Multiple long-running fan-favorite characters from the Star Trek universe will serve as the focus for a new series announced for the CBS All Access streaming video service. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was announced by the network on Friday via the official Star Trek web site. The new show will feature Capt. Christopher Pike and Science Officer Spock in their days on the U.S.S. Enterprise before James T. Kirk assumed command.
Strange New Worlds joins a growing slate of Star Trek programming on the CBS All Access service, including Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Short Treks, and Star Trek: Lower Decks , which is set to debut later this year.
The new show will feature a premiere written by Akiva Goldsman, based on a story by Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman, and Jenny Lumet.
Although the characters featured in Strange New Worlds have their roots in the earliest episodes of the original Star Trek series, the versions taking center stage in the new show will be familiar to fans of Discovery . Anson Mount (Pike) and Ethan Peck (Spock) are set to star in Strange New Worlds after having previously appeared in the roles during Season 2 of Discovery .
Rebecca Romijn will also reprise her Discovery role as Number One/Una.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBzADcZRBE0
In the press release, Julie McNamara, CBS All Access’ Executive Vice President and Head of Programming, called Strange New Worlds a perfect complement to the Star Trek franchise, while praising the actors’ previous portrayals of the characters on Discovery .
“Fans fell in love with Anson Mount, Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck’s portrayals of these iconic characters when they were first introduced on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ last season. This new series will be a perfect complement to the franchise, bringing a whole new perspective and series of adventures to ‘Star Trek.’”
In the original pilot episode of the 1960s Star Trek series, entitled “The Cage,” Pike, portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter, was the Enterprise’s commanding officer, while Number One (Majel Barrett, the wife of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) served on his bridge.
When the show went to series, the series lead was re-cast with William Shatner playing the iconic role of Capt. James T. Kirk and the Spock character became Kirk’s second-in-command. Spock has remained a fixture in the Star Trek world ever since, while Pike was featured and/or referenced in subsequent episodes of the original series, as well as Discovery , Short Treks, and the cinematic universe rebooted by J.J. Abrams in 2009.
While Pike will be returning to the small screen, fans may have seen the last of Kirk, as portrayed by Shatner. As reported by The Inquisitr , Shatner has no plans to reprise the role in a Picard -esque spinoff series.
