the Federation—separate from Starfleet’s public-facing intelligence wing—intended to operate as a black ops organization authorized to act against existing threats to the Federation. Named for a clause in the Starfleet charter that allows for “extraordinary measures” in the face of serious threats, Section 31 operates without official knowledge or guidance from the Federation or Starfleet as a whole, who have performed wetworks, subterfuge, and counterintelligence operations throughout Starfleet history.

Even introduced to Deep Space Nine at the height of the Dominion War arc, Section 31 will feature the Enterprise and Finding to establish their roots earlier inside Star TrekThe main timeline, but since its inception, the group has been seen is very controversial through Star Trek fans for what the existence of the secret police within the utopian setting of the franchise means for the idealistic nature of that utopia.

Philippa Georgiou’s Brief, Universe-Hopping History

Finding Philippa Georgiou was first introduced by Michelle Yeoh as the captain of the USS Shenzhouonly for him to be killed in action at the start of the Klingon-Federation war depicted throughout the show’s first season. However, Yeoh would return to portray the character later in the same season in a plot twist Star TrekThe terrifying parallel reality, the Mirror Universe. There, Georgiou is not an officer of the Terran Empire, but its Emperor—and after surviving a coup attempt, he is brought back with the crew of Finding on Star Trekthe main universe under the command of Michael Burnham, who is a protégé of the chief Georgiou and first officer aboard the Shenzhou.

Mirror Georgiou was recruited into Section 31 after the end of the war, acting as an agent primarily tasked with maintaining the stability of the Klingon Empire’s post-war chancellor, L’Rell. But eventually he returned to the ship Finding when the ship is forced to send itself thousands of years into the future to the 32nd Century to destroy a rogue artificial intelligence created by Section 31, Control. However, the temporal distance from his home reality and his home timeline causes Georgiou to begin to break down on a molecular level. After encountering the Guardian of Eternitywho tests Georgiou to see if his time in the prime universe has changed him as a person, he is sent back to an undisclosed time period (more on that later) where the Mirror and Prime universes are aligned yet, which allows him to remain in the latter universe without the threat of destabilization.

Who else is there? Section 31?

Yeoh’s Georgiou is the main returning character of Section 31but he is not the only familiar character in this cast of mostly new characters. Here’s a brief rundown of the main Section 31 agents we’re set to meet in the movie:

• Omari Hardwick plays OFFERthe leader of a Section 31 cell on a secret mission that recruits Georgiou in an attempt to pay for his past crimes as the Terran Emperor.
• Robert Kazinsky plays ZephAlok’s right hand that lives inside a mechanical exoskeleton.
• Sam Richardson plays Almostanother agent of Alok’s team, and a Chameloid, a shape-shifting race first seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• Humberly Gonzalez plays honeya Deltan agent on Alok’s team who, unlike previous Deltans who joined Starfleet, is not sworn to celibacy, which allows him to use his species natural charms to benefit Section 31.
• Sven Ruygrok plays the most mysterious member of Alok’s group, known only as Fuzz. Described as a “fun-loving” character with anger issues, his pointed ears suggest he may be a surprisingly emotional Vulcan or perhaps one of their sister races, the Romulans.
• Rounding out the main cast is Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garretta young Starfleet officer assigned to Alok’s team for management purposes, despite official knowledge of the classified division’s existence. Garrett previously appeared on Star Trek used to be Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” where he was played by Tricia O’Neil, and captain of the USS Enterprise-C until its destruction defending a Klingon outpost from Romulan forces in 2344.

When is it? Section 31 Set?

While we still don’t have an exact setting for the movie beyond the fact that it’s set Star TrekThe main reality, the presence of Rachel Garrett in the cast suggests that the series should be set sometime in the early 24th century, since she has not yet risen to the rank of captain or commanded the Enterprise-C. It will set Section 31 at a time that is largely obscured by Star Trek on the small screen, commonly known as “Lost Time.” The original series is set in the late 2260s, with the successor films taking place from the 2270s to the 2290s, while The Next Generation began in 2364, shortly after the commissioning of Enterprise-D almost 20 years after the destruction of its predecessor.

the Enterprise-C itself operates in a period of time where the relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire after the signing of the Khitomer Accords peace treaty at the end of the 23rd century is still quite difficult. It took the sacrifice of the Federation flagship protecting the Klingon forces to strengthen the relationship between the two factions, which eventually led to the formal Treaty of the Alliance being established some time between 2344 and the events of on The Next Generation—which can give us some clues as to what the state of the universe was like at the time of Section 31.

Section 31 hits Paramount+ starting January 24.

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