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Merch Madness: New STAR TREK Releases Include More Funko POP! Figures, Pizza Cutters, and More

TrekCore Staff
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Merch Madness: New STAR TREK Releases Include More Funko POP! Figures, Pizza Cutters, and More

We’re back from our spring hiatus with a bevy of new Star Trek merchandise announcements and reveals from the last two weeks, just in time for those new stimulus checks to motivate your spending!

First up is a trailer for the forthcoming first-season Blu-ray release of Star Trek: Lower Decks, which we first covered back on March 2; the footage here previews some of the behind-the-scenes interviews and special features included in the 2-disc set.

You can preorder Star Trek: Lower Decks – Season One on Blu-ray today, or preorder the special Blu-ray Steelbook edition if that’s your preference.

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Next is a closer look at the new non-fiction décor book we first covered in February, Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier – How Midcentury Modernism Shaped Our View of the Future, which also had a new cover revealed this past week.

Written by Daniel Chavkin and Brian McGuire, the new coffee-table publication from Weldon Owen focuses on the design philosophy of the 1950s and 1960s inspired the look of the classic Star Trek series, from famous-designer set dressing to the prop design of the era.

Celebrate Star Trek: The Original Series and the show’s distinctive Mid-Century modern design that would change design– and television– forever.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969) was the first installment of one of the most successful and longest-running television franchises of all time. Today, “Trekkers” champion its writing, progressive social consciousness, and aesthetic. Designing the Final Frontier is a unique, expert look at the mid-century modern design that created and inspired that aesthetic.

From Eames chairs to amorphous sculptures, from bright colors to futuristic frames, Star Trek: TOS is bursting with mid-century modern furniture, art, and design elements—many of them bought directly from famous design showrooms.

Author and mid-century modern design expert Dan Chavkin has created an insider’s guide to the interior of original starship Enterprise and beyond, that is sure to attract Star Trek’s thriving global fan base.

The 160-page hardcover book Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier is available to preorder today ahead of its August 3 debut.

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For those of you who dig the deep-dish life, Ukonic has introduced their next entry in the line of Star Trek pizza cutters — following the original Enterprise and the Enterprise-D — as the Crossfield-class USS Discovery becomes the latest starship to join the food fleet.

Perhaps the best fit yet for the rotating-saucer design, which easily mimics the in-universe spore drive saucer spin, the new 9-inch, stainless-steel Discovery pizza cutter is available now through Toynk for $34.99.

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Also coming from Ukonic (due out in May) are a series of multi-tool devices shaped like some famous shapes from the Star Trek universe.

Including bottle opener, cord cutter, ruler, wrench, and screwdriver functions, the 6-in-1 Klingon bat’leth, the 8-in-1 original Enterprise, and the 8-in-1 Enterprise-D multi-tools are up for preorder now at the Toynk store for $15.99 each.

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We brought you the first look at Mego’s Star Trek: Discovery-era Captain Pike action figure back in early February, and now both the good captain and Mego’s take on Season 2-era Commander Michael Burnham are both out in stores for those of you into the retro line of character dolls.

You can see more photos of each Discovery figure, along with a rundown of all the newest classic Star Trek characters to join the Mego lineup, over at The Trek Collective.

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If you’re really looking to blow out your budget on a mix of retro and futuristic tech, the folks over at CherryTree — the same company who released those Borg Cube custom PCs — now have rather curious item in their coming-soon section: a Star Trek: Picard Borg Cube record player!

Set to retail at $799 — so not exactly for the average collector — this record player is based upon the company’s Star Trek: Picard Borg Cube PC case, Audio-Technica AT-LP60X turntable with 2x125W Class-D amplifier, a Bluetooth vacuum tube preamplifier, and an internal PC with full-sized GPU — along with fiberoptic lights and RGB ‘forcefields’ in the case shell.

 

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If this is the kind of thing you’d like to put in your home entertainment system, keep an eye on CherryTree’s site for more details as they get closer to pre-order options.

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Finally, the gang at Funko is headed back once more to the classic Star Trek era for a new wave of their popular POP! vinyl figures this June, this time including the crew of the Mirror Universe and some famous Trek villains.

First up is the ISS Enterprise senior crew, the Terran Empire versions of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lt. Sulu, and Lt. Uhura (all available for preorder at Entertainment Earth)…

…followed by “Space Seed”-era Khan Singh (available at Entertainment Earth) and the green-skinned Gorn from “Arena,” the latter of which is going to be a Target exclusive when it’s released this July.

In addition, there’s an additional James T. Kirk POP! on the way, this time with the Enterprise captain sitting in his classic command chair (available at Entertainment Earth), as well as a Funko.com exclusive planned for the latter half of 2021: Spock with Isis the cat from “Assignment: Earth.”

Which of these new products will make your personal shopping list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

WeeklyTrek Podcast #133 — STRANGE NEW WORLDS Cast Expansion

Alex Perry
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WeeklyTrek Podcast #133 — STRANGE NEW WORLDS Cast Expansion

On this week’s episode of WeeklyTrek, brought to you in partnership between The Tricorder Transmissions Podcast Network and TrekCore, host Alex Perry is joined by Promenade Merchants Podcast co-host David Majors to discuss all the latest Star Trek news.

This week, Alex and his guest discuss the following stories from around the web:

In addition, stick around to listen to David’s wish for more Star Trek: Deep Space Nine content in the Kurtzman-era of Star Trek, and a listener submission about Star Trek drinkware!

WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify — and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.

Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!

Review — THE ART OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

Jim Moorhouse
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Review — THE ART OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY

With Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery behind now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to finally dive into our long overdue review of the series’ first behind-the-scenes reference book: The Art of Star Trek: Discovery by Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann.

As legends in the field of Trek research and reference books, Block and Erdmann have previously penned more than half a dozen comprehensive Trek tomes throughout the years, including the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, Star Trek: Costumes and two Star Trek 365 books focused on behind-the-scenes photographs from the Original Series and The Next Generation.

And now they’ve done it again with the The Art of Discovery, another spectacular addition to your growing Trek reference library. The massive, 208-page oversized coffee table book is an enthralling deep dive into the art production history of Star Trek: Discovery, detailing everything from tricorders to tardigrades with original sketches, storyboards and a number of long-awaited schematics.

The book covers the first two seasons of Discovery — as it was released in the early weeks of Season 3 — and does a great job of showcasing Alex Kurtzman’s creative goal, to “eliminate the line between movies and TV, because the way consumers are watching content now has totally changed.” In The Art of Star Trek: Discovery, this vision is certainly prevalent in the art and designs showcased.

While the book doesn’t dive into the turmoil surrounding the revolving door of creatives in the first two seasons — and why would it, this book is about the art after all — it does highlight the challenges in a few spots where new artists had to step in and pick up where someone had left off.

That happened with Gersha Phillips, who replaced Suttirat Anne Larlarb as the lead costume designer, and Scott Schneider who replaced Todd Cherniawsky as the concept set designer mid-way through the first season. In both cases, the authors do an excellent job of highlighting exactly where the new creatives began their process and the challenges they faced in integrating their vision with what had already been worked on.

It’s a welcome insight on the creative teams responsible for so much of the visceral look and feel of a show that excelled despite some leadership challenges.

Broken into the five major sections, the book is extremely well organized and great to read for both the details revealed, as well as for the visual stimulation of the art. It’s broken into five major sections, each featuring several standout chapters.

One Face, One Civilization features a look at Kelpien design, from the evolution of Saru’s look (including that first, multi-eyed design) through the creation of Kelpien villages, Kelpian attire and the Ba’ul obelisks seen in Season 2.

For Section 31 fans, The Freaks Are More Fun expands upon the set design of the secret agency’s ships and more, this section showcases production designer Tamara Deverell’s impressive work on the murky Starfleet organization — and how that interior design work influenced the look of Section 31’s distinctive ships.

Finally, we learn A Few Things You May Not Know About Vulcan, which gives us a close-up look of Spock’s scribbled drawing from the floor of his Starfleet psych unit (“If Memory Serves”), as well as a look into the art design for Sarek’s home (“Brother”), Vulcan eyebrows, and the Vulcan Science Academy graduation ceremony showcased in “Lethe.”

Spock’s drawing was created by Andy Tsang, who included not only the seven signals, but Vulcan glyphs, language and actual math equations, which was then transferred to the floor of the cell by art director Matt Middleton with printed strips of clear plastic.

Where the publication really shines is in its depiction of a number of detailed schematics that help fans visualize some of these creations in more detail — and which provide some answers to some of those “Hmm, where is THAT on the ship?” questions may fans have been asking.

A standout example is the cutaway diagram of the pre-refit USS Discovery, created for the show’s writing and production team to reference when staging scenes aboard ship.

Reminiscent of the classic Next Generation-era master systems display diagrams, this breakdown of the ship’s interior (shown in both top and side views) illustrates where many of the familiar on-screen locations exist within the ship’s structure — like the transporter rooms, sickbays, mess halls, Captain Lorca’s menagerie, and even a large open “systems hub” space… which might be the home to everyone’s favorite theme park ride.

Notably, we can finally identify where the new, large ready room was built for Captain Pike in the show’s second season; it sits within the small ‘hump’ located behind the bridge dome, atop Deck One.

Other fascinating diagrams within The Art of Star Trek: Discovery include:

  • Engineering / Spore Hub schematics: Stamets’ Spore Drive research area, originally designed and built as the Crossfield-class’ torpedo room/weapons bay.
  • Shuttlecraft: An overhead diagram of the Discovery-era shuttles, with measurements.
  • Construction layout for the bridge and corridor sets: This top-down look at the interior sets used for filming also detail how the corridors were repurposed for the inside of the USS Shenzhou.
  • The ISS Charon: There’s a detailed, albeit too-small, series of diagrams of the Terran Empire’s flagship, revealing locations of photon torpedo launchers, docking bays, Bussard collectors, and more.
  • Starship size reference chart: A comparison of all the Discovery Season 1 ships, showing the scale of all the Federation and Klingon ships relative to each other, created by visual effects art director William Budge.

As the journey in to Secret Hideout’s years of Star Trek continues, we’ll hopefully get some follow-up editions covering future seasons of Discovery, along with similar books for Picard, Strange New Worlds, and even the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy shows.

But for now, the Art of Star Trek: Discovery basically covers all of the first streaming Trek, from storyboards to sketch art, and from detailed schematics to finished artwork. The game-changing art design behind the first two seasons of the show shines through here in vibrant visuals and detailed analysis.

The Art of Star Trek: Discovery is available now.

Jim Moorhouse is the creator of TrekRanks.com and the TrekRanks Podcast. He can be found living and breathing Trek every day on Twitter at @EnterpriseExtra and @TrekRanks.

WeeklyTrek Podcast #132 — Another Month, Another STAR TREK 4 Writer

Alex Perry
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13
WeeklyTrek Podcast #132 — Another Month, Another STAR TREK 4 Writer

On this week’s episode of WeeklyTrek, brought to you in partnership between The Tricorder Transmissions Podcast Network and TrekCore, host Alex Perry is joined by Ron Wrobel to discuss all the latest Star Trek news.

This week, Alex and his guest discuss the following stories from around the web:

In addition, stick around to listen to Ron’s theory about the next Star Trek film storyline, and a theory submitted by a listener about the potential setting for Star Trek: Prodigy.

Note: This episode was recorded to prior to Friday’s Strange New Worlds casting.

WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify — and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.

Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!

More Hero Collector STAR TREK Books, New TOS and TNG Novel Cover Art… and Book’s Cat Grudge Writes a Book

TrekCore Staff
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10
More Hero Collector STAR TREK Books, New TOS and TNG Novel Cover Art… and Book’s Cat Grudge Writes a Book

A few weeks ago we brought you a look ahead to the year ahead in Star Trek fiction, and now we’ve got even more detail about other publishing plans for 2021 from Hero Collector, new cover art for this summer’s novels… and news of a cat’s take on Star Trek: Discovery.

Hero Collector is moving right along with the next entry in its Star Trek Celebration series — following last fall’s long-needed Star Trek: Voyager – A Celebration behind-the-scenes book — with an entry centered around the Original Series for its 55th anniversary year.

 The definitive collection of interviews, history, photos, and artwork from Star Trek: The Original Series. A must-have for all fans of Captain Kirk and his crew!

Following the success of Star Trek Voyager: A Celebration, this second volume in the series focuses Star Trek: The Original Series. The book will be released in the week of Star Trek’s 55th anniversary.

Gene Roddenberry’s series changed television forever and created a broadcast phenomenon, and world that continues to influence our culture today.

With a curated selection of archive interviews, personal recollections from cast and crew, and new interviews specially undertaken for the book, the chapters explore the writing, directing, production art and visual effects, plus classic episodes from the show’s three season run.

Star Trek: The Original Series – A Celebration will feature a mix of “curated archival interviews” along with new interviews with the surviving cast and crew, and like the Voyager edition before it, will include chapters on production, art design, visual effects, and special spotlights on selected episodes.

It’s likely not to be quite as interesting as the Voyager version — it’s not like there haven’t been many classic Trek behind-the-scenes books in the past — but it’ll be a nice addition for those not so versed in the stories from the the Original Series’ creation.

Due out in September, Star Trek: The Original Series – A Celebration can be preordered today.

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Following the four prior entries in this series, another book in the Star Trek: Designing Starships line is set for this summer — centered this time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Showcasing the concept art behind the Deep Space 9 station itself, the U.S.S. Defiant and dozens more ships from the award winning Star Trek series.

Deep Space 9 is considered by some as the best Star Trek series.

The fifth in the series of Star Trek Designing Starships is built around original production art and extensive interviews with the station and ships’ designers, explaining exactly how the ships came into being.

The award-winning series Deep Space Nine ran for seven seasons and 176 episodes, from January 1993 to June 1999.

This book will add another 200 pages of design work to collectors’ bookshelves, culling information mostly shared through prior Official Starship Collections magazine issues. Prior books in this series covered the legacy of starships called Enterprise, the starships of Voyager (and beyond), new designs for Star Trek: Discovery, and the ships of the Kelvin Timeline — so a DS9-focused release is nice to see.

Set to arrive on August 17, Star Trek: Designing Starships — Deep Space Nine and Beyond can be preordered today.

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For those of you who want all there is to know about the starships of Star Trek — but don’t have room for all the Eaglemoss starship models! — Hero Collector’s adding two more Star Trek Shipyards hardcover collections to its roster, collecting several-hundred-more pages of behind the scenes information and detailed schematics in a bookshelf-friendly format.

Coming in August (preorder here) is a revised and expanded second edition of the Starfleet Ships: 2294 – The Future collection, first released in 2018, which is set to add 70 pages of additional content from both Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery.

Included in the updated edition will be the Inquiry-class USS Zheng He from Picard, several of the 32nd century Starfleet ships from Discovery Season 3 (including the USS Voyager-J), and if the cover artwork is any indication, the fan-favorite Akira-class design (which was left out of the 2018 first edition).

Also on tap for this October is the first of two books focused on miscellaneous non-Starfleet ships from the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, following in the footsteps of this year’s two-part Delta Quadrant Shipyards series.

Set to include Cardassian, Ferengi, and Romulan starship designs, along with others from the Original Series and TNG/DS9 eras, Star Trek Shipyards — Alpha and Beta Quadrant: Volume One can be preordered now.

Speaking of the Shipyards series, this week Hero Collector also released a number of preview images from its Delta Quadrant: Volume 1 (coming in April) and Delta Quadrant: Volume 2 (coming in June) books, which you can check out in the slideshow above.

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In the last bit of Hero Collector publishing news, the company is also set to release a Next Generation version of their fun 2020 Nerd Search book Star Trek: Quibbles with Tribbles, which takes comic book-styled drawings of moments from the Trek series and deliberately sneaks in continuity errors for fans to search out and identify in the colorful spreads.

Following the hit ‘Quibbles with Tribbles,’ here comes the sequel …STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. This Nerd Search takes your favorite show and adds annoying mistakes that only a true Trek Nerd could spot! This is next level ‘Where’s Waldo,’ for the fanatical adult fan.

In this fully-illustrated book, the Borg have created time-travelling Chaos-Cubes that break down reality as we know it. You must spot the cubes, and save Picard’s voyages as we know them. On another level of complexity, the reader must spot five CONTINUITY ERRORS caused by the Chaos Cubes, like characters in the wrong costume, or scene … or series!

Finally, we have hidden ten random items from every season of Next Gen in every scene. Spot these rogue elements and name the episode if you can! Also spot 5 Super Quibbles, for the next level fan. These are things that only fans who peer behind the scenes will know about!

We will be revisiting classic episodes like Best of Both Worlds, The Big Goodbye and Encounter at Farpoint. Watch out for sneaky Ferengi, hairy Klingons, and quirky ‘Q’ madness. Top score is the magic number of 11001001. If you want to prove you are the greatest Next Generation expert ever, here’s your chance to make it so!

While it doesn’t yet have a formal title or cover artwork, Star Trek Nerd Search: The Next Generation can be preordered now ahead of its November 2021 release.

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New cover artwork for this summer’s pair of Star Trek novels have been revealed; designs for Cassandra Rose Clark’s Next Generation tale Shadows Have Offended and Christopher L. Bennett’s Living Memory each hit the web this week.

While attempting to settle in as commandant of Starfleet Academy, Admiral James T. Kirk must suddenly contend with the controversial, turbulent integration of an alien warrior caste into the student body — and quickly becomes embroiled in conflict when the Academy controversy escalates to murder.

Meanwhile, Captain Spock of the USS Enterprise and Commander Pavel Chekov of the USS Reliant are investigating a series of powerful cosmic storms seemingly targeting Federation worlds — unstoppable outbursts emitting from the very fabric of space.

Endeavoring to predict where the lethal storms will strike next, Spock and Chekov make the shocking discovery that the answer lies in Commander Nyota Uhura’s past — one that she no longer remembers….

The USS Enterprise has been granted the simple but unavoidable honor of ferrying key guests to Betazed for a cultural ceremony.

En route, sudden tragedy strikes a Federation science station on the isolated planet Kota, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard has no qualms sending William Riker, Data, and Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher to investigate.

But what begins as routine assignments for the two parties soon descends into chaos: Picard, Worf, and Deanna Troi must grapple with a dangerous diplomatic crisis as historic artifacts are stolen in the middle of a high-profile ceremony… while nothing is as it seems on Kota.

A mounting medical emergency coupled with the science station’s failing technology — and no hope of rescue — has Doctor Crusher racing against time to solve a disturbing mystery threatening the lives of all her colleagues….

Star Trek: The Original Series – Living Memory is available for preorder now ahead of its June 16 release, and Star Trek: The Next Generation – Shadows Have Offended can be preordered now ahead of its July 13 street date.

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Finally, it seems that this fall, we’ll be getting a cats-eye perspective on the world of Star Trek: Discovery… as Book’s cat Grudge will get her own publishing deal in November.

Star Trek: Discovery — The Book of Grudge from author Robb Pearlman will take the wisdom of Discovery’s feline queen and translate it into this new release, a small book where Grudge weighs in on the events of Discovery’s third season.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY through a cat’s eyes: find out what Grudge the cat really thinks of the planets, the ships and all of the people she meets in the course of her travels.

Grudge is a “Queen,” and she knows it. Everyone – her so-called owner, Cleveland “Book” Booker, Michael Burnham, Ryn, Zareh, and Tilly – bows down to her, some more willingly than others. And nothing, not extended periods in space, not ship-rattling attacks from enemies, rattles her. Ever. She’s a cool kitty with a ’tude. We call it “Cattitude.”

While there’s no cover artwork yet available, The Book of Grudge is available for pre-order now ahead of its November 7 release.

That’s a lot of new content to fill your shelves this year — which releases do you plan to pick up in 2021? Let us know in the comments section below!

History Channel Announces New 8-Part STAR TREK Documentary Series THE CENTER SEAT

TrekCore Staff
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History Channel Announces New 8-Part STAR TREK Documentary Series THE CENTER SEAT

2021 marks the 55th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise, and the first milestone event for this emerald anniversary is a new behind-the-scenes documentary series set to cover the full range of Trek history.

Coming from The Nacelle Company and creator/director Brian Volk-Weiss, who we talked to in 2018 ahead of his fun The Toys That Made Us docuseries, new eight-part documentary The Center Seat will be “the ultimate deep dive into the world of Star Trek.”

The news was first reported through Deadline this week. Set to debut on The History Channel later in 2021, the show will cover everything from the initial days of the Original Series during its Desilu days in the 1960s, all the way through the current Paramount+ television series — including the all films, series, and failed projects (like Star Trek: Phase II) along the way.

“Star Trek, from before I was 10 years old, gave me the closest thing I have to a code to follow in my life,” Volk-Weiss said. “If it wasn’t for the words ‘I don’t believe in the no-win scenario,’ I’d be very alone, broke, and miserable in this world. So to say this is a passion project would be a tremendous understatement.”

Along with Volk-Weiss, showrunner Ian Roumain, and Nacelle Company president Cisco Henson, The Center Seat will also have The Next Generation star Gates McFadden and Mark A. Altman — longtime Trek interviewer, historian, and co-writer of The 50 Year Mission — serving in executive producer roles.

No specific release-date information has yet been announced, though we’re estimating around September for the franchise’s anniversary month.

Once we know when The Center Seat will be arriving on The History Channel, we’ll be sure to let you all know.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Beams Aboard Five New Additions to Series Cast, Production Underway

Ken Reilly
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221
STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Beams Aboard Five New Additions to Series Cast, Production Underway

It’s been eight months since the official announcement that Captain Pike, Lieutenant Spock, and Number One would be helming the USS Enterprise in their own series, and now we’ve learned who else will be joining the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds cast!

As revealed today by Paramount+, the new Original Series prequel adventures of the Enterprise crew has officially begun production — and five new series regulars will be joining Anson Mount (Captain Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), and Rebecca Romijn (Number One) in their ongoing adventures to explore… well, you know.

Here’s the official press release from Pararmount+, which reveals little about the new cast’s roles on the series — not even character names.

March 12, 2021 – Paramount+, the new streaming service from ViacomCBS, today announced five new cast members joined the upcoming Original Series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. Babs Olusanmokun (“Black Mirror,” “Dune”), Christina Chong (“Tom and Jerry,” “Black Mirror”), Celia Rose Gooding (“Jagged Little Pill”), Jess Bush (“Skinford,” “Les Norton”) and Melissa Navia (“Dietland,” “Billions”) will join as series regulars. A teaser video featuring the series’ cast was also released today, announcing that production on the series is officially underway in Toronto, Canada.

“In a career, there is never enough work that is pure joy. I feel that my friend Alex Kurtzman along with David Stapf at CBS Studios and Julie McNamara at Paramount+ have given me just that by letting me haunt the stock rooms of my favorite candy store and I am grateful,” said Akiva Goldsman, co-showrunner and executive producer of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. “With a hell of a cast and undying love for the original series, we boldly go.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to be working alongside Akiva and our brilliant, multi-faceted cast to help bring the adventures of the Starship Enterprise to new life,” said Henry Alonso Myers, co-showrunner and executive producer of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. “For someone who’s been dreaming of spaceships and alien worlds since I was little, this show is a dream come true.”

Babs Olusanmokun’s notable television credits include his roles in Netflix’s “Black Mirror,” Marvel’s “The Defenders,” HBO’s Emmy-winning miniseries “The Night Of” and History’s 2016 remake of the miniseries “Roots.” His film credits include the upcoming and highly anticipated “Dune” and “Wrath of Man.”

Christina Chong can currently be seen in the live-action adaption of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon, “Tom and Jerry” and in The CW’s “Bulletproof.” Chong’s other television credits include “Black Mirror,” “Doctor Who,” the BBC’s “Ill Behaviour,” the ABC event mini-series “Of Kings and Prophets,” the hit BBC series “Line of Duty,” SYFY’s “Dominion,” “Halo: Nightfall” and Fox’s event `mini-series “24: Live Another Day.” Film credits include “Christmas Eve,” opposite Patrick Stewart, and “Johnny English: Reborn.”

Celia Rose Gooding starred as Frankie Healy in “Jagged Little Pill,” a musical inspired by Alanis Morissette’s award-winning album, until the Broadway shutdown in 2021, and received a 2020 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her work. Past theater roles also include “Urinetown” and “Fame.”

Jess Bush starred as Helen in the indie feature “Skinford” and appeared in the recurring guest role of Kendall in the Channel 10 series “Playing for Keeps.” Bush also played the role of Bella in the Australian series “Halifax – Retribution.” In addition, Bush went on to guest star on the ABC series “Les Norton” opposite Rebel Wilson and David Wenham.

Melissa Navia’s recent television credits include a recurring role on AMC’s critically acclaimed series “Dietland” and guest roles on Showtime’s “Billions” and “Homeland.” In March 2020, she made her Off-Broadway debut in the much-applauded “Bundle of Sticks” at INTAR Theatre.

While there have been some rumors swirling about who some of the not-yet-revealed roles of Strange New Worlds may be, to date there has been no official word from Paramount+ about any additional character identities (outside of the three primary leads).

Also notable is that so far, none of the other Enterprise crew from Discovery Season 2 or the trio of Enterprise-centric Short Treks have been tapped as series regulars — such as Samora Smallwood’s Lt. Amin, or Amrit Kaur’s Cadet Sidhu — but, of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t make appearances in the new series.

In addition to today’s casting announcement, Paramount+ also released this new video, celebrating the kick-off of Season 1 production at the new CBS Studios facility outside of Toronto — of note, Ethan Peck has shaved the ends of his eyebrows for the makeup team to give him that perfect Vulcan look, and Rebecca Romijn has dyed her hair dark (rather than using a wig like in her Discovery guest spots).

The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiere episode is written by series co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman (the story by Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet), who also directs the pilot.

We’ll continue to bring you all the latest news on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds as it breaks.

Keep checking back to TrekCore for updates on all five currently-in-production shows, which along with Strange New Worlds includes Discovery Season 4, Picard Season 2, Lower Decks Season 2, and the first season of Prodigy!

WeeklyTrek Podcast #131 — The STAR TREK: VOYAGER Documentary Fundraiser Hits Warp 10

Alex Perry
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WeeklyTrek Podcast #131 — The STAR TREK: VOYAGER Documentary Fundraiser Hits Warp 10

On this week’s episode of WeeklyTrek, brought to you in partnership between The Tricorder Transmissions Podcast Network and TrekCore, host Alex Perry is joined by Shore Leave Podcast co-host Marina Kravchuk to discuss all the latest Star Trek news.

This week, Alex and his guest discuss the following stories from around the web:

In addition, stick around to listen to Marina’s wish to learn more about the Voyager documentary team’s plans for the movie, and Alex’s theory about when — and if — we might hear about any plans for remastering Voyager footage to HD for the project.

WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify — and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.

Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!

Hero Collector’s June STAR TREK Models Include Space Station, XL Nebula, Enterprise-F, and More from PICARD

Ken Reilly
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Hero Collector’s June STAR TREK Models Include Space Station, XL Nebula, Enterprise-F, and More from PICARD

We’re back today with an exclusive first look at June 2021’s new additions to the Official Starships Collection, as our friends at Hero Collector continue to expand the Star Trek model fleet!

First up is one of the only good things to come out of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s infamously-unappealing episode “Aquiel,” and the next space station in the growing Hero Collector lineup: Subspace Relay Station 47, the unique small-crewed Starfleet base which acted as a communications hub for its entire sector.

The two-person relay station — which on the show, began life as the cryonics satellite discovered by the Enterprise in “The Neutral Zone” — is the next “special” release in the Hero Collector line, following the conclusion of the monthly subscription releases, with a bottom “cup” display base to keep the spindly station vertical.

SUBSPACE RELAY STATION 47  — A Starfleet communication relay station located along the Federation-Klingon border, the crew of Relay Station 47 faced pressure from aggressive Klingons, long isolation, and internal strife. When the U.S.S. Enterprise-D arrived to deliver supplies in The Next Generation episode ‘Aquiel’, they found themselves facing a murder mystery… and only one survivor.

This station measures about 7 inches in height and will retail at $49.95 / €44.99 / £34.99.

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Next up is the 26th entry in the larger-scale XL Starships Collection, the Deep Space Nine and Voyager-era Nebula-class USS Bonchune, based upon the digital model created in 1997 for use in those two series.

The digital Nebula-class debuted on Deep Space Nine as the USS Honshu in “Waltz,” and as the Bonchune in Voyager’s “Message in a Bottle” — and we talked with the designer of this updated Nebula-class Rob Bonchune (for whom this ship is named) back in 2013 when there seemed to be at least some potential for DS9 to be remastered like The Next Generation.

NEBULA-CLASS USS BONCHUNE (XL)  —This XL model precisely replicates Starfleet’s Nebula-class vessel, developed for military use in the 24th century. The Nebula-class employed many of the same components as the Galaxy-class – but configured differently, they formed a completely different design. This model shows the U.S.S. Bonchune as it appeared in the Voyager episodes ‘Message In A Bottle’ and ‘Endgame’.

The Nebula-class ship, which is smaller than its Galaxy-class cousin, measures about 6.5″ x 6.5″ in size, and will retail at $74.95 / €64.99 / £49.99.

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The next entry in the Star Trek Online series of starship models is the Yorktown-class USS Enterprise-F, the refit design of the game’s hero starship. This will be the third version of the Enterprise-F to join Hero Collector’s fleet, as the pre-refit-design ship was previously released in 2019 in two editions of its Odyssey-class configuration.

USS ENTERPRISE-F (YORKTOWN-CLASS REFIT)  — A scientific vessel available to Starfleet players in Star Trek Online, the Yorktown-class Starcruiser was a new refit for the Odyssey-class chassis, the most advanced vessel of its kind – and a fitting configuration for the USS Enterprise-F, the latest ship to bear the name Enterprise.

This edition of the Enterprise-F measures about 5.5″ inches in length and will retail at $29.95 / €24.99 / £19.99.

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In addition to all the starship models coming in June, more hardcover reprints of classic Star Trek comic tales are coming from The Official Graphic Novels Collection — as the reprint series comes to a close with three final editions.

Included are the Sulu-centric, classic movie-era tale So Near the Touch (co-written by George Takei), a movie-era series Mission Muddled featuring the return of Harry Mudd, and the comic adaptations of “All Good Things…” and Star Trek: Generations, the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale and first feature film.

#138 – Star Trek TOS: So Near the Touch
From Star Trek actor George Takei comes a powerful Sulu-centric story of love, loss, isolation, and sacrifice. This volume collects #17-21 of DC Comics’ Star Trek, plus the annual #1, co-written by George Takei and the renowned Peter David.

Also included are Andy Mangels’ never-published Redjac tale for DC, Return of the Wolf, as well as Mangels’ and Michael A Martin’s aborted Marvel project, Star Trek: Phase 3.

#139 – Star Trek TOS: Mission Muddled
Old age affects everyone, even starship captains like James T. Kirk—and even conmen like Harry Mudd. Howard Weinstein’s DC Star Trek tales continue with issues #22–26, in which Mudd pulls one last scam before retiring.

This volume also collects Peter David’s Star Trek Annual #2, which revisits James Kirk’s Academy days, plus two “lost” tales from writer Steven H. Wilson: Captain Sulu Adventures and Star Trek: Resolution. These two stories, originally slated for publication by DC, never saw print—until now.

#140 – Star Trek TNG: All Good Things…
The grand finale of Hero Collector’s Star Trek Graphic Novel Collection features DC’s adaptations of The Next Generation’s series finale, and its crew’s theatrical debut in Star Trek: Generations, both penned by Michael Jan Friedman.

Also included are unpublished comics from Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin—and an exhaustive index to the complete Graphic Novel Collection.

Each of the republished graphic novel hardcovers run from 170-240 pages each, and will retail individually for $19.95 / €16.99 / £12.99.

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Finally, we’ve also got a look at the next round of Star Trek: Picard releases, as part of the modern-series-spanning Star Trek Universe Starships Collection — which you may have seen elsewhere this week, so we can’t claim the exclusive on this portion of this month’s post!

Following La Sirena and the USS Zheng He (which we previewed in January) and the 23rd century Romulan Bird of Prey (that we showed you last month), the fourth Picard starship model is Seven of Nine’s Fenris Ranger ship, destroyed over planet Vashti in “Absolute Candor.”

The unusual asymmetrical design features a dark cockpit, green detailing and what looks to be a Borg-inspired rear section, perfect for the former drone from the Delta Quadrant.

SEVEN OF NINE’S FENRIS RANGER SHIP  — A small, aggressively-armed one-person starship, this vessel was piloted by Seven of Nine in her work among the vigilante Fenris Rangers. Vigilantes who patrolled the Qiris sector, the Fenris Rangers were forced to withdraw when the sector fell into anarchy – though thankfully, Seven of Nine stayed behind long enough to rescue Picard from a pirate attack…

Seven’s ship measures about 8.5″ long and will retail at $54.95 / €49.99 / £39.99.

In addition, a few group shots of the first six entries in the Star Trek: Picard fleet were released by Hero Collector today, which — in addition to illustrating each model’s size in relation to its brethren — gives us a look at the first 24th century Romulan ships on the way.

The first is Narek’s “snakehead” fighter craft, which followed La Sirena from the Borg cube to Soji’s home planet in “Broken Pieces” and “Et in Arcadia Ego, Part 1,” followed by the Romulan “bomber” warbird that brought Narek to The Artifact in “Remembrance.”

NAREK’S SNAKEHEAD  — A nimble Romulan scout vessel, the Snakehead’s size belied its formidable armaments and cloaking capabilities. Narek flew this starship in pursuit of La Sirena, as it fled The Artifact.

ROMULAN BOMBER WARBIRD  — A new class of Romulan starship, this sharp-edged, angular warbird was employed by both the Romulan Free State and the secretive Tal Shiar in their exploitation of The Artifact.

Specifics on the dimensions and pricing of these two Romulan ships has not yet been released.

Keep checking back at TrekCore each month for exclusive reveals from what’s next for Hero Collector’s Official Starships Collection — and reviews of some of the new models as they make it to our sector!

Do any of these new releases seem like ones you’ll be adding to your personal fleet? Let us know in the comments below!

DISCOVERY, SHORT TREKS Writer Kalinda Vazquez to Script New STAR TREK Film for JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot

TrekCore Staff
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DISCOVERY, SHORT TREKS Writer Kalinda Vazquez to Script New STAR TREK Film for JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot

Let’s face it: Star Trek movies have been, well, unreliable investments of hope since Star Trek Beyond left theaters in 2016, with several rounds of well-maybe-this-time news stories bubbling up — only to have each bubble burst along the road.

From the early announcement of a Chris Pine-helmed Star Trek 4 that fell apart due to financial negotiations, to a never-really-embraced-by-fans Quentin Tarantino take that was rumored to be based upon “A Piece of the Action,” to Fargo and Legion writer Noah Hawley’s own take on a new film that ran out of gas last year.

But we’ve got a new one for you today, about a new ‘original story’ for a Trek film — this time coming out of the Star Trek: Discovery writer roster.

The Kelvin Timeline version of the USS Enterprise. (‘Star Trek Beyond’)

Revealed today by Deadline, Star Trek: Short Treks and Star Trek: Discovery writer Kalinda Vazquez has been tapped by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production team to script an original movie set in the Star Trek universe.

Per Deadline:

Vazquez has written on Star Trek: Discovery, and insiders said this is a blind deal for an original movie that she hatched, one that expands her role in the Trek Universe.

Little — well, nothing — is known about Vazquez’ story, which if produced would make her the first female writer credited on a Star Trek film in the franchise’s 40+ years of big-screen adventures.

If Abrams is involved, may be set in the Kelvin Timeline — the home of Chris Pine’s Kirk, Zachary Quinto’s Spock, and so forth — but as an “original movie,” it honestly could take place in any time, place, or dimension around the United Federation of Planets.

Cadet Thira Sidhu (Amrit Kuar) in the SHORT TREK tale ‘Ask Not.’ (Paramount+)

As for Vazquez, she made her first contribution to the Star Trek universe as the writer of the Captain Pike Short Trek “Ask Not” in 2019, and later worked as a consulting producer on the third season of Star Trek: Discovery (with a teleplay credit on “Terra Firma, Part 2”).

She’s also served on the writing staff at The CW’s Nikita, ABC’s Once Upon a Time, Hulu’s Runaways, AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, and has just started a run on Marvel Comics’ latest America Chavez comic, America Chavez: Made in the USA.

Back in 2008, during the last big Writers Guild of America strike, Vazquez authored an essay about her chosen career where she described growing up in a home where Star Trek aired during her childhood, how that — along with other shows and films — influenced her life choices.

My father named me after a Star Trek character. Kalinda appeared in only one episode of the Original Series, in which my namesake, a member of an alien posse, attempted to overtake the Enterprise and her crew. Needless to say my intimate relationship with television was damn near a birthright.

I remember watching Star Trek as a child — in awe of the fictional universe that so inspired my father, he was compelled to name his first born after one of it’s characters. (That’s one hell of an influential fictional universe.)

My father’s love for TV and film – and good story telling in general — was either contagious, genetic or both. I loved these mediums for their entertainment value – but I also loved them because they made me think about things I might not have thought about before.

The really good bits –say the ending of Close Encounters of a Third Kind or a particularly salient argument between Archie and Meathead on All in the Family— even challenged the way I looked at the world. It didn’t take long for me to realize the more stories I consumed, the more my imagination grew, and the more I wanted to create some stories of my own.

Discovery executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise offered her best wishes on Twitter shortly after the news broke.

While some Discovery-era Star Trek naysayers may still believe (or wish) that the modern show are part of the Kelvin Timeline — the alternate universe setting of Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond — the latest season of Discovery for the first time mentioned the existence of that separate timeline, one where Chris Pine captains the Enterprise instead of William Shatner.

So if Vazquez is writing a script for that side of the Star Trek divide, it may maintain a wide berth from all of the ongoing Star Trek television production — including the cast. (But who knows, multiversal storytelling is all the rage these days if all the rumors about the next Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and The Flash movies are true.)

Either way, we’re a long way from knowing exactly what this Trek will be about.

We’ll continue to bring you all the latest news on Star Trek film development — or whatever tidbits seem to make their way to the public, at least — as it breaks!

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