The Star Trek: Discovery cast is really starting to shape up...
The new Star Trek TV series — Star Trek: Discovery — is marching along, and we're finally starting to get tangible news about what it will look like. Most recently, Star Trek: Discovery has been adding to its cast. Here are all of the latest additions!
Star Trek: Discovery Cast
We've got some new Star Trek: Discovery casting information!
The show has added three Klingons to its cast. First, Shazad Latif (Penny Dreadful, Spooks) has been cast as Kol, the Commanding Officer of the Klingons, according to Deadline. In the DS9 comics, Kol was in charge of the Klingon fleet that visited the space station after a suspected Cardassian attack.
Also joining the Lingon cast, via Deadline, are Chris Obi (American Gods, Snow White and the Huntsman) and Mary Chieffo. Obi will play T’Kuvma, "the Klingon leader seeking to unite the Klingon houses" and Kol's mentor, while Chieffo will portray L’Rell, "the Battle Deck Commander of the Klingon ship."
Check out this awesome transporter-inspired gif announcing the cast additions and argue about whether the Klingons in this series will be friendly or foe-ly in the comments below...
In other casting new, Deadline has not only confirmed that Michelle Yeoh will play the role of Discovery's Starfleet captain, they are also reporting that Doug Jones (The Strain) and Anthony Rapp (Rent) will be in the cast. Who will the trio be playing?...
Yeoh will play Captain Georgiou, the captain of the Starship Shenzhou, a ship that "is set to play a big role" in the season.
Jones will be taking on the role of Lt. Saru, a science officer. Saru will be a new species of alien we have never seen before in the Star Trek universe.
Rounding out the trio, we have Rapp as Lt. Stamets, an "astromycologist" and "fungus expert" aboard the Discovery.
Deadline also reports that Star Trek: Discovery is close to casting its lead, the mysterious Number One.
Star Trek: Discovery Release Date
Sadly, the Star Trek: Discovery premiere date has been pushed back to May. (It was previously scheduled to premiere in January.) Here's the full statement from executive producers Fuller and Alex Kurtzman:
Bringing Star Trek back to television carries a responsibility and mission: to connect fans and newcomers alike to the series that has fed our imaginations since childhood. We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don’t result in compromised quality.
Before heading into production, we evaluated these realities with our partners at CBS and they agreed: Star Trek deserves the very best, and these extra few months will help us achieve a vision we can all be proud of.
Personally, I'd much rather Star Trek: Discovery take its time and push back the premiere date than rush and give us something that feels like it was rushed. Still, it feels like this is another aspect of the Star Trek franchise that CBS (and Paramount) could have handled a bit better in the 50th anniversary year.
Though we may have to wait a bit longer for Star Trek: Discovery, Fuller has been keeping us entertained with some show-specific Twitter clues. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, Bryan Fuller dropped a major hint about the plot of Star Trek: Discovery on Twitter...
Recently CBS Interactive CEO Jim Lazone spoke with Recode to explain the logic behind the decision to "air" Star Trek: Discovery on CBS' paid streaming platform rather than the channel proper. In addition to some easily-picked-apart "logic" that a show like Star Trek couldn't survive on TV,
Lazone did elaborate a bit on the fact that Discovery's digital home means the show doesn't have to play by the FCC's broadcast rules when it comes to such topics as nudity, cursing, and violence. Because that's exactly what Star Trek is known for: its nudity and violence. Lazone did add in that the Powers That Be will only push the envelope on these issues "as long as it serves the story.
Star Trek: Discovery Trailer
Paramount and CBS debuted a teaser for Star Trek: Discovery at San Diego Comic Con. Though we don't learn much about the new series from this concept art-y trailer, frankly, it's just nice to see a TV starship again and to know that the Star Trek TV show is on its way. Check out the full trailer for yourself...
We also have this initial teaser, which gives us even less visual detail, but does promise “new crews, new villains, new heroes, new worlds.” So that's something! Check it out...