Star Trek: Discovery: Release Date, Cast, Trailer

For the first time since CBS announced its new Star Trek TV series, Star Trek: Discovery seems real.

CBS just released a nostalgia-heavy, behind-the-scenes look at the production, which just started. Following a look back at the previous Star Trek series incarnations (that, frankly, would have been appreciated during the 50th anniversary celebrations), the vid shows the construction of the Discovery on the sound stage, as well as a look at the new uniforms! 

The video ends with a plug to watch all of the previous Star Trek series via CBS All Access (which explains the nostalgia), but, frankly, I don't care if I'm being a little bit emotionally manipulated here. This made me smile...

In other recents news...

Star Trek: Discovery Release Date

Well, folks, looks like we won't be seeing Star Trek: Discovery as soon as we had hoped. After pushing the Discovery premiere back from January to May, CBS released a statement (via Variety) implying that the show probably won't meet its May start date either...

Production on Star Trek: Discovery begins next week. We love the cast, the scripts and are excited about the world the producers have created.  This is an ambitious project; we will be flexible on a launch date if it's best for the show.  We've said from the beginning it's more important to do this right than to do it fast. There is also added flexibility presenting on CBS All Access, which isn't beholden to seasonal premieres or launch windows.

Production started on January 24th and will go through September 7th, a total of about eight months. 

This isn't exactly surprising news and, frankly, I am still of the opinion that I would rather wait for something good than have CBS rush Star Trek: Discovery and turn out something mediocre or worse. Previously, when CBS pushed the Discovery start date back to May, executive producers Fuller and Alex Kurtzman released this statement to explain the decision:

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.

Star Trek: Discovery Cast

Star Trek: Discovery has cast James Frain (seen recently as Theo Galavan on Gotham) in the role of Spock's Vulcan father, Sarek. The character of Sarek has a long Star Trek history, first appearing in The Original Series before going on to make appearances in four of the Star Trek movies, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in the 2009 Star Trek movie. 

He has previously been played by Mark Lenard and Jonathan Simpson in the Prime Universe, and Ben Cross more recently in the Kelvin Universe of the Star Trek reboot films. 

This is kind of big news because it represents the first tangible connection between Star Trek: Discovery and the rest of the Star Trek universe. Frain is a great choice (and a familiar face in the genre TV universe), and the introduction of Sarek's character, who has a fascinating history aside from his connection to Spock.

Sarek's grandfather was the first Vulcan ambassador to Earth and Sarek would go on to marry a human, Amanda Grayson (his second marriage), a controversial choice in Vulcan society. Though it's unlikely that Spock will appear in Discovery with his dad, given that Sarek and Spock were estranged during the time Discovery is set, there could be hope for Amanda Grayson to make an appearance — which would be awesome.

Star Trek: Discovery has found its lead actress. Sonequa Martin-Green, best known as Sasha Williams in The Walking Dead and Tamara in Once Upon a Time, has been cast in the still as-of-yet-unnamed lead role of a lieutenant commander (aka Number One) on the Discovery.

Martin-Green will be the first black actress to lead a Star Trek series (unlike previous series, Discovery's lead character will not be a captain). According to Entertainment Weekly, who first broke the news, she will continue her role on The Walking Dead. If you're unfamiliar with Martin-Green, here's a behind-the-scenes interview the 31-year-old actress did for The Walking Dead...

The show has also 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. 

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...

CBS Interactive also recently launched its first tie-in ad for Star Trek: Discovery. Normally, this wouldn't be something to get too excited over, but we're desperate for official Star Trek stuff. Plus, this 360-degree experience is pretty fun.

It's officially an ad for mobile phone manufacturer Alcatel, but it's mostly just a video jaunt through space featuring some familiar ships: notably, the Enterprise NX-01 and the NCC-1701-D. (Though you might notice a cargo ship from The Animated Series in there, too.)

The little space flight is pretty cool, even if it doesn't include any new footage or details about Star Trek: Discovery. Extra points for the use of The Next Generation soundtrack. The "VR experience" was launched at CES 2017, the major tech conference currently going on in Las Vegas. Check it out for yourself...

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