With Star Trek: Discovery set to beam onto TV sets this September, showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg have been chatting to EW about the story for the hotly-anticipated series, and while they were reluctant to give too much away, they did reveal that Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham is the first human to have attended the Vulcan Science Academy.
“Burnham spent a lot of time on Vulcan, but she’s human,” said Harberts. “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.’”
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Meanwhile, the showrunners also revealed that they have welcomed a Trek veteran to the directing team for Discovery in Jonathan Frakes, a.k.a. Commander William T. Riker, who previously helmed episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and the movies Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.
“Jonathan Frakes will rejoin the Trek world with Discovery. He’s a fantastic guy and great director,” said Berg, with Harberts adding that: “Our cast is dying to work with him.”
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY will follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters and new missions, while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.
Star Trek: Discovery premieres on September 24th on CBS and on September 25th on Netflix. Featuring in the cast are Sonequa Martin-Green (Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham) are Jason Isaacs (Captain Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Georgiou), Chris Obi (T’Kuvma), Doug Jones (Saru), James Frain (Sarek), Terry Serpico (Anderson), Maulik Pancholy (Nambue), Anthony Rapp (Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Tilly), Mary Chieffo (L-Rell), Shazad Latif (Lieutenant Tyler), Rekha Sharma (Commander Mitchell), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Clare McConnell (Dennas), Damon Runyan (Ujilli) and Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd).
Originally published July 2, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
