The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, now streaming on Paramount+.
The Gorn served as effective villains in a memorable episode from the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and the second season looks to up the ante. The reptilian aliens constitute one of the few long-term Star Trek foes who have yet to see serious development in the franchise, at least canonically. Strange New Worlds has already made them a key part of Security Chief Noonien-Signh's background, which it revealed in Season 1, Episode 9, "All Those Who Wander." Season 2 opens with a cliffhanger threat of full-scale war with the species.
Following up on the Gorn carries a serious risk to the franchise's continuity: James Kirk famously encountered the species for the first time in The Original Series Season 1, Episode 18, "Arena," and everything that takes place in Strange New Worlds happens years earlier. Beyond that, however, there's the challenge of defining the species canonically after 50+ years of non-canon content generated about them. One of them -- the well-regarded "Gorn Crisis" storyline from an early 2000s comic line -- has strong ideas that Strange New Worlds could make use of.
'The Gorn Crisis' Focuses on The Next Generation Crew
"Arena" famously pits Kirk against a Gorn captain in a battle to the death, resulting from an unprovoked attack on Federation territory. The episode is lively and well-written, though it's best known for the inept fight choreography in the battle between Kirk and his foe. The Gorn never reappeared in The Original Series, and subsequent canon appearances have been brief in the extreme. They remain fan favorites, however -- "Arena" is beloved -- which makes them a tempting subject for Strange New Worlds despite the continuity dangers they represent.
"The Gorn Crisis" faced the same obstacles when WildStorm first published it in 2001. It moved the timeline forward 100 years, to Star Trek: The Next Generation era, and set Jean-Luc Picard's crew against the Gorn during the events of The Dominion War. It was a smart move: Picard's canon status was wide open at that point, and the Gorn provided a good reason for why he and the Enterprise-E seemed to leave the Dominion problem up to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine crew. "The Gorn Crisis" depicts a coup engineered by an upstart caste called the Black Crest, who then try to start a war with the Federation. The Enterprise stops them when Data defeats the Black Crest leader in hand-to-hand combat, and the Gorn accept an alliance with the Federation.
Strange New Worlds Can Benefit from Key Points in 'The Gorn Crisis'
"The Gorn Crisis" grapples with the same issues surrounding the species that Strange New Worlds faces, though without the potential continuity issues. It provides itself with a few details that can clear up a great deal of potential difficulty. For instance, the Gorn refuse to meet face to face, at least initially. That's in keeping with what "Arena" asserts while allowing the species to remain mysterious no matter what Strange New Worlds does with them.
The comic book story offers another strong option for the new series to pursue. It depicts the aliens as more factionalized than they initially appeared in "Arena," with different castes jockeying for power. That provides cover for Christopher Pike's crew to interact with them -- and possibly even fight them on a large scale -- only to have the incident silenced in the name of keeping some friendly Gorn faction happy. "The Gorn Crisis" played that card extremely well, with Picard's crew forced to apply a judicious combination of diplomacy and combat prowess to prevent a war.
Strange New Worlds has already shown a good deal of tact in handling the Gorn so far, particularly when it comes to Noonien-Singh's background. It needs to tread carefully if it hopes to continue doing so. "The Gorn Crisis" is sharp, first-rate storytelling -- regardless of its canon status -- and it adroitly navigates the same kinds of challenges Strange New Worlds faces. The new story could do far worse by emulating the older one's example.
New episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stream every Thursday on Paramount+.