Star Trek: Strange New Worlds got its first dedicated panel today as part of CBS’ Star Trek Day celebrations. The cast and crew of the upcoming Discovery spinoff gathered virtually to give us all new info on the show, which will follow Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) on their adventures aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise in the days before The Original Series.
Of most interest to fans is probably what the three stars had to say about what we can expect from their characters in the spinoff. First, Mount discussed the repercussions of Pike discovering his dark fate in DIS season 2 – that he’s destined to be left disfigured and paralyzed, a consequence of him rescuing a group of cadets. Now, the captain will have to wrestle with the fact that his future is set in stone.
“The most honest thing I can say is, I’m still figuring it out… Pike didn’t just learn how he dies, he learns in what circumstances. So we do know that at some point he’s going to be presented with a promotion opportunity to Fleet Captain. And he has to accept that in order for the fate to come into existence. So what is it that’s going to allow him, both in terms of circumstance and emotion, to accept that promotion? It’s a tough question, but I think we’ll figure it out together.”
Ethan Peck then teased that there will be more of the fundamental conflict between Spock’s two natures, his Vulcan side and his human side. Remember, at this stage in his life, he’s not yet the logical machine we know from TOS.
“I’m very thrilled to find the balance in Spock. He between two worlds of logic and control and of emotional volatility that we all struggle with. And so it’s going to be an enormous challenge. And there are plenty of scenarios in which we could play with that. And I’m very excited to see what the writers come up with. And I’m just going to throw myself in. I can’t wait.”
Last but not least, Rebecca Romijn promised that Strange New Worlds will fill in Number One AKA Una’s backstory. As originally played by Majel Barrett in “The Cage,” we’ve never known much about the character’s inner life, but we’re about to thanks to this new show. And the revelations will be mind-blowing, apparently.
““The Cage” being such an old pilot, the writers have this very unique opportunity where they’ve had this character that’s existed since the beginning of the canon, but she’s never been written. I can’t wait to find out how vast her skill set is. What are the arrows in her quiver? My number one question is: what’s her backstory? And I had a delightful meeting with the writers’ room a couple of months ago, and they floated an idea for Number One’s backstory that I’m not going to share right now because it is it blew my mind when they said it. But that’s all I can say.”
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is well into the scripting stage with production due to kick off in 2021. In the meantime, Lower Decks airs weekly and Discovery season 3 kicks off on October 15th.
