Update: Bryan Fuller’s Star Trek: Discovery has been pushed from a January 2017 release to May. In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Fuller and executive producer Alex Kurtzman shared, “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.†(More on the story at THR.)
Before you get too concerned, consider this: wouldn’t you rather have the new series you deserve, rather than something rushed and last minute? We have full faith that Fuller and co. want to do right by the fans and deliver an incredible story worthy of Star Trek‘s legacy. May can’t come any sooner.
More on the Hannibal showrunner’s intentions for Star Trek: Discovery in our original story:
While official new Star Trek adventures have been the sole territory of J.J. Abrams‘ cinematic franchise reboot for the last ten years, new voyages in the original or “Prime” universe are soon on their way via CBS’ streaming platform, CBS All-Access. And according to Star Trek: Discovery executive producer Bryan Fuller, those adventures will take place ten years before the first Enterprise’s five-year mission, and center on a female lead, though she will not be the captain of Discovery‘s titular ship.
“The story that is fascinating for me is we’ve seen six series now from captains’ points of view,” said Fuller of the new lead’s rank at Wednesday’s Television Critics Association’s summer press tour. “And to see a character from a different perspective on a starship, who has a different dynamic relationship with the Captain and with subordinates, felt like it was gonna give us richer context to have different types of stories with that character; since it is ensemble. But we do have that female protagonist.”
If you thought the series might begin with the Romulan War, however, we’ve got some bad news for you: it’s not happening. But the springboard for the series is an incident from the series’ past.
“There’s been a few rumors going around about [when] the show is set,” explained Fuller. “One of the things that was very exciting to me as a Star Trek fan was… There had been an incident, an event in Star Trek history and the history of Starfleet that had been talked about but never fully explored. It felt like to do this series launching a chapter of this first iteration of the streaming service where we’re gonna be telling a much more serialized story and digging deep into something, that was always very tantalizing. And to tell that story through a character who is on a journey that is going to teach her how to get along with others in the galaxy — because for her to truly understand something that is alien she has to first understand herself — It felt like a journey we could all go on.”
Fuller also noted the lead character will be human, and that none of the show’s characters have been cast yet. Fuller also confirmed an increased presence of aliens—updated and modernized compared to their older TV counterparts—and that there will be at least one gay character (at the insistence, Fuller points out, of his straight co-producer Alex Kurtzman). When asked if Amanda Grayson (Spock’s mom!) could show up, Fuller would only say, “maaaaaybe,” but admitted that he loves the character. Artificial intelligence will also come into play over the course of the 13-episode first season, which is set to have more graphic content (because internet and the evolution of TV since the last series ended).
Are you looking forward to Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know below!
Image: CBS
