Star Trek: Discovery Showrunners Reveal New Story Details

09/09/2017 10:58 pm EDT

Star Trek: Discovery, the latest television installment in the popular science fiction franchise, is set to debut this September. And while fans were wowed by the first trailer for the series earlier this year, much is still unknown about Discovery's plot.

Thankfully, showrunners Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts offered quite a few clues, during a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. In particular, the showrunners discussed Discovery's lead, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), and her connection to the world of Vulcan.

"Burnham [has] spent a lot of time on Vulcan, but she's human." Harberts revealed. "Sarek [Spock's father, played by James Frain] plays an important role in her life, which has been completely planned until she makes a very difficult choice that sends her life on a very different path. When we meet her, she's the First Officer on the Starship Shenzhou [captained by Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh]. And Burnham's choice that we're alluding to is most difficult choice you can make — it affects her, affects Starfleet, affects the Federation, it affects the entire universe. That choice leads her to a different ship, the Discovery [helmed by Captain Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs] and there we begin what Gretchen and I call our 'second pilot.'"

With Discovery being the first Trek series to not follow the ship's captain, Berg hinted that the series will be able to go into previously-uncharted territory in terms of storytelling.

"The joy is in the journey," Berg explained. "The advantage to her not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a very different point of view. It's a fresh feeling because we're not on the bridge all the time. We get access to more parts of the ship."

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'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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