This post contains spoilers for “Star Trek: Section 31.”

Judging by the final tease featured in the new movie “Star Trek: Section 31,” Paramount+ isn’t done with its squad of extralegal just yet. “Section 31” is a bit of a mixed bag, especially given how long it was in development, but the movie about former mass murderess Philippa Georgiou and her new squad of ne’er-do-wells works well enough as the start of something new — as opposed to the “TV movie event” it’s been advertised as.

As an introductory chapter, “Section 31” works thanks to the strengths of its cast and the intriguing charm of nearly every new character. Does the movie borrow too liberally from familiar superhero dynamics like “The Suicide Squad” and heist movies like “Ocean’s Eleven?” Sure. But it gets away with it thanks to the enjoyable novelty of its ragtag band of antiheroes, which includes a mech-suit wearing himbo, a Vulcan commandeered by a malevolent micro-organism, an Augment with a chip on his shoulder, a super-smart Chameloid, a morally flexible Deltan, and a goody-two-shoes Starfleet officer. By setting its story outside the boundaries of the franchise’s morals-forward central organization, “Section 31” can introduce some truly novel characters with lots of potential. Here’s the spoiler-filled scoop on each of them, on a scale from super-boring to super-lovable.

Despite being the Section 31 team leader and ostensible male lead of the movie, skilled agent Alok (“Power” and “Kick-Ass” actor Omari Hardwick) is such a non-character that he may as well blend into the wallpaper. This is by no means Hardwick’s fault: he does an admirable job with the meat-and-potatoes role he was given, but Alok remains the blandest character in the movie by a long shot.

At New York Comic Con in October 2024, Hardwick described his character as “unfit because [he has] a lot of mental issues.” He also says Alok has “got some bones to pick,” and that he wants to make Georgiou “pay the price for some things she’s done.” There’s only the slightest hint of all of this in the movie we ended up with, in which he almost immediately gets Philippa on board for a dangerous mission that he says could help her redeem herself. He also reveals that he’s an Augment left over from Earth’s Eugenics war, a Khan-adjacent namedrop that doesn’t really lead to much of anything in the movie. With “Section 31” making the jump from series to film, I can’t help but wonder how much of the character’s depth and personality was left on the cutting room floor.

Rachel Garrett isn’t actually a new “Star Trek” character, but the version of her played by “Hannibal” and “The Killing” alum Kacey Rohl certainly seems to be. The future Enterprise-C captain appeared in the season 3 “Next Generation” episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” played by Tricia O’Neil. In the especially time-bending episode, the Enterprise-C comes through a rift in spacetime, and its push into the future changes the course of history — and the members of Captain Picard’s crew. The episode features both an intense moral quandary and a tragic ending, but in the “Section 31” timeline, it seems that Lieutenant Garrett currently has nothing to do with the Enterprise. She is a science officer, though, and is clearly gunning for a promotion.

Rachel’s character is less expressed than explained, as Philippa describes her as having “a stick so far up her backside, it’s coming out her mouth.” Her only real function in the movie is to remind everyone not to kill people, and to present a side of Starfleet that comes across as both naive and hypocritical. “Starfleet does not do assassinations!” she tells the team at one point, even though Section 31, a group that very much does assassinations, is a part of Starfleet. Rachel is boring now, but if this ensemble gets a chance to grow, Rohl’s versatility and her character’s funky choice of undercover outfit demonstrate that she deserves the chance to unwind a little in the future — or at least get some juicier storylines.

“Star Wars: Section 31” is the opposite of typical “Trek” fare in almost every way, and the inclusion of Deltan seductress Melle (“Ginny & Georgia” and “In the Dark” actress Humberly González) on the team is no exception. “Star Trek” has always been a franchise that’s sexy but relatively sexless; it’s been dancing around the topic with plotlines about pon farr and miniskirt-clad guest stars since the very beginning, but most of the time, it favors intellectual connections and bonds of loyalty over consummated love. The Deltans, a species that first popped up in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” are a hairless humanoid group that inspires strong sexual attraction in others — yet even Deltans typically tamp it down by signing a celibacy vow when joining Starfleet. According to press materials shared by StarTrek.com, though, stylish Deltan Melle didn’t sign a vow, which we assume makes her a sort of professional Bond girl.

We have to make assumptions here because we don’t actually learn much about Melle throughout the movie. She gets some good quips in and seems to aid the team by making all the men in her orbit tongue-tied to the point of vulnerability, but she’s too cool a character to sit on the sidelines as much as she does. Plus, we don’t even hear about the celibacy vow part of it all, just that she’s described as a “walking honey trap.” A professional flirt with flawless makeup who can pop bubble gum in the shape of a heart? We’re under her spell already.

There’s nothing more controversial to “Trek” fans than a project that messes with established Vulcan culture, so Fuzz (“One Piece” actor Sven Ruygrok) is pretty much destined to cause waves among longtime viewers. The presence of a laughing Vulcan in the trailer for “Section 31” was already weird enough, but the reality of Fuzz’s situation is even stranger. He’s actually a microscopic being called a nanochem, pulling the strings inside the brain of an unnamed Vulcan for nefarious reasons. He’s also very Irish — in a pretty stereotypically hot-headed, ready-to-brawl way.

Questionable cultural portrayal aside, Fuzz is one of the most intriguing characters in “Section 31” because his story feels so completely unfinished. He has thousands of kids on the way, an angry Southern wife, and an evil plan that, despite not going according to plan, may not have killed him. Even more interesting: we know nothing about his host body, how he found it, or what happened to the Vulcan consciousness when he decided to take up residence. Fuzz is a bit of a pest, but Ruygrok’s performance makes him more fun than he needs to be, and he (and his host) are the sort of characters who could get true tragic backstories if given the adequate time needed to flourish.

I’ll say what we’re all thinking: “Star Trek” needs more himbos. Starfleet is full of the galaxy’s best and brightest, which means that people like Zeph – the mech-suit-wearing Australian bro played by “True Blood” and “Captain Marvel” actor Robert Kazinsky — don’t always get the spotlight. But a rollicking, outer-fringes crime caper like “Section 31” has all the room in the world for a character who fills the big, goofy antihero quota, and Zeph is an especially fun one.

Zeph is described in the film as “heavy on artillery, low on IQ,” and Philippa also says he looks “like a Swiss army knife.” But he backs up his brawn with a chipper, boisterous attitude that would’ve made him a fan favorite if he hadn’t been killed halfway through the movie. Kazinsky makes the most of his screen time and gets a few laughs, like when Zeph takes offense after Philippa differentiates between his body and the suit he wears full time (he has “Mecha Dysmorphia,” according to Quasi), and when we see him clearly getting lost in the sauce having a conversation about “mech life” while undercover at the bar. Sweet dumb-dumb Zeph, we hardly knew you, but I’m sure you’ll live on in fanfiction – if not in continuing “Star Trek” canon.

Sam Richardson makes everything he’s a part of better, and when it comes to “Section 31,” the star of “The Afterparty” and “Veep” is the glue that holds the precarious tonal mash-up together. His shape-shifting Chameloid character Quasi is extremely smart, and he’s equal parts charming and adorably awkward. “Sometimes Quasi sees so many options, he gets brain freeze,” Melle explains when he starts stumbling over his words upon meeting Philippa, but it seems clear that he’s especially tongue-tied around Yeoh’s stylish and sexy antihero. He’s also got a quip for every occasion, and while the film’s script can be a tad stilted, Richardson makes every line feel natural.

Inadvertently or otherwise, “Section 31” seems to be a pastiche of pop culture from the past decade, and Quasi shares the same dorky-cute sense of indecision (and understanding of advanced theories of existence) as “The Good Place” sweetheart Chidi (William Jackson Harper). Hopefully, the Chameloid will get more space to grow if he returns for future “Trek” stories, but the basis of a great character is already there, and Richardson plays it perfectly. Of all the newbies introduced in “Section 31,” Quasi is the most well-rounded and endearing right off the bat. He’s also the team member from whom we’d most love to see an on-screen encore.