"Star Trek: Discovery" now has a lead star. CBS All Access has announced that Sonequa Martin-Green will play first officer Lt. Cmdr. Rainsford, the central character of the new series.
Martin-Green is known for her portrayal of Sasha Williams, a series regular in "The Walking Dead" since season 3. Entertainment Weekly's sources from the studios have confirmed that Martin-Green will continue with her role as Sasha in TWD, quelling rumors that her character will die soon due to her new commitments for another show.
Wait. "Lt. Cmdr. Rainsford"? In the Federation, this rank is for the ship's second-in-command. Yes, fans, producers have said that the lead of the series will not be the captain. Nerdist said that, earlier, all that was said was that the lead role would be called "Number One," a Star Trek moniker for the first officer. This confirms what former showrunner, and frequent Star Trek producer, Bryan Fuller, had said before. iO9 recalls Fuller saying that the show will go against the tradition of Star Trek by focusing more on the First Officer, rather than the Captain, that they wanted to "see a character from a [new] perspective on the starship - one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context."
As previously reported, also cast in the series is Michelle Yeoh. Yeoh will be playing the role of Han Bo, captain of the Federation Starship Shenzhou. The Shenzhou is slated to play a major role in the exploits of the Starship Discovery.
Joining Martin-Green and Yeoh are Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp. Jones will play an alien science officer called Lt. Saru, from a race that has not yet been introduced in the Star Trek franchise. Rapp will also be a science officer but his character's expertise is in mucus and fungi. Rapp's character will be the first openly gay federation officer in the franchise. (Note: John Chow's Hikaru Sulu in the reboot movie series was also gay but his sexuality was only revealed in one scene in the latest movie.)
The story of "Star Trek: Discovery" is set about ten years before the time of the original series. This means the characters here will be the predecessors of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew.
"Star Trek: Discovery" is set to be distributed by Netflix to more than 188 countries in May 2017. The first season will have 13 episodes.
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