The Star Trek universe has always been a relatively safe place, at least for its main characters. That’s all about to change.
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Star Trek: Discovery is the first new Star Trek television series in more than a decade. A lot has changed about television in the 12 years since Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air, including the death rate, and Star Trek: Discovery is prepared to catch the franchise up with the times.
“Game of Thrones changed television,” Star Trek: Discovery co-showrunner Gretchen J. Berg tells Entertainment Weekly. “They almost made it difficult to fall in love with people because you didn’t know if they were going to be taken away from you. That show’s had an influence on all TV dramas that have come after it.”
But Star Trek fans shouldn’t worry about Star Trek: Discovery trying to out-bloody Game of Thrones.
“Death isn’t treated gratuitously on this show,” Aaron Harberts, Discovery‘s other showrunner, says. “It’s not for shock value. But when it happens we want to make sure that people really feel it.”
Up until now, the Star Trek universe has been a pretty safe place to go adventuring in. Sure, the “red shirts” seemed pretty expendable in Star Trek: The Original Series, and the movies would sometimes kill someone off, though they usually got better.
The most frequent cause of a main character’s death in a Star Trek television show up until now has been the actors playing them wanting out of their contracts. Such was the case in the deaths of Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
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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