Star Trek: Discovery isn’t exactly the anthology show it was originally envisioned as, but there is one element of the series that has changed every year: the U.S.S. Discovery has to find itself a new captain at the beginning of each season. After season 1’s Captain Lorca’s true villainy was revealed, season 2 introduced the heroic Pike instead. However, now that the ship has travelled to the far future, the captain’s chair is vacant once again.
At a panel titled “Impact Storytelling” hosted by CBS Television Studios, co-showrunner Michelle Paradise promised that the Discovery’s third captain in as many years will be appointed in the next run of the show, reminding us where things were left the last time we saw the crew.
“I will remind that in our finale, as Pike was leaving, he said, ‘We are going to need to choose a new captain.’ Saru said, ‘Let’s put a pin in that and see what happens.’ Discovery will need a captain. The pin will need to come out. We will need to address that in story.”
So, who could the latest leader of the Discovery be? Well, out of the characters we already know, there are two main candidates. Cmdr. Saru has acted as the interim captain before now, and he’s also grown so much over the past two seasons that it would be fitting if he were to land the position. On the other hand, Michael Burnham has likewise had a transformative character arc so far. Making her the captain would finally have her fit with the Trek tradition of having the protagonist be in the driver’s seat.
Alternatively, it could be a new character who takes on the role. There’s a whole new galaxy to explore now that the ship’s 1000 years into the future and so far, we know that David Ajala is joining the cast as Cleveland Booker (see the photos above). He doesn’t look the captain type, but you never know.
Star Trek: Discovery season 3 isn’t expected to debut for a while yet, with it arriving on CBS All Access in late 2020. Until then, feel free to speculate on who could be the new captain by dropping a comment down below.
