Had you just come to terms with the fact that Star Trek: Discovery’s release date had been pushed back from February to May? Well, it’s time to come to terms with another change, because the release date has been pushed back once more. This time, however, no specific timeframe for the show’s debut has been given.
Discovery is set to star filming in Toronto this month, but the reason for the delay isn’t thought to be completely down to project itself. Instead, EW reports that the issues revolve around Sonequa Martin-Green, who was recently cast in a leading role on the show. Martin-Green is currently playing a major character on The Walking Dead, and it’s thought CBS had concerns about promotional crossover between Discovery and AMC’s hit show.
The EW report does also suggest there is some refining of the production going on, but this lack of a new release date for the CBS show does not, as some will inevitably suggest, spell doom for the show. Discovery will be living predominantly on CBS All Access, which makes scheduling eminently easier than it does on traditional platforms. This is, nonetheless, frustrating news for all of us who were looking forward to Star Trek returning to TV.
BREAKING NEWS: @britjfrain will star as the Vulcan character Sarek, father of Spock! ? #StarTrekDiscovery pic.twitter.com/yxTtv1DFfE
— Star Trek: Discovery (@startrekcbs) January 18, 2017
But, while its release date gets more vague, the clouds surrounding Discovery‘s character list have just cleared in a big way. In the same report from EW, a major piece of casting news was also dropped. James Frain (Gotham, Orphan Black) has been cast as Spock’s father Sarek, in what is believed to be a major role on the series.
It had previously been reported that Spock’s mother was on the show’s casting wishlist, so this news won’t come as much of a surprise. It’s expected that Discovery will take place some ten years before the original TV show, so the next logical question will surely be: “Will we see a young Spock?”
