This week’s newest issue of Entertainment Weekly has a three-page feature interview with Star Trek: Discovery shorunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg, who spoke to EW‘s James Hibberd about the development of the show and its cast.
In addition to revealing that one more factor that led to some of Discovery‘s production delays was the need to wait for series star Sonequa Martin-Green (Cmdr. Michael Burnham) to become available after her work on The Walking Dead concluded, the producing pair also revealed some new tantalizing details as to the path Season One’s story will take.
Harberts describes how Burnham’s choices affect the season:
Burnham’s background is that she was the first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center and Vulcan Science Academy – so she’s spent a lot of time on Vulcan, but she’s human. Sarek plays and important role in her life, which has been completely planned until she makes a difficult choice that sends her life on a very different path.
When we meet her, she’s the first officer on the starship Shenzhou. Burnham’s choice that we’re alluding to is the most difficult choice you can make – it affects her, affects Starfleet, affects the Federation; it affects the entire universe.
That choice leads her to a different ship, the USS Discovery, and there we begin what Gretchen and I call our second pilot.
Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) takes on a Klingon warrior – part of her fateful ‘choice’?
Harberts also detailed how Discovery‘s well-publicized serialization plan will help explore the characters:
It’s a serialized telling of a tale; an exploration of one particular character, Michael Burnam, along the path of discovering what it means to be human and finding her individuality.
Those types of stories have been really well told in the ‘Star Trek’ movies, but it’s been hard to do in the television iterations because episodes have been so closed-ended.
The joy is in the journey. The advantage to [Burnham] not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a different point of view. It’s a fresh feeling because we’re not on the bridge all the time. We get access to more parts of the ship.
Below decks aboard the Shenzhou.
One thing that’s been somewhat constricting to past Star Trek writing teams is the so-called ‘Roddenberry Rule,’ which dictated that there should not be any conflict between humans or Starfleet officers, something which originated during The Next Generation and maintained by Rick Berman when he lead the franchise.
Will Star Trek: Discovery‘s writers be following that rule? Harberts and Berg say ‘no,’ with comments expanded upon in an EW online article today.
Harberts:
No, [we’re not held to that]. We’re trying to do stories that are complicated, with characters with strong points of view and strong passions. People have to make mistakes – mistakes are still going to be made in the future.
The thing we’re taking from Roddenberry is how we solve those conflicts. So we do have our characters in conflict, we do have them struggling with each other, but it’s about how they find a solution and work through their problems.”
Berg:
The rules of Starfleet remain the same, but while we’re human or alien in various ways, none of us are perfect.
Harberts’ description of Burnam’s journey to Discovery seems to lend credence to the rumors and speculation that Michelle Yeoh and the Shenzhou may not be long for the series, at least in a primary role – especially with the reference to her arrival on Captain Lorca’s ship as a “second pilot” episode.
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’s two captains: Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).
Relaxing the ‘Roddenberry Rule’ on character conflict also sounds like it will open up a real opportunity for development and depth as the series progresses. TNG and DS9 writer Ron Moore quite clearly shared his disdain for that restriction with TrekCore back in our 2013 interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY2AeZRPRA4
We can’t wait to see what this team brings to the Trek universe – Star Trek: Discovery debuts this September.
This certainly is Star Trek: Discovery week, as yet another look ahead to this fall’s television revival arrived from CBS today- and this time, it’s to a brand new take on a classic Trek technology.
In today’s new reveal – courtesy again of Entertainment Weekly – Capt. Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) stand ready to beam down from the USS Shenzhou transporter room, as Lt. Saru (Doug Jones) mans the control panel along with another Starfleet officer.
Capt. Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Cmdr. Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) prepare to beam down. (CBS)
That’s right: this is a Starfleet transporter room, a design of which we’ve not seen, well, ever in a previous Trek adventure. And as EW reports, we’re bound to see yet another transporter facility aboard the USS Discovery, not yet revealed – and as EW puts it, will be “very different” from the one aboard the Shenzhou.
As the Shenzhou is an older Starfleet vessel, the Discovery transporter bay may resemble the classic six-man beam-down facility seen aboard Constitution-class ships of the day – such as Captain Pike’s USS Enterprise, already in service during this time in the 23rd Century.
Christopher Pike, Spock, and crew prepare to beam to Talos IV. (“The Cage”)
Also of note in today’s new Discovery photo is the tactical gear Georgiou and Burnham are wearing: both protective vests sporting some variation of the well-known Starfleet Command logo, as well as holstered communicators and phasers (or laser pistols?) ready for action.
NOTE: This image has been color-corrected from the original photo.
Let’s hear it, folks: what are your thoughts at this look into the newest take on mid-23rd Century technology? Sound off in the comments below!
Since the first rumors about the show’s casting and characters began to rise in 2016, some fringe critics of the series have cried foul about the “emphasis” on diversity among the on-screen crew, from gender to race to sexual orientation – and now series lead Sonequa Martin-Green has now made her first public statements on the matter.
Entertainment Weekly is continuing to dole out excerpts from their upcoming June 30 issue, which is advertised to contain new Star Trek: Discovery reporting as we move closer to the show’s launch, and EW has Martin-Green’s thoughts on the show’s diversity efforts – and the critics – in a new interview out today.
Well, I would encourage them to key into the essence and spirit of ‘Star Trek’ that has made it the legacy it is — and that’s looking across the way to the person sitting in front of you and realizing you are the same, that they are not separate from you, and we are all one.
That’s something ‘Star Trek’ has always upheld and I completely believe that is why it’s been a mainstay in society in the hearts of so many people for so many decades. I would encourage them to look past their opinions and social conditioning and key into what we’re doing here — which is telling a story about humanity that will hopefully bring us all together.
Phillipa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). (CBS)
And it’s hard to understand and appreciate ‘Star Trek’ if you don’t understand and appreciate that. It’s one of the foundational principles of ‘Star Trek’ and I feel if you miss that then you miss the legacy itself.
I’m incredibly proud to be the lead of this show and be at the forefront of an iteration of ‘Star Trek’ that’s from the eyes of a black woman that’s never been done before, though obviously there’s been other forms of diversity that have been innovated by ‘Trek.’
I feel like we’re taking another step forward, which I think all stories should do. We should go boldly where nobody has gone before and stay true to that.
Destination Star Trek, the official European Trek convention since 2012, announced today that the event would be returning to the site of its 2016 event – but not for more than another year from now.
Destination Star Trek Birmingham is now scheduled for October 19 – 21, 2018 at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC), the same location where last year’s Destination Star Trek Europe convention landed in October for Trek‘s 50th anniversary celebration.
A limited number of confirmed Trek guests have already been signed for the 2018 event since it’s still another sixteen months out – including William Shatner and Star Trek: Enterprise‘s Linda Park.
The first announced convention event will feature Deep Space Nine’s Ferengi family – Armin Shimerman (Quark), Max Grodenchik (Rom), and Aron Eisenberg (Nog) – back in both costume and makeup for a world exclusive photo op with fans.
With so many professional photo shoot areas at the event, we can now reveal that our very special Ferengi Family – Quark, Rom and Nog will be available for a world exclusive family portrait opportunity.
For the first time since working on DS9, Armin Shimerman has agreed to become Quark again for one final time. This photoshoot with all 3 members of the family in make-up is exclusive to this event and will not be repeated again anywhere in the world!
Sit with the unconventional family, and smile for the camera with this unique Deep Space Nine family – only available at Destination Star Trek Birmingham on Saturday.
The Star Trek: Discovery news keeps dropping this week as we’ve got our first look at actor Jason Isaacs in Starfleet uniform!
Revealed by way of Entertainment Weekly this afternoon, the English actor makes his Trek debut as Captain Gabriel Lorca, commander of the USS Discovery, “considered a brilliant military tactician.”
In addition, EW notes that this photo is the first hint at the look of the Discovery bridge, not seen in any previous promotional video or photography yet released from CBS.
Jason Isaacs as Captain Gabriel Lorca, USS Discovery. (CBS)
Of note is the consistent uniform design between Lorca and the crew of the USS Shenzou revealed in May, keeping the same blue and gold outfits seen earlier. So far, we’re not seeing any connection to the expected uniforms of a pre-TOS-era series, but the traditional red, blue, and gold designs of the 1960’s may have some appearance in Star Trek: Discovery that just hasn’t been revealed yet.
Check back often for more Star Trek: Discovery news as it breaks!
In a new interview released today from Entertainment Weekly, we can finally put some rumors to rest about the Shenzhou’s first officer, Michael Burnham, played by series lead Sonequa Martin-Green.
As some have suspected, Burnham is a human raised among Vulcans – the “first human to attend the Vulcan Learning Center” – but she’s got no pointed ears, as this Starfleet officer is a 100% human.
Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham.
Such an upbringing naturally will create some emotional issues – a human trying to live like a Vulcan – and producer Aaron Harberts spoke to the casting process to find an actor who could pull off that kind of inner split.
We read a lot of people and they either went way too robotic or and chilly or way too emotional. What’s beautiful about Sonequa’s performance is she’s capable of playing two, three, four things at once.
She’s got such a great command of her craft, she’s able to be aloof but warm; logical but able to surrender her emotional side to the audience.
Young Burnham on Vulcan.
Martin-Green also commented on the nature of her character’s emotional divide, and “what it means… to be human.”
I have an inner war and it’s a journey of self discovery and finding out what it means to be alive, to be human, to be a Starfleet officer, what it means to be a hero.
I have the Vulcan conflict in my life from Sarek and Amanda so there’s always going to be that inner conflict with me. But I think it’s relatable because we all have some kind of inner conflict going on — who we are versus who we present ourselves to be. There’s a lot to be discovered.
Also hinted at here is her relationship with actor James Frain’s Sarek, and the first hints that we may see Amanda Grayson after all, something hinted towards last summer.
Sarek (James Frain) and Burnham.
Does this answer some of your questions about our new Discovery series lead – sound off in the comments below!
After this morning’s announcement that Star Trek: Discovery will (finally!) arrive on September 24, show producers Gretchen Berg and Aaron Harberts sat down with Entertainment Weekly to relay some new details behind the seemingly-constant delays in the series’ launch.
You can’t cut corners or have 95 percent of what’s on screen be completely original and inspired and then have five percent something you bought at a store. It has to be cohesive — and it is.
I’m so proud of what’s on screen, it’s so beautiful and it’s taking world-building to a whole new level.
Harberts:
There’s is so much artistry and custom craftsmanship that go into every prop, every costume, every set.
These things have to be designed and manufactured. We flew a costume designer to Switzerland to pick up the fabric for the Starfleet uniforms. Several items on our uniforms are 3D printed. Some of our sets can take over six weeks to make.
CBS has given us the time and the money to make something the fans will find worthwhile.
Entertainment Weekly also confirmed what we suspected from the May teaser trailer, that the Discovery sets have yet to be seen – and in fact, are completely separate sets from the Shenzhou (the starship from the trailer).
[Take] the bridge of the U.S.S. Discovery. Trek fans think they already know what it looks like from the trailer. But that’s not it — the trailer shows the bridge of the U.S.S. Shenzhou — an entirely different (and older) ship than the Discovery that the production also had to build.
The actual Discovery bridge has yet to be revealed…
In addition, CBS has also released a new promotional poster for the forthcoming series, with a new look at the starship Discovery, first spotted back in the summer of 2016. Seen here is the variant released in Canada for the SPACE network:
Compared to the original look, the Discovery has been polished up from a once-coppery metal to a more refined and textured silvery-blue design – and we can’t wait to see the final version on screen this fall.
2016’s original USS Discovery CG render (left) compared to the new poster image.
Check back often to TrekCore for more Star Trek: Discovery news!
We finally have the next projected premiere date for Star Trek: Discovery!
Revealed today by Variety, the long-awaited launch of the Trek TV revival will finally occur on September 24, with the first episode airing on CBS’s television network, and a second episode immediately available to follow on the CBS All Access streaming service.
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) June 19, 2017
Per Variety‘s report:
The series will launch Sunday, Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m./7:30c on CBS, though that time is approximate due to NFL Football and “60 Minutes” also airing that night. The series premiere will also be available on-demand on CBS All Access and the second episode of the series will be available on the service that same night immediately following the broadcast premiere.
After premiere night, all new episodes will be available on-demand weekly on Sundays exclusively for CBS All Access subscribers in the U.S. The 15-episode season will be released in two parts. The first eight episodes will run from Sept. 24 through Nov. 5. The season will then resume in January 2018.
Also revealed here is a plan for a November – January midseason break, as the streamer will spend eight weeks in drydock over the holiday season.
It’s about time we get a new, solid schedule for the series, originally set for a January 2017 launch – with filming underway now in Toronto, we’re sure to see more photography and footage from the show as we approach September.
TrekCore is hosting a brand new Star Trek Online contest to celebrate the recent release of Season 13 – Escalation on console!
We’re giving away fifty Fluidic Antiproton Wrist Lances for Xbox One players, the extremely rare ground weapon which utilizes antiproton streams to inflict damage on enemies.
The Fluidic Antiproton Wrist Lance is an extremely powerful weapon, despite its small stature. Sometimes nicknamed the “Mini Planet Killer,” this handheld device utilizes cohesive antiproton streams to damage foes. These streams are known to sometimes knock their opponents away while dealing additional physical damage.
The primary fire of this particular wrist-mounted antiproton lance is similar to those adapted into assault weapons that use this same energy technology. The secondary fire can charge up a massive blast that will scar the surface of whatever the foe is standing on, sending out antiproton energy ripples that cause additional damage to anything they cross paths with.
To enter the contest, just email us your name by June 27, 2017. On June 28, 50 names will be randomly selected to win one Star Trek Online Fluidic Antiproton Wrist Lance. All winners will be emailed the in-game code and instructions how to add the weapon to your Star Trek Online Xbox One account.
This contest has ended; winners have been notified by email.
There are various striking features of this book that immediately become apparent when you start reading this immensely enjoyable and quintessential Kirk-oriented Star Trek story. They should be easily noticed by any true TOS fan, as what artist/writer — and immensely loyal fan — John Byrne intends.
New Visions #16: Time Out of Joint sees the Enterprise under attack by an unknown assailant. Kirk is in engineering when the attack begins and an exploding console knocks the wind out of him. He makes his way back to the bridge and discovers he has been moved seven minutes back in time.
After a few other jarring leaps into various time periods, he confirms that he has been dislodged in time during the combat which sees him veer throughout various time segments of the battle with the mysterious alien enemies as well as going back to personally significant periods of his own history, that any Kirk fan would immediately appreciate.
During this haphazard veering through time, Kirk manages to maintain his focus of saving the Enterprise and restoring himself back to his own time as if nothing had ever happened.
Of course, the fact that this story completely revolves around Captain Kirk is the first thing that a TOS lover would instantly recognize. As a complete Kirk fanboy, I’m completely okay with this. Let’s face it: Kirk was the central character in the Original Series and that accounted for why the captain of a starship headed his own boarding parties and usually dominated the storylines. In the same fashion that Horatio Hornblower was the hero of his own adventures, James T. Kirk was focus in Star Trek… and we all know that Gene Roddenberry was heavily influenced by C.S. Forester’s works.
This not only speaks to Byrne’s immense reverence for this franchise, but also to his expert creativity in writing stories for it. He effectively captures the spirit of the series in the way that Roddenberry would have want these stories told – at least in my opinion. This could have very well been a script from the Original Series in terms of its circular structure, motifs, and its character representation. Not only is the story well contained but it perfectly mirrors the pace and the style of an episode from the 1960’s.
However, you can’t help notice some of the little personal details that Byrne adds into this book that reflect his own style and completely appropriate contributions to the continuation of the Enterprise’s five-year mission. For example, when Kirk encounters eternal fan-crush Janice Rand during one of his temporal jumps, she is now a lieutenant and has returned to the Enterprise after a series of personal adventures that Byrne alludes to in a short story that follows after the main one in this book. It’s completely well-timed but also illustrates his own personal and welcomed touch to the franchise.
I also have to love the three-dimensional, holographic engineering display that was introduced in the last issue. It’s a nice bit of continuity of Byrne’s own original contributions that make this story his but also enhances the enjoyment of reading an Original Series story.
While the alien enemies were somewhat less than intimidating in their appearance, their threat is no less diminished with the scenes of the destruction of the Enterprise, or Kirk bound and tortured under interrogation. Their deadly proficiency with temporal weaponry is the necessary element that prompts Kirk to think about how to save the ship, rather than defeating them.
He puts aside his military need to vanquish his foe and think laterally. Instead of overcoming them with force, he pushes himself through another doorway which he knows will trigger the next temporal jump to another episode in time to hopefully solve the problem. It is a truly unique storytelling model that is entirely Trek.
The storytelling is the real treasure in this book. As much as I’d love to wax philosophically about Byrne’s painstaking ability to source, arrange and, in some cases, create his own generated images, it really is about how closely Byrne has managed to come to emulating the pace and structure of the original episodes. With Kirk’s jumping through different time periods or his attempt to maintain a fixed strategy throughout the entire combat encounter, we see a perfect rendition of Shatner’s performance as Kirk in these pages.
Whether Byrne is directly asking Shatner what he would do in these situations or supernaturally channeling classic Trek directors Joe Pevney or Vincent McEveety is entirely known to him. In any case, he certainly has tapped the vein of these original creators and the work stands for itself.
The attention to detail that really stands out in this particular issue. While Byrne is generally meticulous in his treatment of the series in his books, I feel this one really sees him covering all of the Star Trek bases.
From his portrayal of the particular body language depicted by each character delivering particular dialogue to the choice of significant elements from Kirk’s past that would evoke a certain emotional response from fans (ie: his long-time love, Janet or his hated academy nemesis, Finnegan), Byrne has targeted parts of Kirk’s past that relate not just to his own history but to aspects that are historically essential to the fabric of the show. These things matter, if not from just a story-telling perspective but also from an appreciative one.
But the subsequent stories that follow after the main one are also of significance. Byrne shows his versatility in storytelling with the fact that he has more in the hopper than we realize. I want to be a fly on the wall of this man’s studio to see how he arranges his work schedule. How can he can find the time to not only script stories, find the relevant photos for them, arrange them in structure yet also have stories on the go that he has also done the same amount of work for in advance?
This book has three stories in it, which is brilliantly creative but also speaks to Byrne’s level of superior organizational skills. It’s staggering when you try to appreciate the amount of administrative work that must go into the production of this book, which is pretty much a one-man show.
Some classic Trek female characters get the spotlight in two short stories.
Home is a short story that sees the return of Yeoman, now Lieutenant Janice Rand. While Byrne alludes that she has ended a marriage that went wrong and is returned to the Enterprise, it teases at a future story that will certainly be welcomed by lovers of this franchise – and of Grace Lee Whitney’s eternally memorable character.
Those Who Play with Cats also hints at a possible, playful story between the always-on-the-prowl Hikaru Sulu and his newest romantic target, relief communications officer Lieutenant M’Ress. Those fans of the short-lived animated Star Trek will remember the Caitian officer, voiced by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry. This, alone, really shows us the depth of Byrne’s respect for the series.
The Animated Series has generally been accepted to cover the last two years of the Enterprise’s five-year mission exploring deep space, Byrne brings back one of the characters from that time as part of his own continuation of the series. It not only adds a degree of authenticity to his work but also an acknowledgement of the continuity of the show’s history.
Byrne really deserves the accolades for this issue. Not only has he shown us a story that TOS fans can really get behind through his careful and reverential inclusion of the elements that could make this book an original series episode, but he also demonstrates that he has more to offer. This is a book meant for TOS fans and we have to remember, despite its 1960’s origins, this was the source of all Trek.
John Byrne has not only made New Visions #16: Time Out of Joint true to the time period but also includes some of his own personal touches. It’s not just an original comic that Byrne is making but also a series of scripts that could have very well been a part of the original show. All that seems to be missing is a time machine to take these stories back and see if they’d get script approval.
