Identity crises are old hat in the Star Trek universe. It seems like every other week somebody’s being dropped into a parallel reality or split into two diametrically opposed beings thanks to a transporter mishap. Normally that sort of confusion isn’t as common behind the camera. But maybe somebody over at Star Trek: Discovery got reckless with a wormhole, because the production just recast one of its actors into an entirely different role.
Shazad Latif joined the Discovery cast a while ago. Back in December, he stepped into the role and bumpy forehead of Klingon officer Kol. Given that we’re now four months past that announcement, you might think it safe to assume that Latif will indeed be playing Kol whenever the hell Discovery actually airs. But nope. As reported by io9, Latif has now switched sides entirely. He’ll now be playing a Lieutenant Tyler, “a Starfleet officer in the Federation.” I’m not sure if that counts as a demotion or not, but he definitely sounds a lot more generic. Maybe he’s still secretly Klingon and he’s a double-agent? Or maybe the production of Discovery is just a hot mess right now?
Kol will still appear on Discovery, however. Now he’ll be played by Frequency‘s Kenneth Mitchell. This latest casting announcement also introduced two more Klingon characters, Clare McConnell (Dim the Fluorescents) as Dennas and Damon Runyan (Suits) as Ujilli. Rekha Sharma (The 100) is also boarding the series, where he’ll play a security officer named Commander Landry.
Discovery has been on a rough road ever since original showrunner Bryan Fuller left the show last fall. The show has been hit with multiple delays and rumors of trouble behind the scenes. The most recent estimates have the show pegged for a fall 2017 premiere. Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead), Jason Isaacs, Michelle Yeoh, James Frain, and more. Whenever it does arrive, it will premiere on CBS before switching to the CBS All Access streaming service for all future episodes.
