At Star Trek Las Vegas today, McFarlane Toys CEO Todd McFarlane took the stage to a packed room of Trek collectible fans, and shared a great amount of detail about their heavily-detailed Captain Kirk and Captain Picard figures – but also revealed their first plans for their forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery line of tie-in merchandise.
Todd McFarlane on stage in Las Vegas.
First up is the Kirk and Picard figures in command uniforms, coming to market as 7-inch figures this fall at a $19.99 price point. Each figure contains an exceptional 18 points of articulation, which will allow fans to not only pose their captain for action, but will also allow the figures to be seated properly in captains chair models for display.
There is also a planned command-green tunic variant of Kirk set to follow these figures.
But their big news, of course, was the official release of information on McFarlane’s previously-announced Star Trek: Discovery toy line, with reveals that their 7-inch figures will start with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and T’Kuvma (Chris Obi) in late 2018.
Each actor was both photographed and 3D-scanned in costume on the Discovery sets in Toronto to give the figure sculptors the best reference information possible during the design phase, and we are sure that once the prototypes are revealed sometime next year, they’ll both be very close to screen-accurate.
Additionally, the first accessory toy will be the new Type II phaser prop from Discovery, set to hit stores in 2018 at a $39.99 price point. Like the character figures, the phaser toy has also been scanned and photographed for best detailing from the original source prop.
Lastly, Todd McFarlane confirmed to the crowd that these won’t be the last Trek toys that will be coming from his company – he revealed that their new Trek license covers all films and television series from the prime timeline, from The Motion Picture to Star Trek: Enterprise, meaning we’re sure to see a wide variety of Trek merchandise over the next few years.
Keep coming back to TrekCore for more news as it breaks from STLV!
The Las Vegas Star Trek convention continues here for another day, which means we’ve got even more Trek news to share out of the biggest event of the year!
Our friend Ben Robinson, captain of the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection model line, hosted his yearly panel on the fan-favorite starship fleet at STLV today where he revealed a number of new details on plans for the ongoing collection… including some new announcements on the highly-anticipated Star Trek: Discovery vessels!
We caught up with Ben to talk about his plans for Discovery, the Kelvin Timeline, and the continuing voyages of the Official Starships Collection as we look ahead to 2018.
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TREKCORE: What’s new to discover in Star Trek model starships, Ben?
BEN ROBINSON: Well, we’re announcing today the Star Trek: Discovery ships – we’ll be doing one a month; the idea is that they’ll start [for subscribers] in the first quarter of next year. They’ll be larger than the first series; more of a specialty size, 7 to 8 inches like the [current] specials, to try and keep the prices under control.
There will be more than enough ships to get us through [2018] until, we hope, there is a second season. I’m not sure if I can say how many ships there are, but there are a LOT of ships in Discovery.
The USS Discovery, from CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery” trailer.
TREKCORE: Just from the trailers, there’s easily five or six ships we’ve already seen.
ROBINSON: Well we know now there’s a war – that involves a lot of ships, on both sides.
TREKCORE: But the main hero ships – the Shenzhou and Discovery – are in your plans?
ROBINSON: Mm-hmm. [Nods]
TREKCORE: What about some of the other ones featured, like the Europa or the Torchbearer ships?
ROBINSON: I don’t know exactly which ships we’ll be able to do yet, as [the VFX team] is still finalizing – but we’re getting a lot of cooperation and excellent reference [files].
We’ve already made the physical tooling for the Shenzhou and Discovery models, but the final paint and textures are still being tweaked. We’re hoping that if all goes smoothly, we may be able to start producing those ones before Christmas, and then the whole subscription itself will start around the time comes back for the second half of the season.
The USS Shenzhou, from CBS’s “Star Trek: Discovery” trailer.
TREKCORE: So, like a January timeframe.
ROBINSON: Yeah, there are a lot of logistical things that have to be overcome, and we want to make sure that it’s a continuous one-a-month [release schedule]. But we need to wait a little bit to get the stuff before we know that we can achieve that.
TREKCORE: So the Star Trek: Discovery digital team is feeding you the files directly?
ROBINSON: The effects have been done by Pixomondo, and they’ve been supplying us every possible preparation [tool]… I mean, I’m getting files that are dated yesterday!
Robinson holds a prototype size-review mock-up of the USS Discovery.
TREKCORE: Do you find that to be different from how you’ve received reference information for the ongoing line of models?
ROBINSON: Yes – there was no real process for archiving the models on the previous shows. It was something that happened, and there was a VFX team, [often] a third-party company, and [the files] were never sent back to [the studio].
TREKCORE: It was interesting when you mentioned on stage the other day that all the digital models from Star Trek: Insurrection were not saved, to your knowledge.
ROBINSON: Yeah, and basically how the whole thing worked was that there was no archiving process. [The files] weren’t even held by anybody on the movie’s FX team – so like Ron B. Moore, or Gary Hutzel, they didn’t have copies of the models; they were held by the [effects] vendor.
So the models were at Eden FX or Foundation Imaging or whoever, and while people kept some copies, fortunately, and there are people who have archives of them, there was no formal process to get them back to [Paramount].
We do have renders from the time, so there is reference to construct [the Insurrection ships], but we keep hoping that someone’s got a copy of [the original files] somewhere. But in that particular case it’s more complicated – even if someone had a copy of them, no one has the software needed to open the [files]!
TREKCORE: Getting back to the Discovery ships, that will be a separate subscription from the ongoing Official Starships releases, correct?
ROBINSON: Yes – it will be offered, obviously, to everybody who is already a subscriber, we’ll be in touch with them to see if they’d like to add this.
Robinson holds a prototype size-review mock-up of the USS Shenzhou.
TREKCORE: Do you have an idea yet of the price point for the Discovery subscription?
ROBINSON: We don’t have that information yet; but the idea is to keep it roughly the same as [the current subscriptions], but rather than getting two ships a month you’ll get one larger one.
TREKCORE: For the regular subscription, the UK and US release schedules are offset by a few months…
ROBINSON: They’re getting closer to each other – and for Discovery, that will launch in the US and UK at the same time. I don’t know what our plans are for Germany – our other major territory – or Japan, but our first plan is to launch in our English-language markets, with Australia that normally follows shortly after.
TREKCORE: And the magazines to go with the ships, as well?
ROBINSON: That’s the plan! I don’t know what will be in them, yet, but I know there’s a lot of concept art.
TREKCORE: Yes, they’ve certainly showed a lot here and at Comic-Con in the Discovery gallery, and John Eaves featured more Shenzhou art on stage Friday morning.
ROBINSON: I haven’t been asking for the artwork until I need to – but that’s going to happen very soon.
The large-scale Enterprise models released to date.
TREKCORE: We’ve talked a lot about your new plans for Discovery, but what about the continuing Official Starships line of models? You’ve got the first three large-scale Enterprise models out — the NCC-1701, the –D, and the –E, with the NX-01 coming later this year — but what’s next?
ROBINSON: The idea with those is that we’re doing them as a series. There was a lot of interest in having the real hero ships at a larger scale, but while we there was some concern that people already had them [as the smaller editions], we’ve sort of put our toes in the water and those first few have gone well.
There’s now a likelihood that we will do a dozen or so of the hero ships — all the Enterprises, the Defiant, Voyager – at that larger size.
TREKCORE: The Enterprise-B and -C as well?
ROBINSON: Slightly depending on sales, but that’s the plan!
Sean Hargreaves’s concept art for the Enterprise-A.
TREKCORE: What can you tell us about perhaps doing the Enterprise-A from Star Trek Beyond?
ROBINSON: There’s an issue there – it’s not so much getting the reference material, but that it’s not seen in a lot of detail in the film. Although it obviously exists in detail [as a digital model], we don’t know what the state of there being a next [Kelvin Timeline] movie yet.
ROBINSON: Many people assume there will be one, but the filmmakers have [hinted] that ‘Well, we might change it, if and when we get to the next movie.’ So for now we are holding until we know.
That doesn’t mean it will change, doesn’t mean it won’t change, it just hasn’t been decided yet.
Concept illustration of the Jefferies PHASE II Enterprise refit.Concept rendering of Andy Probert’s original Enterprise-C (right).
ROBINSON: But the other thing we are doing – as a bit of a departure – is starting to do concept ships. On top of the regular series, because these are not canon, we’re doing Andy Probert’s original Enterprise-C, we’re doing Matt Jefferies’ version of the Enterprise designed for Star Trek: Phase II.
We’re also doing Rick Sternbach’s original USS Voyager that got built as a study model, and Rick’s been supervising the construction of that one.
The early USS Voyager prototype design.
TREKCORE: Are there other concepts you’re targeting?
ROBINSON: For now; we’re trying to stick to Enterprises – I tweeted out a photo of the Enterprise ringship, so that’s nice, and new, and different.
TREKCORE: And from the novels, you have both the Titan and the Aventine on the way too.
ROBINSON: Yeah, that’s an interesting experiment which I hope will go well; they should be out in time for New York Comic Con in October – and if they go well, a lot of people have expressed interest in the Odyssey [from Star Trek Online]. I’m sure there are other ‘soft-canon’ things that people would like, and if this works then there’s every reason to think that we would do them.
TREKCORE: A lot of the literary fans would really like that; they’ve been hoping for the Titan for quite a while.
ROBINSON: They have – those ships have a tight following and there are a lot of people who love them, and designers Sean Tourangeau and Mark Rademaker have been very keen to help.
TREKCORE: Anything else on the way you can tell us about?
ROBINSON: There are more specials we’re doing – the Klingon destroyer from the 2009 film’s Kobayashi Maru simulation… and the Kobayashi Maru itself.
We also have the Star Trek Beyond version of the Enterprise, which we expect for the first half of next year.
The 2009 Kobayashi Maru simulation ships.
TREKCORE: You’re working on a Kelvin Timeline shuttle set, too, right?
ROBINSON: Yes! All four shuttles.
TREKCORE: And which shuttles are you including in that set? There’s the shuttle Kirk is born in…
ROBINSON: Yes, and Pike’s shuttle; there is Scotty’s shuttle from Star Trek Into Darkness, and one more as well.
TREKCORE: Well, there’s the one Kirk and McCoy took to the Enterprise in the first film…
ROBINSON: Yes. The thing that’s interesting is that when you go through the films, there are four basic different shuttles, but there are lots of different variations, all very similar but just a bit different – wings out, different color schemes – but there are four actual designs. It’s taken me a while to work that out!
TREKCORE: And aside from the K-7 Station already on display, are there plans for any further starbases? I don’t know how it would happen – but how about Starbase Yorktown?
ROBINSON: [Laughs] I don’t know how we could do anything that would look remotely satisfying for that! But I think it’s extremely likely we’ll be doing Spacedock.
There’s also another set of Designing Starships books coming; the next one focused on the Kelvin Timeline movies this year, the next one set for next year. I have a massive collection of Deep Space Nine concept art that wasn’t released in previous magazine issues.
TREKCORE: How many ships is the Official Starships series now projected to?
ROBINSON: Well, we’re approved out to 130…
TREKCORE: Plus the larger specials, plus the Kelvin ships…
ROBINSON: Yeah, plus, plus, plus! That also doesn’t include the shuttle sets or the new Discovery series – and I’m optimistic that by New York Comic Con we should know whether we are doing any more issues past 130. I think it’s extremely likely we will, the question now is just how many more.
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Also revealed at STLV were several new additions to the upcoming regular Official Starships Collection line: the USS Curry (from “A Time to Stand,”) the Freedom-class (from “The Best of Both Worlds”), the Ferengi freighter from Enterprise‘s “Acquisition”, Captain Bateson’s USS Bozeman, the Hirogen holoship from Voyager’s “Flesh and Blood,” and Kasidy Yates’ SS Xhosa freighter from Deep Space Nine.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as we’ve got more detail on the forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery starships, and everything else coming down the line from Eaglemoss – so come back often to TrekCore to stay up to date!
When looking at the incredibly unique and memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation 30th anniversary poster by Dusty Abell, one of DeForest Kelley’s lines from an earlier Star Trek adventure comes to mind: “Have you ever seen the like?”
Luckily for us, we have! If you made it to last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, then you were able to see Abell’s incredible 50th anniversary Star Trek poster that featured every Original Series character that one could imagine; from the recognizable to the most obscure – helpfully for those fans less versed in their one-time guest characters, the TOS posters also included an identification guide to assist in putting names to faces.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Next Generation, so of course, the annual Las Vegas Star Trek convention is rife with both TNG stars and fans alike – and also features Abell’s newest work, a two-poster take on his character showcase artwork centered around The Next Generation heroes and villains!
I sat down with Dusty Abell ahead of the Vegas convention, to discuss his latest artistic creation.
It was after my interaction with the guys at Roddenberry at 2016’s Las Vegas convention that this really started to take off. It was really fun!
I’d never been to a “Star Trek” convention and the first question I got (about the 50th Original Series poster) was: are you going to do a Next Generation one?
This was a venture that was destined to succeed from the very beginning. Abell has been an artist with Warner Brothers Animation, and has worked on some of their most memorable and iconic characters. A comic lover and devoted Star Trek fan, it’s very cool to see his love of Trek transferred over to a body of art that not only drips homage to the comic artform, but also real respect and reverence for the characters from both series.
These days, however, it’s Abell’s Next Generation piece that is captivating Trek fans! Now, with the support of both CBS and Roddenberry Entertainment, this new work of art is sure to capture the hearts and imaginations of Star Trek fans everywhere – and is here just in time for both TNG’s 30th anniversary and 2017’s big convention out in Las Vegas.
The Duras sisters.
Looking at the poster pair, Abell has dedicated the first to TNG’s heroic and ‘good’ characters, with the second featuring a medley of less-then-heroic enemies of the Enterprise-D. Focus on either one, and I guarantee you’ll be staring at it for at least half an hour trying to place each character and their episodes.
There are so many characters in this show that I had to break it up into the two posters. I mean, there are 178 episodes and it would be wrong to cram it all into one!
It’s the sheer variety and amount of characters that almost overpowers the viewer upon first glance. Then, it becomes a challenge to identify every one of them. Finally, after checking with the included answer key to verify your identification, you then have the opportunity to smugly declare yourself a true TNG fan.
In the end, you are left with a tremendous experience and a scintillating work of art that would do any Star Trek fan proud to have hanging on a wall.
Kivas Fajo and Sirna Kolrami.
In my conversation with Abell, I asked him to elaborate on how he settled on the concept design for this year’s posers.
For the first one, I envisioned it as being on the bridge of the Enterprise. I was going to put everybody, there, but I didn’t think it did justice to the ship design. So, the first one was placed planet-side so it could showcase all the great ships as well.
There are a lot of fans of the ships as well. The tough part about the Next Gen piece was that there weren’t as many iconic structures or landmarks as there are in the Original Series.
The Miramanee Obelisk stands out in the first one. But that was a challenge for the Next Gen piece. So that was why I thought the holodeck arch would be perfect for all the characters to gather around and for the ships around them. That’s they there are grid patterns in front as well.
That kept me guessing!
The careful observers will also notice that the Next Generation piece is completely rich in detail. While the characters are present – in various incarnations and forms – Abell spared no effort in exhausting both his memory and available external references to fill the two works.
There is something from every episode of The Next Generation in these prints. That’s the fun part for fans. Then it becomes sort of a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ contest and they really need to be seen up close to be fully appreciated.
It’s filled with small images and really needs a careful eye.
One of the fun things for me to do in San Diego and Las Vegas last year was to see people off to the side with their friends and family, going through the TOS piece – and there was a lot of finger pointing and cries of ‘Oh, that’s that guy!’ and discuss who they were – that was the best part for me.
They’re such interactive works of art that for me, that’s so gratifying to see people enjoy my work so much.
Young Ro Laren, Timothy (from ‘Hero Worship’), Sarjenka, and Alexander Rozhenko.
The real measure of art appreciation is how much time people are willing to invest in looking at it. For me, looking at Abell’s earlier work in an art gallery at San Diego Comic-Con last year was a fully interactive process. I remember looking at my watch and realizing that fifteen minutes had passed by while I was looking at the 50th anniversary TOS piece.
I had a similar experience looking at the Next Generation posters this week, and it was one shared by my family. This time however, this was not a silent appreciation period, it was one of constant questioning and explaining as I went through every character in the prints — and had to provide a mini-summary of the episodes the characters were in.
It became a fun family experience, and I’m sure it can be one for other families as well – and in my mind, it’s that meaningfulness in any shape or form that makes art successful.
Abell has a great love of comics and he cites this background as instrumental in his work.
I’ve been really fortunate to have the background I do. I’ve worked with some great people and that’s given me the inspiration to do what I love. I
’m a big comics guy and you get to run in all those circles and meet your childhood heroes and become close with a lot of them. It was quite a thrill and a real privilege.
Abell was very modest in his description of his background, but when he casually dropped names like Jerry Ordway, Mike Carlin, or even Star Trek fan and comic book creator, John Byrne, then it became apparent that his comic circles were fairly rich in their pedigree.
It was a real thrill. John Byrne was a real influence in my work growing up.
Jenna D’Sora, Janice Manheim, and Hugh.
The TNG piece is currently featured on the Roddenberry Entertainment website. I asked Dusty to talk a little about what it was like to work with the folks over there, the original source of Star Trek.
It was nothing but a real pleasure. I had a real sense of independence in putting the piece together after we got back from Las Vegas last year. They were very accommodating and I made sure that I hit all my deadlines and they had everything printed!
I can’t say enough good things about them. Rod [Roddenberry] was really cool and he really enjoyed the Original Series one. Like I said, they’ve been a real pleasure to work with.
Dusty also made use of the visual archives and other references that TrekCore has available to complete his work. We talked a little about how he took advantage of our massive library of TOS and TNG resources as he used them for his designs.
It was beyond helpful! I don’t think I could have done it without the resources I found on TrekCore. I mean, the screengrabs…
I’m a real stickler for little details: ornamentation, jewelry, weapons – the technology you find on the characters. Fabrics – particularly for the first series. Gary Seven’s tie has the same pattern as you’ll find in the show. The ships, the crazy hair, the likenesses…
TrekCore has some really finely categorized images.
Dusty Abell’s work is vividly entertaining. One of his past projects includes a homage to 70’s and 80’s sci-fi shows and he hopes to continue with future projects in the same style. However, don’t take my word for it – take a look at his official site and when you see the Enterprise-D storm out of your monitor, you’ll get a sense of what I’m talking about.
Dusty Abell at STLV 2017.
To fully appreciate the work, you really need to check it in person. While you can order the prints online at Abell’s website, if you are one of the fortunate fans to be at Creation Entertainment’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention, you can also stop by the Roddenberry booth to pick up these pairs – and Abell will be signing through Friday afternoon.
Or perhaps you’ll just get a glance of him off to the side, watching you enjoy his art.
If you’re a fan of Disruptor Beam’s Star Trek Timelines mobile strategy game, then you’re in for an upgrade this fall as characters from Star Trek: Discovery are transporting to your mobile device after the launch of the new series!
Disruptor Beam announced today that the characters of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Saru (Doug Jones) have been acquired as licensed avatars to join the franchise-spanning game, along with ships from the upcoming television series.
STAR TREK TIMELINES players and Discovery fans can look forward to the addition of new crew members to the game, including Lt. Commander Michael Burnham and Lt. Saru, as well as new ships from the Federation and beyond. Players will also get hours of brand-new Discovery-related game content, including a month-long Discovery Mega-Event.
Members of our team are on-hand this weekend with our partners at CBS Consumer Products at Star Trek Las Vegas to mark the announcement of our extended partnership. It’s largely due to our great relationship with CBS that we’ve been able to bring such a broad range of Star Trek content into a single game.
Watch your digital devices for app upgrade notices once the Discovery content goes live!
We’ve been getting better looks at the starships of Star Trek: Discovery with each new trailer that CBS releases, and at San Diego Comic-Con we also got some views of starship concept art during the Discovery exhibit on site.
At today’s starship design history panel at the Las Vegas convention – hosted by longtime Star Trek ship creator John Eaves – a few new shots of the Walker-class USS Shenzhou from the upcoming series debuted to the audience.
We’re hoping to learn much more about the Shenzhou – and of course, the hero starship of the upcoming series, the USS Discovery – in the coming days and weeks as we approach the launch of the series.
More Star Trek news t come this week, so keep checking back to TrekCore!
Now, the largest version yet of the Beyond vessel is on the way from Moebius Models, a massive 15.5-inch, 1:350-scale edition under development as a kit for collectors to purchase and assemble at home.
Moebius had their fresh-off-the-3D-printer prototype on display at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention for fans to take in, a still-in-development version which is due to be finalized in the coming months.
News on ordering and availability is yet to be announced.
Stay tuned for more Star Trek news out of Las Vegas in the coming days!
Wednesday was the big Star Trek: Discovery day out here in Las Vegas, and if you were following our live Twitter coverage of the four-hour marathon of DSC panels, you could surely see that there was a lot going on!
The day started out with an hour panel with Discovery executive producer Akiva Goldsman and writers Ted Sullivan and Kirsten Beyer on stage, discussing the development of the series to date and fielding fan questions from the packed ballroom, moderated by Engage: The Official Star Trek Podcast host Jordan Hoffman.
Each of the panelists started their time giving some background on their Trek fandom, with Goldsman laughingly revealing that he nearly got divorced due to his Trek obsession, Beyer’s tale of growing from Voyager fan to Voyager novelist – and now Discovery writer, and Sullivan telling a great story about how he and his brother wrote their own fan version of Star Trek IV after watching The Search for Spock over and over again in his youth.
Each also spoke to the very collaborative nature of the Discovery writers room, describing the setting as a room full of both “big bulletin boards,” but also “intense group discussion.” As fans of the franchise, each admitted that having such a deep knowledge of Trek canon can sometimes get in the way of finding creative new ways to tell the story.
Beyer commented that while it’s important to keep Discovery part of the Trek universe, it can sometimes be difficult to do that without “reminding people of the boundaries” to where canon has established Trek history — but Goldsman was quick to clarify that the team does not seek ways to break with canon, but that they “have to find ways to work within” that history.
Character growth is also a large part of the heavily-serialized Discovery story, with all three panelists attesting that each character – not just Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Burnham – all see significant change and growth throughout the first season. “Discovery is long-form storytelling,” said Goldsman,” entered around the characters – not just plot.”
Sullivan also spoke directly about both the performances of Doug Jones (Lt. Cmdr. Saru) and Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), praising them each for both their portrayal of their characters – hinting at an emotionally-powerful, Beyer-written, Saru-centered standout episode for Jones, and that Rapp seems to be the best at picking up the often-tongue-twisting “Treknobabble” tech-speak.
Regarding what footage has been revealed so far from the series, Goldsman clarified that everything shown to date is primarily from the first three episodes of the series, and it’s not just been “all the VFX shots” from Discovery — but while much has been featured of the “sudden war” with the Klingons in which the Federation finds itself, Sullivan reassured the audience that Trek has always been about the “metaphor being explored in the story,” and not just props, sets, or visual effects… but also commented that “the utopian Federation vision… doesn’t mean there is no conflict on the path to [reaching] that vision.”
Finally, Goldsman once more reiterated to the Las Vegas audience that Discovery is set within the Prime Timeline – which received a notable round of applause from the crowd – and also shared that while the series will center around the Klingons as a primary alien focus, with “significant portions of the narrative… from [their] point of view,” we’ll also get to see a “medium deep-dive” into Vulcan culture, as well as some familiar other fan-favorite species along the way.
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Following next was a four-person cast panel, featuring first-time appearances from Discovery actors Mary Chieffo(L’Rell), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Sam Vartholomeos (Ens. Connor), and newly-announced Wilson Cruz (Dr. Culber).
As with the writing team, each of the actors gave some background on their Trek credentials – Mitchell had been watching Trek for some time, while Chieffo was first exposed to the franchise through the 2009 Trek film – but they’ve both been binge-watching Trek since they were cast. Mitchell also called out his Klingon research, mentioning that he also read John Ford’s seminal Trek novel The Final Reflection once he was cast in the role.
Both Mitchell and Chieffo each also spent time on their work learning the Klingon language with a pair of on-set language and dialect experts, as much of their scripted lines are fully in Klingonese – they each described the “beauty” of going full Klingon for their performances and showed off a bit of their Klingon-speak on stage to the audience’s delight.
The pair revealed some more details about each of their characters – as we discussed in our on-site interview published last night – with Mitchell’s Kol now stated as being part of “the House of Kor” who finds that the Federation’s actions in Discovery is, Kol’s words, “just another attempt from humanity to rob [the Klingons] of their identity.”
Chieffo’s L’Rell has a “very different relationship” with her fellow Klingons as compared to how the Federation views her, said the actress; one of L’Rell’s central tenants is to find a way to “conquer compromise” in her role as T’Kuvma’s battle-deck commander.
Starfleeters Cruz and Vartholomeos were clearly excited to be on stage for their first convention appearances, and each described how in awe of the sets and Trek world they became when they first arrived in Toronto. Cruz revealed a moment where all of his script practice and preparation were lost when he found himself on the Discovery stage, surrounded by the world of Star Trek.
Vartholomeos, who admitted he’s likely the youngest member of the Discovery cast, shared some interesting tidbits about the set design, and talked about how he had to practice his motions and interactions with the control panels at Ensign Connor’s station, to match an animated loop of display graphics and simulated button-pushing effects on the high-tech screens in front of him.
— Mary Chieffo (she/her) 🏳️🌈 (@marythechief) August 3, 2017
In a touching moment, Wilson Cruz became a little emotional while sharing his thoughts on being part of Trek‘s first same-sex couple (as his character is paired with Anthony Rapp’s Lt. Stamets), describing their relationship that is just “what it is,” meaning it’s not explained as anything out of the ordinary, or overly-highlighted in the story.
Lastly, Sam Vartholomeos was adamant in his desire to keep Trek fandom growing – “We want there to be a [Las Vegas convention] in 2030!” – and acknowledging that Discovery will likely be many younger viewer’s first Trek, and hopes that the series will connect with people as so many prior Star Trek adventures have done in the past.
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The third hour was helmed by creature designers Neville Page and Glenn Hetrick, who went into great detail as to their work designing the new Klingons seen in Discovery. The first big reveal that the “mandate for bald Klingons” came directly from former showrunner Bryan Fuller, who had a big hand in the warrior race’s redesign.
As part of that redesign, Page and Hetrick sought out to add physiological explanations for how the Klingons now appear, with Page designing the new Klingon cranium so that not having hair made sense – with their crainial ridges now serving as a point of sensory input.
Amazing reveal from @NevillePage! Shows design of warrior falling into battle on a thigh plate. The image is the impetus of Klingon logo! pic.twitter.com/5XjQSzLUWT
Discovery tells the tale of the “24 great houses” of the Klingon Empire, with each house having its own look and wardrobe design. Only a few houses have been represented in production so far, but Hetrick assured the audience that each new house will have as much detail as the others to really expand the variety of culture in the Empire.
Regarding the Torchbearer armor the pair designed, first featured at SDCC the other week, they also revealed some close-up artwork which shows portions of the armor feature small Klingon bodies in the detailing, echoing the look of the classic Klingon sigil.
Stay locked in to TrekCore for more Star Trek and Star Trek: Discovery news as it breaks!
Out here in Las Vegas, we just wrapped up a marathon of Star Trek: Discovery panels, with one very special first-time appearance with Discovery cast members Mary Chieffo, Kenneth Mitchell, Sam Vartholomeos, and Wilson Cruz – and we were able to spend a few minutes with the Klingons for a conversation on Klingon houses, theme music, and more!
TREKCORE: So today is your first roll-out to fans as Klingons! Mary, you got your character poster yesterday – have you seen that hanging out in the lobby?
MARY CHIEFFO: Yeah! And then Kol just his first image release today, which is really exciting!
KENNETH MITCHELL: Maybe I’ll get a poster.
CHIEFFO: We’ll get you a poster! L’Rell is a good poster. It looks awesome.
Mary Chieffo’s “L’Rell” DISCOVERY character poster.
TREKCORE: Ken, you said on stage that you and your son “play Klingons” at home now?
MITCHELL: I’m serious! Pretty much every day now, he puts a tennis racket in my hand, and he says, “Dad, this is the mek’leth!”
TREKCORE: Have to teach him about the Klingon weapons early! So, these costumes on display – they’re neither of yours, correct?
CHIEFFO: No, these [are from] House T’Kuvma. Because I’m a battle-deck commander, I’m in white and have white rubies to show my status. So there are a few other Klingons of that rank, but these are more [like] worker bees, for lack of a better term.
DISCOVERY Klingon costumes of House T’Kuvma, seen at Comic-Con, and on display Thursday at STLV.
TREKCORE: So what can you tell us about L’Rell? You said she’s a ‘battle-deck commander,’ but what does that mean?
CHIEFFO: When you first meet her, yes. She is T’Kuvma’s battle-deck commander, and she – in more layman’s terms – is his chief strategist as well as his [battle] campaign manager, in a certain way. But she’s also a fierce warrior. There have been a few images in the trailer you kind of see the Klingons with the visors – L’Rell and the helmets – [and that] is kind of my domain. I help conduct that.
I joke that I do a lot of the brainstorming and grunt work and let T’Kuvma to all the talking because he’s the man in charge. A fun fact of L’Rell that I am allowed to talk about now, is that she’s a woman of two Klingon houses. So her father was House T’Kuvma, but her her mother was House Mokai, which is this matriarchal Klingon house that is known for being spies.
Mary Chieffo as L’Rell.
We’re kind of deceptive; we work in the shadows – which is part of why L’Rell works the way she does within T’Kuvma’s ship. That’s the kind of flavor of L’Rell that you get so she has kind of both worlds – she’s fierce and strong, but she knows how to manipulate a situation to her advantage in a way that I don’t know that you’ve quite seen in Klingon world. It’s a little different.
MITCHELL: Machiavellian.
CHIEFFO: Yeah.
TREKCORE: Ken, today you revealed that Kol is part of the House of Kor – that’s a big name!
MITCHELL: Not just part, he’s the leader!
TREKCORE: He’s the leader? Well that implies a whole bunch of different things!
CHIEFFO: Yeah!
TREKCORE: Are we going to see Kor on Discovery?
MITCHELL: No.
CHIEFFO: It’s all about Kol, all the time!
MITCHELL: I just love it because [“Errand of Mercy”] is like my favorite episode. When I heard that, from the House of Kor – whether we see [the character or not] – I was like, “Yes!”
TREKCORE: The connection itself was enough for you.
MITCHELL: The connection, yeah… It implies so much.
Kenneth Mitchell as Kol.
TREKCORE: Now, Kol’s wardrobe and styling, as you said today, is due to his being part of a different house – more leather in his costuming, and so forth.
MITCHELL: Yeah – and I have a fur cape, which distinguishes my position as the leader [as like] a status symbol.
CHIEFFO: I think it’s going to be really fun to see that every house is very distinct, from Gersha Phillips, our costume designer.
MITCHELL: And those unique markings on Kol’s [head]…
CHIEFFO: Oh, yeah!
MITCHELL: It’s very ‘Braveheart’-like. It’s kind of like war paint.
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) August 2, 2017
TREKCORE: Finally – Mary, you are the first person here who heard the theme music in person…
CHIEFFO: Yes!
TREKCORE: What was your reaction to hearing that – was it your first time, at the TCAs on Tuesday?
CHIEFFO: It was my first time hearing that music, and I can say that everyone was crying! I mean, like I can’t attest to everyone in the room, but the panel – I turned to Sonequa [Martin-Green] and Jason [Isaacs]… it’s really all that one could hope for, in the way that this is all about paying homage but continuing to strengthen and reinvent – kind of a perfect balance.
That was when [I looked] at Sonequa and seeing her as our leader, and seeing the theme on her face, it’s really moving. I’m really thrilled.
MITCHELL: It really reverberates, especially with that orchestra.
CHIEFFO: And our composer [Jeff Russo] is, you know, a Trek fan, and there was someone in the [orchestra performance] video wearing Spock ears!
TREKCORE: We’re all looking forward to hearing it, too!
Mitchell (giving his best Klingon scowl) and Chieffo in front of the Torchbearer prop at STLV.
Stay tuned to TrekCore for our next interview, with Starfleeters Sam Vartholomeos and Wilson Cruz!
Today at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention, we got our first look at the forthcoming Star Trek: Discovery tie-in novel and comic releases, coming in the next few weeks to coincide with the launch of the new series!
First up is Desperate Hours, David Mack’s novel set as a prequel to the series – Mack’s book is set in approximately 2255, which is described as a year prior to the events of the Discovery first episode, and a year after the classic Trek episode “The Cage.”
Desperate Hours hits stores on September 26, two days after the debut of Star Trek: Discovery on CBS and CBS All Access – and you can preorder it now from Amazon. Here’s the official back-cover blurb on the story:
Aboard the Starship Shenzhou, Lieutenant Michael Burnham, a human woman raised and educated among Vulcans, is promoted to acting first officer. But if she wants to keep the job, she must prove to Captain Philippa Georgiou that she deserves to have it.
She gets her chance when the Shenzhou must protect a Federation colony that is under attack by an ancient alien vessel that has surfaced from the deepest fathoms of the planet’s dark, uncharted sea. As the menace from this mysterious vessel grows stronger, Starfleet declares the colony expendable in the name of halting the threat. To save thousands of innocent lives, Burnham must infiltrate the alien ship. But to do so she needs to face the truth of her troubled past, and seek the aid of a man she has tried to avoid her entire life — until now.
In addition, the second Discovery novel is due to arrive from author Dayton Ward in early 2018, and is expected to be set approximately 10 years prior to the events of the television series.
Also revealed is IDW’s first Discovery comic release, which is a four-issue miniseries focusing on T’Kuvma (Chris Obi) and the Klingons, coming from longtime Trek comic writer Mike Johnson and debuting in October.
Today at the Las Vegas Star Trek convention, Hallmark revealed our first look at 2018’s releases, with a concept rendering of the classic fencing face-off between Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) from “The Naked Time.”
Once we have more official images of this new ornament – likely early in 2018 – we’ll be sure to bring them to you here at TrekCore!
