It’s a good news/bad news kind of day for Star Trek fans. As per tradition, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: Star Trek: Discovery, which was supposed to debut on the new CBS All Access streaming service in May of this year, has been delayed. Although no new date has been given, it probably won’t delay for too long, as the new show starts shooting at the end of this month.
In a statement, via The Hollywood Reporter, CBS All Access reps said “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.”
Ok, so now on to the good news. Character actor James Frain, well known to genre fans for his roles on Orphan Black, True Blood, Gotham, Agent Carter, TRON: Legacy and many, many other projects has joined Discovery as Sarek of Vulcan. Sarek is of course the father of Spock, and the Vulcan ambassador to the Federation. Mark Lenard played this role in the original series, three of the original series films, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Actor Ben Cross played the role in the J.J. Abrams 2009 Star Trek reboot.
Does this mean we’ll see a recast Spock on the series as well at some point? Don’t hold your breath: In the timeline of Discovery, it’s about ten years before the events of the original ’60s Star Trek series. As fans of the show know, Sarek disapproved of his son Spock joining Starfleet, and the two stopped speaking for several years as a result. Their reconciliation takes place in the episode “Journey to Babel”, which introduces the character of Sarek. So if Spock does show up, it would be a bit of a continuity error. While the character of Spock probably won’t show up, Sarek is married to a human woman, Spock’s mother Amanda Grayson, so expect to see her cast soon if Sarek is a main player.
James Frain joins The Walking Dead star Sonequa Martin-Green, who will play the Lt. Commander on the Discovery, and in a change from tradition, the show’s lead character instead of the Captain. Other cast members already announced for Discovery are Michelle Yeoh, Anthony Rapp and Doug Jones. Actors Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, and Mary Chieffo were also cast as Klingons. The first season of the show is going to be 13 episodes, a departure from previous Trek series which were always at least 20 or more episodes per season.
Are you excited about this latest casting addition to Star Trek: Discovery? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.
Image: BBC America
