‘Star Trek’ Brings Back Tribbles, Spock, Pike, and Offers a ‘Picard’ Teaser on ‘Short Treks’
“Supergirl’s” David Ajala will be joining the adventures of “Star Trek: Discovery” on the other side. His casting was announced Saturday at the massive Star Trek Universe panel at Comic-Con; attending on behalf of “Discovery” were Sonequa Martin-Green and executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Michelle Paradise, and Heather Kadin.
In the Season 2 finale, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the Discovery jump 950 years into the future through a wormhole to neutralize the malevolent AI known as Control, the threat assessment system behind the Starfleet organization Section 31. It’s a bold move that now completely removes it from the canon of the original universe and takes place much farther into the future than any series in the Star Trek franchise.
This of course opens up the storytelling possibilities for the new season. Kurtzman confirmed that big changes are afoot. “There will be things you recognize and things you won’t… We honor canon and shake it up hugely. We’re not erasing anything, so don’t worry about that.” Despite this upheaval he reassured that everything would continue to be “filtered through Roddenberry’s essential vision of optimism.”
Martin-Green and Kurtzman also revealed that the Discovery crew may not have landed where they intended on the other side of the wormhole, but that scenes were shot in Iceland. Unfortunately, the panel would not divulge who the captain of the ship will be this season.
The panel also introduced new cast member Ajala, who stays in the CBS family after appearing in “Supergirl.” He will play a character named Cleveland “Book” Booker who will “break the rules a little bit. We do that right from the start of the season.”
Meanwhile, “Short Treks” is where “Star Trek: Discovery” fans will be able to get their fix for the world while Season 3 is in the works. The panel offered up a sneak peek of some of the six “Short Treks” episodes that will be coming sometime hopefully this year.
Among the offerings is an episode that strands Spock (Ethan Peck) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn) in an elevator, to hilarious effect, and leading to Spock asking her, “Do you like eggplant?” Captain Pike (Anson Mount) will also be back.
Even more exciting is an episode that introduces Tribbles to a crew who are initially taken in by these adorable furry creatures and, inconceivably, even features a little girl trying to eat a tiny Tribble from a spoon. (That’s definitely a violation of the Prime Directive.) H. Jon Benjamin (“Archer,” “Bob’s Burgers”) also appears in this episode.
Kurtzman said that three of the “Short Treks” will be animated. One will be directed by Michael Giacchino, one by Olatunde Osunsanmi, and one will be a “Picard teaser” that gives background on Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) 15 years before the events of the upcoming new series.
The episode titles are “Ask Not,” “Q&A,” “The Trouble with Edward,” “The Girl Who Made the Stars,” “Ephaim and Dot,” and “Children of Mars.”
“Star Trek: Discovery” Season 3 and “Short Treks” are currently in production.
