'Star Trek: Discovery' Producer Reveals If Spock Could Appear

Fans shouldn't expect to see Star Trek's best-known alien, Mr. Spock, on Star Trek: Discovery.

During a press conference at New York Comic Con, executive producer Akiva Goldsman confirmed that Spock will not appear on Star Trek: Discovery, despite some references to the characters already popping up in episodes of the new series.

Goldsman went on to explain that, while Discovery does take place in Star Trek's prime timeline, it will continue to operate in its own corner of that universe until the prequel series catches up to Star Trek: The Original Series.

"We are the original timeline with the TV shows and movies that fit into that," Goldsman said. "We are wildly aware of everything that appears to be a deviation from canon and we will close out all of those issues before they arrive at the 10-year period and hit The Original Series.

"We get to focus on character story over plot. If Kirk had to deal with Edith [Keeler]'s death as if it were real, it would take a season or a series. It wouldn't take a week. The gift we have with contemporary story is that we can stretch those feelings out over a season. It is how these people discover who they are and as a representation of the Federation reaffirming who it is. You get the gift of getting to start somewhere which is different from where you end."

Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Aaron Harberts made similar comments in a separate interview about how Discovery will begin to reconcile with established Star Trek canon as soon as next season.

'We have ten years until The Original Series comes into play," Harberts said. "It is a challenge creatively because we have lots of choices, in terms of how do we reconcile this [Spore] drive? This surrogate daughter of Sarek? How do we reconcile these things the closer we get to The Original Series?

"That's going to be a big discussion that we have in season two. What's so fun about the character of Michael, just because she hasn't been spoken about, doesn't mean she didn't exist. A lot of the writers on our show are deeply involved in Star Trek, their knowledge is some of the finest around, they really do help us find areas where we can steer around things."

Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access on January 7, 2018.

[H/T] Polygon