Bryan Fuller spills Star Trek: Discovery details, including when it’s set

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Ever since Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air over a decade ago, I've been counting down the days until Star Trek is once again on the small-screen. That's not to say that the rebooted STAR TREK features haven't been entertaining, I've enjoyed them quite a bit, but Star Trek has always been at its best on television. With Star Trek: Discovery set to premiere early next year, Gene Roddenberry's long-running franchise will continue to endure.

Overseen by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal), the new series has been a bit of a mystery up until now, but Fuller spilled quite a few new details about Star Trek: Discovery during the show's Television Critics Association panel today. Per Deadline & TrekCore, here are a few of the more interesting tidbits.

• Star Trek: Discovery will be set "10 years before Kirk, and will bridge the gap between Enterprise and the original series. We’re much closer to Kirk’s universe [than that of Archer’s], so we get to play with all of that [TOS-era] iconography of those ships and those uniforms."
• The lead character will be a human female, but she won't be a captain. Fuller says that she's a "lieutenant commander with caveats." They haven't yet cast the role and while they seem to be looking to cast a woman of colour, they're not ruling anyone out at this stage. Fuller also adds that she will be a sensitive hero.
• There will be seven lead characters in total.
• The opening scene won't take place on Earth or any other planet.
• The series will have "more aliens than you [normally] have on a Star Trek cast," including one named Saru.
• Bryan Fuller again confirmed that since Star Trek: Discovery will be airing on CBS: All Access, they won't be subject to broadcast standards and practices. It will still be Star Trek, just with "slightly more graphic content."
• As Star Trek has always been about diversity, Star Trek: Discovery will "absolutely [be] about continuing that tradition.” Fuller is aiming to bring diversity to every role, including "absolutely" including a gay character, but says that when it comes down to it, that "it’s about who’s the best actor."
• Fuller also says that the series will launch from an event which was discussed in The Original Series, but was never fully explored. He went on to say that the event in question is NOT the Kobayashi Maru, the Battle of Axanar or the Earth/Romulan war.

It's a little too early to jump to any conclusions, but I like what we've been hearing so far. Production on Star Trek: Discovery will kick off in about two months with the first episode set to debut on CBS All Access in January 2017.