Star Trek: Discovery producer on why the Klingons have changed

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Although they are definitely one of Star Trek's most famous races, the look of the Klingons has never been completely consistent. Beginning with a mostly-human look in The Original Series, the appearance of the Klingons changed more drastically in STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE and underwent further refinements throughout the rest of the movies and TV series. We should be used to it by now, but one of the controversial aspects of the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery is a further redesign of the warrior race, and Discovery co-showrunner Aaron Harberts finally broke his silence and commented on the new look while speaking with Entertainment Weekly.

In the different versions of Trek, the Klingons have never been completely consistent. We will introduce several different houses with different styles. Hopefully, fans will become more invested in the characters than worried about the redesign.

Although there have been rumblings that the Klingons featured in Star Trek: Discovery hail from an ancient race of Klingons, it seems to me that the production just wanted to put their own spin on the characters, but perhaps those "different styles" will give us a few of the more traditional Klingons. EW adds that the Klingons will be playing a huge role in Discovery's mysterious story, which is apparently set during a Federation/Klingon cold war set a decade before the events of The Original Series. A new photo from the upcoming series has also been released, showing off what is reportedly a small section of a massive set of the Klingon vessel.

Holding the torch is T'Kuvma (Chris Obi), the leader of an ancient Klingon house who is looking to unite his people, even if it means provoking a war with the Federation. His Battle Deck Commander, L'Rell (Mary Chieffo), is by his side. I'm not all that bothered by a little visual reinvention, although I can certainly understand why others might be, but all I really want is a series which is full of interesting characters and thought-provoking stories, something Star Trek used to be quite skilled at.

Star Trek: Discovery will debut on CBS on September 24, 2017 before moving to CBS All Access.