Bryan Fuller, showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery , revealed a number of new details about the new Trek show at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, including more details about the show’s lead, who will not be the USS Discovery NCC-1031’s captain.
The main character of Star Trek: Discovery will be a woman. According to Fuller, the role has yet to be cast, though they’re looking at minority actors for the part.
But the biggest revelation is that the main character of Discovery won’t be the captain, as has been the case in every other Star Trek series (with the semi-exception of DS9 , which primarily dealt with Benjamin Sisko’s role as commander of the titular space station). Instead, the lead of Star Trek: Discovery will be a Lieutenant Commander “with caveats,” as Fuller described (it’s unclear what he meant by caveats).
It’s still unknown what role exactly this commander will play aboard the Discovery, but Lt. Commander was the same rank held by William Riker in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation , making First Officer a distinct possibility for our main character.
“The story that is fascinating for me is, we’ve seen six series from captains’ points of view… to see different characters from different perspectives, we thought it would give us different contexts,” Fuller said during the CBS All Access panel at TCA. “To truly understand something alien, she has to understand herself.”
Other cast members will include a gay character and “a few more aliens than usual, including some “reimagining of existing alien” species.
Star Trek: Discovery will be available for streaming on CBS’ All Access platform in early 2017.
