Star Trek: Discovery will feature a female lead character, but don’t call her captain.
The role is still being cast, but producers are focused on a woman of color who will play someone along the lines of a human lieutenant commander. That’s just one of the details showrunner Bryan Fuller gave out Wednesday in remarks to the Television Critics Association, along with the revelation that the series takes place a decade before the original Star Trek series featuring James T. Kirk and his crew on their first five-year mission. (We already knew that Discovery takes place in the “Prime” timeline where Kirk was played by William Shatner, and not the rebooted “Kelvin” timeline of the Chris Pine films.)
The lead character's rank will be lieutenant commander… "with caveats," says @BryanFuller. #StarTrekDiscovery #TCA16
— Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) August 11, 2016
.@BryanFuller on the lead not being a captain: We’ve seen 6 series from a captain’s point of view. #StarTrekDiscovery #TCA16
— Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) August 11, 2016
The Discovery crew will also comprise “a few more aliens than you normally do in a Star Trek cast,” Fuller said, and he also said there will “absolutely” be a gay character. He’s also hoping to incorporate Amanda Grayson, Spock’s human mother, as a secondary character.
As for the series’ plot, Fuller said it would revolve around an event referenced in the original Star Trek.
Oh, and robots. And time warps:
There will be robots in #StarTrekDiscovery, says @BryanFuller. You can also bend space and time. #TCA16
— Debra Birnbaum (@debrabirnbaum) August 11, 2016
The CBS All Access series, which will premiere early next year on the broadcast network before being an online exclusive, will have a first season of 13 episodes that are described as both serialized and self-contained.
