Star Trek: Strange New Worlds May Show Spock's First Pon Farr

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds may reveal and early and intimate part of Spock's past. On Friday, CBS All Access announced the new prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. The show brings back Ethan Peck, who played Spock in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. Being set in the years before the original series, Peck admits it is possible he'll portray Spock's first bout of pon farr. That's a Vulcan's biological mating period during which they're overcome by sexual desire. "I really have no idea, but I would think it's a strong possibility," Peck tells Variety of the idea.

Spock, as played by Leonard Nimoy, underwent pon farr in the original series episode "Amok Time." That episode took place in the year 2267 and established that Vulcan males enter pon farr every seven years of their adult life. Star Trek: Discovery's second season ended in the year 2258. Given that, it makes sense to assume Spock will undergo pon farr sometime during Strange New Worlds. Whether the series chooses to make a story out of it is unknown.

Either way, Peck says he's looking forward to returning as Spock and reuniting with Anson Mount as Captain Pike and Rebecca Romijn as Number One. "It'll be a whole new challenge for me as an actor portraying Spock because you've had this transformation," Peck says. "I can't wait to see what we explore. Last year, I basically told myself I was gonna do as many conventions as possible to connect to the fan base and campaign for a spinoff show for Anson and Rebecca and I. We all got along so well, and we all loved the content so much and the message of Star Trek.

"I believe so much in what we're doing. I don't think that there's ever been a better time for Star Trek, because of its ideology. It's all about coming together and using the ways that we're different from one another for the advantage of people as a whole."

Akiva Goldsman co-created Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and wrote the premiere episode. He suggests that the new series will return to some classic pillars of Star Trek storytelling. "We're going to try to harken back to some classical Trek values, to be optimistic, and to be more episodic," Goldsman says.

Fans can see the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crew in action in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Short Treks. Both series are streaming now on CBS All Access.