Star Trek: Discovery Reveals Sonequa Martin-Green's Role

04/04/2017 10:48 am EDT

CBS has officially confirmed Sonequa Martin-Green's leading role on Star Trek: Discovery. Martin-Green's role was already rumored, with even the official Star Trek social media accounts describing it as "the worst-kept secret in the universe," which led to plenty of speculation about the fate of Martin-Green's The Walking Dead character, Sasha, leading into the season finale.

There was some fresh news accompanying the official announcement, and that's Martin-Green's character's name and rank. Martin-Green will play First Officer Michael Burnham of the Starship USS Discovery.

Martin-Green is best-known for her role on The Walking Dead but has also had roles on Toe to Toe, New Girl, Once Upon a Time, The Good Wife, Army Wives and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Up Next: Harry Potter Alum To Play Star Trek: Discovery's Captain

As First Officer Michael Burnham, Martini-Green and Star Trek: Discovery are breaking new ground for the Star Trek franchise as this will be the first time that a Star Trek series has not had a captain or the highest ranking Starfleet officer as the main character.

Of course, Star Trek: Discovery and the USS Discovery will have a captain. Captain Lorca will be played by Jason Isaacs, best known for playing Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies.

Additional cast members include Rainn Wilson as Star Trek: The Original Series character Harry Mudd, and 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 was originally slated for a May debut, but a production delay has pushed the release window back to early fall. When it does premiere, the first episode Star Trek: Discovery will air on CBS. The remainder of the 13-episode first season will debut on CBS's streaming subscription service CBS All Access.

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 series. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts have taken over as showrunners.

Star Trek: Discovery will mark Star Trek's return to television after a 12-year absence following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise. The series takes place roughly a decade prior to the five-year mission of Star Trek: The Original Series.

More Star Trek News: Andrew Lincoln Would Like To Appear On Star Trek: Discovery / Star Trek Star George Takei Announces New Graphic Novel / Patrick Stewart Imagines A Professor X And Captain Picard Crossover

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