Star Trek: Discovery EP One Why We Still Need Gene Roddenberry's Vision

The Star Trek vision imagined by creator Gene Roddenberry 50 years ago is just as important today as it ever was.

That's how Alex Kurtzman, the executive producer of Star Trek: Discovery feels.

"I think that the core of Roddenberry's vision – and I think that is why it has endured for as long as it has – is the belief that human beings will always find a way to persevere and connect to each other," Kurtzman tells CNET. "And that there is an optimistic outlook to where we can be going. And now more than ever we need that desperately. So, he gives you hope. Star Trek gives you hope.

Star Trek: Discovery was announced in 2015 and, though the series intends to abandon at least one key Roddenberry principal and adjust the series for modern expectation, CBS hoped to have the series debut as part of Star Trek's 50th-anniversary celebration. CBS missed that window and instead the series will come close to a debut on the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: Discovery was created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. Fuller was originally intended to be Discovery's showrunner but was forced step down due to commitments to Starz' adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts have taken over as showrunners.

Star Trek: Discovery takes place roughly a decade prior to the five-year mission of Star Trek: The Original Series. In breaking with franchise tradition, the show's main protagonist will not be a captain. Instead, it will be First Officer Michael Burnham, played by The Walking Dead alum Sonequa Martin-Green.

Star Trek: Discovery follows the adventures of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters, and new missions while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

Star Trek: Discovery's cast also includes Jason Isaacs as the starship Discovery's Captain Lorca, Rainn Wilson as Star Trek: The Original Series character Harry Mudd, James Frain as Sarek, Spock's father, and Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georgiou, the captain of another Starfleet ship, the Shenzhou, which will be important to the plot of Star Trek: Discovery. Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp both play science officers. Mary Wiseman will play a final year Starfleet Academy cadet.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres Sept. 24, 2017.

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