'Star Trek: Discovery' Plot News, Release Date: Showrunners Talk the Klingons' New Look, Character Deaths
Trekkies everywhere are looking forward to the debut of "Star Trek: Discovery," a CBS All Access show that is set 10 years before the events of the original "Star Trek" series. However, when the show premieres, fans will notice the Klingons sporting a different look.
This is apparently not a mistake or an accident, according to showrunner Aaron Harberts. The design of the Klingons was intentionally changed because it was part of original showrunner Bryan Fuller's vision. Additionally, the look of the Klingons never really stayed one way throughout the years.
"In the different versions of Trek, the Klingons have never been completely consistent," Harberts told Entertainment Weekly, which also published a photo of Klingons T'Kuvma (Chris Obi) and L'Rell (Mary Chieffo). "We will introduce several different houses with different styles. Hopefully, fans will become more invested in the characters than worried about the redesign."
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The series stars "The Walking Dead" alum Sonequa Martin-Green in the lead as Starfleet First Officer Burnham, who was already previewed in the first trailer. There are plenty of other notable names joining Martin-Green in the cast, but fans should not get too attached to all the characters. Harberts also teased that no character is safe from death.
"Death isn't treated gratuitously on this show. It's not for shock value," Harberts said. "But when it happens we want to make sure that people really feel it."
Killing off major characters is something that became widespread when "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead" hit the air. However, Harberts assured people that character deaths will serve to further the plot and not to simply entertain.
It is also quite unconventional for a "Star Trek" series to have a First Officer as a lead instead of the Captain. However, fellow showrunner Gretchen J. Berg explained to Entertainment Weekly that it was set up this way in order to share the focus with other parts of the ship.
"The advantage to her not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a very different point of view," Berg said.
"Star Trek: Discovery" hits CBS on Sunday, Sept. 24. It will be available on Netflix internationally.
