It’s here! Our first NEW Look at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds arrived on Star Trek: Day as expected,
and while it’s not a full action packed trailer, it does give us some crucial details as to what the show will look like and what we can expect character wise!
Welcome to Trek Central! I’m your host, Captain Jack, and let’s get into it!
We’ve been waiting for more news and first looks at Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for sometime now.
There have been leaked images here and there, but this is our FIRST major look at the art style and design of the series, outside of other teasers.
Considering the series has now wrapped filming out in Toronto, we’re going to start seeing more and more details.
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In the words of Captain Pike, Hit it!
Alright, so while we did not get a full blown action packed story trailer like many of us were hoping for,
we did get an introduction to the new and returning characters for Strange New Worlds.
Of course up first, we’ve got Anson Mount playing Captain Christopher Pike, and oh my, does his new uniform look interesting.
I’ve got some personal opinions on his uniform, which we’ll discuss later on in this video, so stay tuned for that.
Though Pike is certainly looking a little bit older since we last saw him, that grey hair though.
Mount comments throughout this video that he still finds it surprising that he is working on Star Trek, as well as having one of the best cast of actors and actresses to bring Strange New Worlds to life.
His comment about looking back every day and thinking wow, I am on Star Trek, and we can really see the enthusiasm that Anson Mount brings to the show and his character of Captain Pike.
This has always been the case really.
Next up, we’re reintroduced to Ethan Peck’s version of Mr Spock.
Peck previously appeared as Spock in Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, alongside Anson Mount and Rebecca Romjin.
Now he’s back, in his new Strange New Worlds uniform as well. You might be guessing so far, but I am not a massive fan of the uniforms, but again, personal opinions later on in this video.
He comments that coming back to the bridge of the Enterprise is rather daunting, but also surreel at the same time.
Peck also made a little teaser comment about legacy characters having legacy relationships,
essentially those characters we’ve known from the past, such as Mr Spock, might be reconnecting with old friends…
This is likely a reference to the news Trek Central broke earlier this year about actress Gia Sandhu, who is potentially cast to play Vulcan T’Pring,
a legacy character from the Star Trek: Universe who was bonded with Mr Spock. Famously seen in The Original Series episode “Amok Time”.
Rebecca Romijn took the stage to formally introduce her character. Commonly referred to as “Number One” throughout Star Trek history,
the full name for Una is now revealed as “Una Chin-Riley”, which is fantastic as we finally have more detail about this character.
According to Romijn, the character is way more complex than any of us know.
Of course, Number One, or should i say Una, was first originated by Majel Barret-Roddenberry in Star Trek all those years ago, so now brining this character back into the light is giving her a new breath of life
as well as firmly establishing one of the first core female characters into Star Trek lore.
Our trio of main characters are joined by new actors and actresses, who are actually playing legacy Star Trek characters, before we knew them as they are of course, so let’s see who we have!
Celia Rose Gooding will play Cadet Nyota Uhura, the iconic communications officer aboard the USS Enterprise.
The role was first played by Nichelle Nicholds on Star Trek: The Original Series and throughout the Star Trek Movies alongside the likes of William Shatner and the late Lenoard Nimoy.
Gooding comments that she is very excited to be stepping into this legacy.
Which is fantastic, as I think many of us are going to be eagerly waiting for a chance to see this character flourish and grow into the strong Starfleet Officer
we know in the later years of Star Trek. It’s going to be fantastic.
Given we’ve NEVER had an origin story for Uhura until now,
this will really give the writers a chance to flesh out this iconic legacy character.
It might be interesting to note, her first name was not mentioned on-screen until the 2009 Star Trek Reboot films by JJ Abrams.
Of course in the Kelvin Timeline films, Uhura was played by actress Zoe Saldana.
Actress Jess Bush will be playing the character of Nurse Christine Chapel, who was actually also played by Gene Roddenberry’ wife Majel Barret in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Bush comments that she is extremely honoured at playing this character, and we get a quick peek at her in the Starfleet Medical uniform, which is very similar to Discovery’s medical uniform.
Actor Babs Olusanmokun will be playing Doctor M’Benga, another legacy character who appeared in two episodes of Star Trek The Original Series,
where he was first played by actor Booker Bradshaw.
This character is slightly illusive, and originally served under Captain James T.Kirk in his Five Year mission.
In the absence of Chief Medical Officer Doctor Lenord McCoy, M’benga became the ranking Medical Officer aboard the Enterprise.
New characters joining us are Hemmer, played by Bruce Horak.
The alien species of the Aenar were a subspecies of the Andordians, and first appeared in Star Trek: Enterprise.
The species were very similar to the Andorians, being a subsect and all, however they are totally blind and had to rely on telepathy to see.
This is an interesting fact, as Actor Bruce Horak is legally blind. It makes him the first legally blind actor to play a main character on a Star Trek TV series!
Christian Chong will be playing La’An Noonien-Singh,
which many of us immediately thought applies a strong connection to the famous Star Trek villain of Khan Noonien Singh.
Whether that is true remains to be seen, either way, her character will be one to keep an eye on for sure, so for now, we’ll need to wait and see.
Melissa Navia will be playing Starfleet Lieutenant Eric Ortegas.
She mentioned that it was really good to finally reveal she is playing the character and a part of the Strange New Worlds family.
And that is our cast lineup for Strange New Worlds!
In terms of details for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, one of the common repeated descriptions and details about the series is that it will return Trek to it’s roots of episodic storytelling.
Executive Producer Akiva Goldsman, who is at the helm for this series, commented on it once again during the Star Trek: Day Panel.
He said the following…
“There’s a great thing that episodic television does, and ‘Star Trek’ did it greater than most, which is to teach while,
as my late wife would have said, sugaring the pill, not letting the audience know that what we’re doing is telling a story with a moral,”
Goldsman said. “‘Star Trek’ came, not incidentally, in the late ’60s, at a time where we could really have used a lens on our behavior, our society, our hopes for the future and the present we were living in. It’s not particularly different today, sadly.”
We’ve known Star Trek Strange New Worlds will be focusing on episodic storytelling for sometime now.
This series is almost a gift to where Star Trek began,
it is playing on the legacy aspect heavily, so it makes s ense that it also does that in it’s storytelling.
Personally I think CBS is hoping that Strange New Worlds will connect with Trekkies where Discovery and Picard have now. If it can make that connection, then the job is done really.
Ok, let’s talk about the uniforms for a second. I might burn my own bridge here,
but personally I’m not a fan of the new design for Strange New Worlds. Yes it will likely take some getting used to, but on first glance it’s not my cup of tea.
While these uniforms are a new design, and building off what we saw Pike’s crew wearing in Star Trek: Discovery,
I find they look almost too close to the Kelvin Universe uniforms worn by James Kirk in Star Trek: Beyond.
Yes the uniforms need to look closer to what Kirk will wear in Star Trek: The Original Series, as this is a prequel after all,
but personally I much preferred Pike’s outfit in Discovery to what we have got going now.
Either way, I think we’ll need to wait and see. I will say, Doctor M’Benga’s medical uniform looks really good with the black collar,
if that could also work for Pike, the maybe my opinion would change.
I totally understand we need to set up the Prequel, but there is no harm in a little creative difference here and there for the sake of overall looks and such.
I may be beamed off the ship for saying that, but it is just my personal opinion.
In terms of when you can expect to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, there are no dates as of yet.
We do know that Discovery Season 4 will air later this year, and overlap with Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Picard Season 2
will air in February 2022.
I’d predict that we’re likely to see Strange New Worlds in fall of 2022.
That’s a wrap on our breakdown of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for today!
We’ll have plenty more videos coming soon to discuss the theories and lore we’re getting from this upcoming show,
as well as breakdowns of additional Star Trek: Day news! So stay tuned for that one!
If you want to keep up to date on all the latest Star Trek news, lore and more, then make sure to hit that subscribe button to never miss a video from the team here at Trek Central!
You can also follow us on social media, or join our Community Discord Server!
For now, I’ve been Captain Jack, thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time! Live Long and prosper my friends!