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STAR TREK Returns to Animation in STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS

TrekCore Staff
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STAR TREK Returns to Animation in STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS

After forty-four years, the Star Trek franchise returns to the animated arena with the just-announced Star Trek: Lower Decks comedy series!

Developed and produced by franchise head Alex Kurtzman and Emmy-winning television writer Mike McMahan of Rick and Morty (as well as Mudd-themed Short Trek “The Escape Artist,” coming in January), the new series will be the first animated entry in the Trek universe since the 1970’s-era Star Trek: The Animated Series went off the air in 1974.

Lower Decks is said to center around “the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships,” and will be a half-hour comedy series for at least two seasons on CBS All Access (in the United States; global release plans are currently unknown).

Interestingly, The Hollywood Reporter notes that the series was “taken to market before landing at CBS All Access” — meaning the network’s streaming service wasn’t the first-planned destination for the show — but with the addition of this and the still-untitled Jean-Luc Picard series added to CAA’s catalog, it’s certainly adding value to the service’s monthly subscription cost with each Trek expansion.

Along with Kurzman and McMahan, current franchise mainstays Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth will be part of the production leadership team, along with newcomer Katie Krentz who will be heading the newly-formed CBS Eye Animation division at the studio.

Here’s the full press release from CBS, which just arrived in our inbox:

“CBS ALL ACCESS” ANNOUNCES SERIES ORDER FOR ANIMATED COMEDY
“STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS”

From Emmy Award Winner Mike McMahan, “Star Trek: Lower Decks”
Marks CBS All Access’ First Animated Series

Oct. 25, 2018 – CBS All Access today announced a two-season order for STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS, a new half-hour animated comedy series developed by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan (“Rick and Morty”).

The series will focus on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships and will be produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions, CBS Television Studios’ new animation arm; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Secret Hideout’s Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin and Roddenberry Entertainment’s Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth and Katie Krentz will serve as executive producers alongside McMahan. Aaron Baiers, who brought McMahan to the project, will serve as a co-executive producer.

“Mike won our hearts with his first sentence: ‘I want to do a show about the people who put the yellow cartridge in the food replicator so a banana can come out the other end.’ His cat’s name is Riker. His son’s name is Sagan. The man is committed,” said executive producer Alex Kurtzman. “He’s brilliantly funny and knows every inch of every ‘Trek’ episode, and that’s his secret sauce: he writes with the pure, joyful heart of a true fan. As we broaden the world of ‘Trek’ to fans of all ages, we’re so excited to include Mike’s extraordinary voice.”

“As a life-long Trekkie, it’s a surreal and wonderful dream come true to be a part of this new era of ‘Star Trek,’” said executive producer Mike McMahan. “While STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is a half-hour, animated show at its core, it’s undeniably ‘Trek’ – and I promise not to add an episode at the very end that reveals the whole thing took place in a training program.”

STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is not McMahan’s first “Star Trek” project. As a long-time fan of the series, in 2011 McMahan started a Twitter account where he posted episode plots to a fake season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” They were such a hit that Simon & Schuster hired him to write a readers’ guide to a fictitious eighth season of “TNG” titled “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season.” For television, McMahan recently served as head writer and executive producer on Adult Swim’s hit animated series “Rick and Morty” and co-created Hulu’s animated alien family show “Solar Opposites.”

“We couldn’t have imagined a better creative team to work with on CBS All Access’ first original animated series than Mike McMahan, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment,” said Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President, Original Content, CBS All Access. “STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS is a fantastic complement to our growing lineup of original series and our ongoing expansion of the ‘Star Trek’ universe on CBS All Access.”

Release dates, story information, and artwork for Star Trek: Lower Decks haven’t yet been revealed, but rest assured that TrekCore will bring you all the latest on this new series as soon as we have it.

What do you think about this new addition to the Trek franchise? Sound off in the comments below!

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY USS Enterprise and More Eaglemoss Models Announced at DST Birmingham

TrekCore Staff
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STAR TREK: DISCOVERY USS Enterprise and More Eaglemoss Models Announced at DST Birmingham

After showing off a bunch of new Star Trek models at New York Comic Con at the beginning of October, Eaglemoss/Hero Collector made one last stop for the year at the Destination Star Trek Birmingham convention last weekend — debuting one of the most controversial new starship designs of 2018.

The centerpiece of the convention display was the new Star Trek: Discovery-era redesigned USS Enterprise, which first appeared in the Discovery season finale back in February. The prototype model, expected to be finalized for release in the beginning of 2019, will be the first of the next wave of the larger-sized “XL Starships” line for next year.

Also announced for additional XL-sized Star Trek ships include the Danube-class runabout seen throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the Akira-class USS Thunderchild (NCC-63539) which debuted in Star Trek: First Contact, the B’Rel-class Klingon Bird-of-Prey, and the second Excelsior-class in the XL line — following the Enterprise-B — Captain Sulu’s USS Excelsior (NCC-2000).

Clockwise from top left: Akira-class, Klingon Bird of Prey, USS Excelsior, Runabout

Two standard-sized bonus starship models were also announced, starting with the USS Bonaventure, a starship created for the 2005 Ships of the Line calendar, intended to be a ship class produced between the Enterprise NX-01 and the Original Series Constitution-class.

In addition, Eaglemoss is expanding to the first time into the world of Star Trek Online with the Odyssey-class USS Enterprise-F.

We showed you some prototype builds of the next round of Star Trek: Discovery ship models in our New York Comic Con coverage, but now Eaglemoss has released official product images of the Malachowski-class USS Clarke, as well as two Klingon warships: the Qugh-class attack ship and the Qoj-class battlecruiser.

The company also announced that the first Discovery special release will be T’Kuvma’s massive Ship of the Dead — aka the “sarcophagus ship” — which is still being developed for production.

In addition to all these specials, there were also another series of subscription models announced, expanding that line to 144 issues. From Star Trek III: The Search for Spock comes the freighter Merchantman, along with three Next Generation ships: the Vulcan ship T’Pau (from “Unification”), the Promellian Battle Cruiser (from “Booby Trap”), and Gomtuu (from “Tin Man”).

*   *   *

Finally, Eaglemoss’ Ben Robinson shared some other news on future releases in the Official Starships Collection lineup, including:

  • 2019 will bring several more Trek special edition releases, including the Romulan ship Scimitar from Star Trek: Nemesis, V’Ger from The Motion Picture, and the “planet killer” from the classic episode “The Doomsday Machine.”
     
  • Emperor Georgiou’s Terran flagship, the massive ISS Charon, will be coming as a Discovery special but is still in development.
     
  • A special starship designed by John Eaves for the pending Deep Space Nine documentary What We Left Behind, planned for the hypothetical “Season 8” portion of the film, will be produced as an Eaglemoss model. The USS Emmitt Till, named after the young American civil rights icon, is a new four-nacelled design that will make its on-screen debut in the documentary once released to the public.
The USS Emmett Till, designed by John Eaves for “What We Left Behind.”

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek starship model news!

“Calypso” SHORT TREK Teaser Hints at the 33rd Century

TrekCore Staff
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“Calypso” SHORT TREK Teaser Hints at the 33rd Century

The second Star Trek: Discovery short debuts November 8 on CBS All Access and Space, and today we have our first (somewhat) extended look at “Calypso.”

This new Star Trek: Short Trek, starring Aldis Hodge as a new Trek character called Craft, the story depicts him awaking “onboard a deserted ship, and his only companion and hope for survival is an A.I. computer interface.”

In the new teaser released first through IGN today, there’s an unexpected twist: the Federation starship Craft finds himself on isn’t just abandoned — but it’s also apparently 1,000 years forward in time from the era of Star Trek: Discovery, a point in time far in the future of nearly all other elements of Star Trek storytelling to date.

The Crossfield-class starship depicted in the teaser does seem to be the USS Discovery, but there’s no sign of how the ship got 1,000 years ahead in time.

Is the dusty ship “our” Discovery, a copy kicked out of the mycelial network, or perhaps some kind of simulation — and what does this mean for Craft, the Federation, and the galaxy at large?

We’ll find out on Thursday, November 8 when “Calypso” — written by Michael Chabon (story by Sean Cochran and Chabon), and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi — airs at 9PM ET on Space and 9:30PM on CBS All Access.

‘Montgomery Scott Scotch’ is Next STAR TREK Liquor

TrekCore Staff
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‘Montgomery Scott Scotch’ is Next STAR TREK Liquor

Following the launches of Silver Screen Bottling Company’s “James T. Kirk Bourbon Whiskey” and “Ten Forward Vodka” alcohol products earlier this year, the company announced this past weekend the next entry in their line of Star Trek-themed spirits, named for the franchise’s most famous engineer.

Plans for “Montgomery Scott Blended Scotch Whiskey” were revealed at Destination Star Trek Birmhingham last week, set to join the expanding Star Trek liquor offerings from Silver Screen Bottling in December 2018.

Here’s the new product description for the “Scotty Scotch” as announced:

Created by Silver Screen Bottling Company, the new scotch was bottled in Glasgow, at a multi-award-winning distillery.

The new spirit is exceptionally smooth, with a slight smoky note, and is the fourth product in a line of Star Trek­-branded spirits including James T. Kirk Bourbon, Ten-Forward Vodka and James T. Kirk Bourbon Reserve.

It’s not yet available for online ordering, but MongomeryScottScotch.com has been activated with a mailing-list signup option for notification of when you can buy it.

Have you bought any of the other Star Trek alcohol products released in 2018 — and if so, do you plan to add this one to your collection? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

IDW Reveals CAPTAIN SARU One-Shot DISCOVERY Comic

TrekCore Staff
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IDW Reveals CAPTAIN SARU One-Shot DISCOVERY Comic

At this past weekend’s Destination Star Trek Birmingham convention in England, Star Trek comic publisher IDW announced the next Discovery graphic adventure, coming in February: Captain Saru.

With cover art by Paul Shipper, who shared the preview image on his social media feed as the announcement was being made at DST Birmingham, the 42-page ‘one-shot’ comic comes from ongoing Discovery comic writers Kirsten Beyer and Mike Johnson. The tale will also feature interior artwork from longtime IDW illustrator Angel Hernandez.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpMybT5A4z_/

The exact details of the story aren’t yet known — though based on the title alone, it’s likely to be set sometime between the Discovery crew’s return from the Mirror Universe in Season 1, and before the ship’s encounter with Captain Pike and the Enterprise which kicks off the upcoming Season 2 storyline.

We’ll bring you more on this upcoming comic, including finalized cover artwork and story synopsis, as it becomes available — and watch for our review when Star Trek: Discovery — Captain Saru beams down in February 2019!

Chancellor L’Rell’s New Look for DISCOVERY Season 2

TrekCore Staff
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Chancellor L’Rell’s New Look for DISCOVERY Season 2

We saw a brief glimpse of her royal style in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 trailer that arrived at New York Comic Con earlier this month — but today we’ve got our best look yet at Chanceller L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) and her new warrior mane!

First released through the actor’s social media accounts, this production photo from the upcoming second season of Discovery features the newly-minted leader of the Klingon Empire in Qo’noS-inspired high fashion from costume designer Gersha Phillips, and – most notably – with the restoration of the classic Klingon hairstyle for the first time in the series.

Chancellor L’Rell (Mary Chieffo) in full royal garb — note the familiar Klingon crest on her belt. (CBS)

Mary Chieffo explained at New York Comic Con that the restoration of Klingon hair for Discovery Season 2 is tied directly to lore surrounding Kahless the Unforgettable, and how the ancient warrior created the first bat’leth weapon from a lock of his own hair — as told by the cloned Kahless in TNG’s “Rightful Heir.”

KAHLESS: I went into the mountains, all the way to the volcano at Kri’stak. There I cut off a lock of my hair and thrust it into the river of molten rock which poured from the summit. The hair began to burn.

Then I plunged it into the lake of Lusor and twisted it into this sword. And after I used it to kill the tyrant Molor I gave it a name. Bat’leth — the sword of honor.

The Klingons of Season 1 shaved their heads “in a time of war,” Chieffo explained, and now that a relative peace has returned to the Empire, they have grown it back — and the new aesthetic created by prothetics specialist Glenn Hetrick has come with it.

We’ll see more of L’Rell and the Klingons in the season premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, returning on January 17.

Win a STAR TREK ONLINE ‘Age of Discovery’ Starter Pack!

Bob Stutzman
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Win a STAR TREK ONLINE ‘Age of Discovery’ Starter Pack!

Once again, we’re partnering with our friends at Star Trek Online to celebrate the launch of “Age of Discovery” — the first major Star Trek: Discovery chapter in the STO story — with a new contest!

This contest has now ended and winners have been notified.

For the very first time, Star Trek Online players will be able create their own Discovery-era Federation Captain, and embark on a mission with Starfleet cadet Sylvia Tilly, voiced by Mary Wiseman, reprising her role from the television series.

In our new contest, PC players can win one of 50 redemption codes, each for an “Age of Discovery” starter pack, to jump-start their careers as Discovery-era cadets. The package offers unique rewards that will help captains with their exploration into the Discovery universe.

Most notably, this includes a new variant of the Walker-class starship — the same type of ship as Captain Georgiou’s USS Shenzhou — that can be used as soon as players complete the tutorial. The new type of starship offers Hull and Shield values that continue to scale up with Captains as they continue this career, all the way to level 30!

Each pack includes the following perks:

  • A Walker-class Prototype Light Exploration Cruiser
  • 12 Additional Inventory Slots
  • 1x Large (150,000) Experience Bonus Pool
  • Discovery-era Phaser Sniper Rifle
  • Discovery-era Phaser Stun Bolt Pistol
  • Tardigrade Vanity Pet

To enter the contest, just email us your name by the end of November 1 — and on November 2, we’ll randomly select 50 names from all entrants to win one “Age of Discovery” Starter Pack.

All winners will be emailed the in-game code and instructions on how to add the Walker-class ship to your Star Trek Online account. Good luck to all!

A Contest of Courage, Teamwork and Sacrifice: Looking Back on DS9’s “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”

Alex Perry
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A Contest of Courage, Teamwork and Sacrifice: Looking Back on DS9’s “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”

This week in 1998, fan-favorite “Take Me Out to the Holosuite” debuted in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s seventh and final season, in which a Vulcan captain and Academy rival of Captain Sisko, Solok, challenges the DS9 senior staff to a baseball game. Sisko, who has an adversarial relationship with Solok due to the Vulcan’s efforts to elevate the superiority of Vulcan logic over human emotion, becomes increasingly obsessed with beating Solok and proving a point.

Each member of the station’s senior staff, including Quark, Leeta, and Rom are roped into playing for the DS9 team, the Niners. However, Sisko’s grudge and growing obsession with defeating the smug Vulcan Solok drives a wedge between him and the senior staff, especially over his treatment of Rom.

However, following a meltdown on the field and an ejection at the hands of the umpire Odo, Sisko realizes the importance of team and family over victory. While the Niners are not able to best the Logicians on the baseball diamond, Rom makes a crucial play that allows the Niners to score and keep their dignity.

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite” has absolutely no bearing on many of the larger narrative arcs of the final season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but it is one hell of a fun character episode. It was also, incidentally, my first exposure to baseball, and I have to say that even though it was not the episode’s intention to teach the audience the game of baseball, I learned a lot.

It certainly served me well when I moved to America a decade ago, given the number of baseball idioms present in everyday and workplace conversations.

You might wonder – as I once did – why is there a baseball episode of Deep Space Nine? According to showrunner Ira Steven Behr, the decision to make this episode was in tribute to series co-creator Michael Piller, whose favorite sport was baseball and who initially gave Sisko his love for the game, he told Star Trek Monthly magazine.

One of the things we wanted to do, and one of the many things that we wanted to do over the years on the series, was bring baseball back into the 24th century. Baseball is Michael Piller’s favorite sport, but in the first episode he ever wrote for Star Trek [TNG’s “Evolution”], he killed baseball [in the 24th century].

Why, we still don’t know, but we thought we owed it to him to bring baseball back, even though he had chosen to kill it.

The episode’s outdoor scenes were filmed at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, and the cast featured several talented players. Most amusingly, the cast member with the most talent was the character with the least – Max Grodenchik (Rom) had considered a career in professional baseball after high school. He was forced to play left handed in order to convincingly appear not to be good at the sport.

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite” provides one of the final opportunities of the series for the whole cast to shine on screen together. While there were plenty more episodes left in season seven, groups of characters would begin to split off and pursue divergent storylines.

After the excitement of the end of season six and the opening of season seven, this episode provides a good opportunity to pause and allow the whole cast the opportunity for some fun before continuing forward with the final season arc.

Though the episode is a fun standalone character piece, there are a number of big ideas that underpin it that have a bearing on the larger Star Trek universe, and on Deep Space Nine:

Family is More Important than Victory: A common theme throughout the Star Trek franchise, which is reinforced in this episode, is the importance of family. Not necessarily family by blood relation, but the kind of family developed through shared triumphs and hardships.

This episode leans hard into that theme, which reappears throughout each of the six live action series, as Sisko ultimately gives up his obsession with beating Solok in favor of enjoying the experience with his crew. Their final celebration is not because they won the game, but because they beat their own expectations for themselves.

The Federation Still Has Work To Do: This is controversial, but a core idea pushed by the writers of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and most importantly Ira Steven Behr, is that the Federation is not as perfect as everyone believes it is. During the later days of his life, Gene Roddenberry pushed a vision of the 24th century in which all of the problems of humanity had been solved.

And while DS9 holds onto that general sense of that idea, it probes it and tests it to its fullest. The animosity between Sisko and Solok – based on their racial and cultural differences – demonstrates that the work of self-improvement and enlightenment is never quite over and cannot be taken for granted.

Strong Character Episodes Bring a Welcome Pause to Dramatic Narrative Arcs: As previously stated, this episode does very little to advance the narrative arc of the series, particularly given that it is so close to the series finale. However, in being such a fun character episode, the larger Dominion War arc is not needed to support and advance the episode as a whole.

Though modern-day Star Trek, in its latest incarnation of Discovery, has fewer episodes to work with, it seems like season two might be on track to have more episodes that diverge from the arc of the season in order to explore the characters more.

“Take Me Out to the Holosuite” is one of Star Trek’s most successful humor episodes. It’s concept is fun, and it was executed really well. This episode is a highlight of Deep Space Nine’s final season. Now that IS a Fancy Dan!

REVIEW: Commander Saru Mini-Bust from Gentle Giant

Alex Perry
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REVIEW: Commander Saru Mini-Bust from Gentle Giant

Every so often, a new licensee will burst onto the scene and offer a truly astounding Star Trek product that asserts the licensee’s prominence on the Star Trek market. The previous company that managed such a feat was Eaglemoss, whose affordably priced, extensive starships collection has captured the hearts and minds of many a Star Trek collector worldwide.

And though their price point is higher, and likely will reach fewer customers as a result, Gentle Giant Ltd.’s initial entry into the Star Trek collectibles market should put them on the map, with the convention exclusive release of their Star Trek: Discovery Lt. Saru Mini-Bust.

This bust, which depicts the USS Discovery’s Executive Officer in gold command uniform and with Commander rank, is probably the most lifelike Star Trek character bust ever produced. Even at a higher price point, many previous licensees have struggled with Star Trek characters and capturing their likenesses.

For example, William Shatner is notoriously difficult for being hard to sculpt. However, not so with Gentle Giant’s Saru bust, which captures the likeness of the character, and elements of the actor Doug Jones beneath, perfectly.

The detail on the piece is incredible. Standing approximately 7 inches tall, Saru is shown in a contemplative pose with his fingers steepled. The bust is the right height – large enough to capture small details and make the $100 price tag feel worthwhile, but not so large as to be ungainly and difficult to fit into your collection. The piece was created using production files and concept models for the Saru makeup, in addition to being hand-cast and hand-painted.

The most triumphant element of this Saru bust is the head. Every element of the prosthesis that Doug Jones wears when he plays the character of Saru has been recreated in miniature, including the complex pattern of ligaments and protrusions across the face, the bright blue contact lenses that Doug Jones wears, and the high crested forehead. As stated before, the likeness is perfect. This is not just a bust showing off the makeup design; you really feel that Doug Jones is emoting from beneath the Saru prosthetics.

The hands are another highlight. They capture Doug Jones’s long fingers, steepled in repose, and include the alien fingernail extensions that the actor wears in each episode. Most impressively on the hands, the painters have recreated the subtle mottling of the skin that matches the differing tones of the skin around the character’s head.

Lastly, the Starfleet uniform of the Discovery era has been impressively rendered in miniature. Each seam and stitch line from the original costumes are present on the bust. In addition, the Starfleet rank badge includes three small pips denoting Saru’s rank as Commander. Along the left and right sides, the miniature gold Starfleet delta pattern is also visible. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to hand paint all those mini-deltas.

Though billed as a convention exclusive for San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Gentle Giant has the Saru bust currently available for sale on its website for $100. It is also available for pre-order through Entertainment Earth. If you like character busts, I highly recommend purchasing one. This is the pinnacle of the art.

And just this past week, Gentle Giant has opened pre-orders for their next Star Trek: Discovery statues, the Klingon Torchbearer and Michael Burnham in Starfleet space suit. These were first previewed at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, and will retail for $199 (Klingon Torchbearer) and $185 (Michael Burnham) respectively, or can be bought as a two-pack for an on-sale price of $334. Both statues are expected to ship in Q2 2019, and from the preview pictures, look to be just as amazing as the Saru bust already gracing the shelves of fans around the world.

I can’t wait to see what’s next from this company!

Ethan Peck and Anson Mount on DISCOVERY’s New Spock

Ken Reilly
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Ethan Peck and Anson Mount on DISCOVERY’s New Spock

We continue our series of Star Trek: Discovery interviews from New York Comic Con with the newest members of the cast, Ethan Peck and Anson Mount, who take on the roles of Spock and Pike in Discovery’s second season.

While the two actors may be the least-tenured members of the Trek cast, they both bring back iconic Original Series characters to the modern-day series, each with their own challenges and expectations. TrekCore last talked to Mount back at San Diego Comic Con in July, so we were happy to get our first chance to chat with Peck as he made his debut appearance ahead of Discovery’s January return.

Anson Mount and Ethan Peck on stage at New York Comic Con. (Photos: CBS)

As with our other NYCC interviews, the questions are from a mix of participants — TrekCore’s contributions are noted along the way! — and the conversation began by exploring how the pair thought about the Trek franchise as they joined up for their roles.

QUESTION: How does it feel to be becoming part of this iconic franchise?

PECK: Are you kidding me? It’s ‘Star Trek,’ it’s like… this is the longest on the job where I’ve still felt surreal [about the experience]. You know, like every day. Literally, every day I’ll be on the set, and I’ll look around, and I’ll be like, “I’m on fucking ‘Star Trek!’”

MOUNT: I said that three times yesterday! [Laughs] It is so surreal. And I mean, the amount of work that goes into creating these sets that are just utter masterpiece… the attention to detail is just unparalleled, in my opinion.

PECK: It’s huge. It’s six soundstages.

QUESTION: Were you two big ‘Star Trek’ fans before you joined ‘Discovery?’

MOUNT: [‘Star Trek’] was our go-to make-believe game when I was eight years old.

PECK: Really?!

MOUNT: Yeah, we’d play ‘Star Trek.’ We’d take our turn playing who would get to play Kirk and Spock…

PECK: What? I didn’t know this!

TREKCORE: Nobody wanted to play Pike?

MOUNT: Uh, no. [Laughs] Pike really only existed in flashback in the syndicated version; nobody really knew “The Cage” [at that time].

PECK: We just worked with Jonathan Frakes [on Episode 209] and like, my big childhood ‘Star Trek’ content was “First Contact,” and I was just like, “Wow, that’s full circle!” But I’m a big science fiction fan in general, and ‘Star Trek’ definitely falls [in that category]. I’m becoming a very big ‘Trek’ fan.

Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, and now Ethan Peck as three generations of Spock.

Peck is the third actor to play the role of an adult Spock — several others, notably Jacob Kogan in the 2009 Trek film, have played him as children — and we wondered how he developed his performance in the wake of actors Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

TREKCORE: This being the youngest we’ve seen Spock – besides “The Cage” – did you take any influence from either Leonard Nimoy or Zachary Quinto’s performances as the character?

PECK: Yeah, absolutely, [I studied] Nimoy specifically; definitely tried to internalize what I saw on screen and what he’s doing. There’s a musicality to his voice, the way he speaks – I definitely tried to capture the spirit of him, and then, you know, transpose it into the material I’ve been given, which is very different.

You never see Spock go deep into his personal life [in the Original Series], you don’t see him go deep beneath the surface much – and in this season of Discovery, you will.

QUESTION: What’s one of your favorite things about playing the Spock character at this age?

PECK: The freedom to invent his past, in a way, both emotionally and logically.

A younger Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) faces challenges on Vulcan. (“Lethe”)

The big unanswered question to be addressed in Discovery’s second year is the relationship between Spock and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), something that’s been danced around in such episodes as “Lethe,” centering on the schism that developed between Sarek (James Frain) and Spock due to Burnham’s entrance into their family.

TREKCORE: Is there anything you can tell us about Spock’s relationship with Burnham, what’s explored this season?

PECK: It’s very complex, and not in the most easy way.

We also had a chance to have brief conversation with series lead Sonequa Martin-Green, and her’s what she had to say about the Spock/Burnham relationship:

TREKCORE: How much did you know about Burnham’s relationship with Spock coming into this season, and how does that play out as Spock becomes a bigger part of the Discovery story?

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: I knew quite a bit about it towards the end of Season One, and definitely coming into Season Two. I had created my own [backstory], and then things were really rounded out for me.

It is a very complicated relationship, and what’s beautiful is that it’s explored in a very courageous way. It’s explored in a way that is not easy. It’s explored in a way that is very ugly, but very true, and very raw. I know people aren’t going to expect just how complicated our relationship is – and yes, we’re exploring it in every way.

Spock (Leonard Nimoy) on trial for his efforts to return Pike (Sean Kinney) to Talos IV. (“The Menagerie”)

Prior to its rescue from archival oblivion in the late 1980s, fans of the Original Series really only knew Captain Christopher Pike from his appearance in “The Menagerie,” as an injured and deformed former Starfleet officer who had such devoted loyalty from Spock that the Vulcan nearly ended his career trying to take him back to Talos IV.

TREKCORE: What about the relationship between Spock and Pike? In “The Menagerie,” we see Spock’s loyalty is so deep that he almost ends his Starfleet career getting Pike back to the Talosians – do we see much of that devotion in Discovery?

MOUNT: There’s a moment in the first episode of the season, where I’m talking to Burnham – she has questions about where Spock is – and I mention a little bit about what he’s been going through. At a certain point, she asks me what it’s all about, and I say, “[He] didn’t want to talk to me.”

There’s just so much packed into that one line – [Spock] didn’t want to share with me, he didn’t want to tell me. Rather than, “I ordered him and he ignored it,” or “He didn’t come to my office…” There’s a real friendship at work here.

PECK: And I think that illuminates the dignity of Spock, too. He sort of hides his shame from someone that he respects and admires.

TREKCORE: So even with their friendship, Spock wouldn’t open up to him about this situation.

PECK: As a Vulcan, you know, yeah, it would be kind of intolerable [for Spock].

Finally, we wondered just how much of Spock we’ll get to see this year — while Peck’s casting in the role was announced just in August, Star Trek: Discovery had been filming for several months prior.

TREKCORE: Are you able to tell us how many episodes you appear in this season?

PECK: I don’t think I can – but you’ll see a lot of me, for sure.

Keep coming back to TrekCore for more from New York Comic Con, as we’ve got plenty more Star Trek: Discovery interviews coming from the rest of the cast!

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