The upcoming Star Trek: Discovery may just make the CBS All Access streaming service a must-have for Trek fans and general sci-fi junkies alike. Building a solid cast is definitely a good first step, and things looked promising with the rumored casting of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon‘s Michelle Yeoh in a supporting role. In addition to verifying Yeoh’s role as a Starfleet captain, today Deadline has also revealed that The Strain‘s Doug Jones and Rent‘s Anthony Rapp have joined the Discovery cast.
As first reported last week, Yeoh will indeed be playing the captain of a starship called the Shenzhou. However, that initial story reported her character’s name as Han Bo, but today’s story names her as “Captain Georgiou.” It’s unclear if this means her full name might be “Han Bo Georgiou,” if the Han Bo part was incorrect, or if perhaps it’s a name being used for a different character. Time will tell. Either way, Yeoh will be captaining a starship — a role not to be confused with the show’s lead, an as-yet unnamed and uncast female lieutenant commander.
Doug Jones’ lanky form has been seen in tons of films and TV shows over the years, often buried under makeup in roles such as Abe Sabien in the Hellboy movies. He’ll yet again be playing someone nonhuman in Discovery, stepping into the role of Lt. Saru. He’s described only as “a new alien species to the Star Trek universe.” That’s certainly interesting, given that Discovery takes place a decade before the events of the original Star Trek series. With decades’ worth of established mythology that followed, it’s certainly intriguing that we’ll be getting a new alien that we haven’t seen yet.
Finally, Rapp will play Lt. Stamets, an “astromycologist, fungus expert, and Starfleet Science Officer aboard the Discovery.” The Science Officer is unsurprising — they’re a staple in every Trek series and aboard every Starfleet vessel. The fungus part might be worth noting, however. It’s kind of a weird detail to specify unless that expertise is somehow going to factor into the storyline at some point. Maybe the Discovery will be encountering some sort of dangerous, perhaps even intelligent, strain of space fungus? Or hell, maybe it’s just a sly tip of the hat to Egon Spengler.
Star Trek: Discovery will premiere on CBS in May 2017, then boldly go to its permanent home on CBS All Access for the rest of its debut season. Will it be enough to convince you to pony up for a CBS All Access subscription?
