Strange New Worlds is the new Star Trek series coming to CBS All Access (or Paramount+) after a massive fan reaction to seeing the original crew in season two of Star Trek: Discovery. The season premiere reintroduced the fandom to Christopher Pike, the captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise in The Original Series pilot titled, ‘The Cage’. Though the episode never actually aired during the series initial run, we got a glimpse of Captain Pike in ‘The Menagerie’, an episode that used select scenes from the pilot as flashbacks.
Though we would see Pike again in the JJ Abrams films, played by Bruce Greenwood, fans still wanted to more. When Anson Mount took on the role in season two, we didn’t really know what to expect, but he knocked it out of the park, immediately becoming a fan favorite character.
When Discovery initially launched, there was a very vocal part of the fandom that wasn’t happy about the format of the show. They wanted something more episodic, instead of the serialized show we were given. However, the success of this new series paved the way for Picard, and the development of several additional Star Trek series.
Star Trek Series Regulars For Strange New Worlds
We’ve already seen the first season of Lower Decks and now casting is underway for Strange New Worlds, a series which seems to be taking heading more in that episodic direction, focusing the era of exploration with Pike in command of the Enterprise. With production currently slated to being in February, casting has begun, and we’ve acquired the breakdowns for the shows new cast.
The first few roles listed in the Strange New Worlds casting call are for roles that we already know. Anson Mount as Captain Pike, Ethan Peck as Spock, and Rebecca Romijn as Number One. To get a better idea of how these characters will be portrayed, in addition to the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, you can also watch the Short Trek episodes with them as well.
New Additions Coming to Strange New Worlds
First on the list is Yeboah. She’s Black, in her early 20s, and fresh out of the academy. She’s a linguistics genius, bright, promising, and the youngest member of the crew and she can sound “American” or have any other accent. While this isn’t really a whole lot to go on, the breakdown does sound similar to a cross between Hoshi Sato and Travis Mayweather from Enterprise.
Next up is La’an. She’s in her late 20s – early 30s and is the head of Security. She’s badass, physical, and suffers from PTSD. She has an air of vigilance and precision. They’d specifically like someone who is East Indian, Asian, or Middle Eastern, but are open to any ethnicity. She more or less sounds like a combination of every security officer we’ve seen on screen.
There’s no species listed for the character and while the name sounds like it may be Vulcan, it’s hard to say for sure. In the book Last Full Measure, the crew of the Enterprise NX-01 meets a courier named La’an Trahve, who is only described as being “humanoid”. So, for right now, I’m going to say her species is TBD.
Our third breakdown is for Ortegas. She’s in her late 20’s, Latinx, and an experienced vet. She has kept a dry wit even with the combat she’s seen. She’s smart, funny, competitive, and is able to pivot from handling a gun to making a joke. So, maybe a Riker-type? Riker was able to pretty seamlessly swap from being dead serious to cracking a joke so she should fit right in.
The ship’s doctor is a bit of a puzzle. The name is listed as “Biodun” and the description states he is a close advisor to Captain Pike, has an air of “easy erudition”, is male, Black, in his 40s, and curiously, “from the original series”. In TOS, the doctor was McCoy, played by Deforest Kelly and in ‘The Cage’ the doctor was Philip Boyce, played by John Hoyt.
While “New Trek” hasn’t shied away from changing things, the use of a different name has me more than a little confused. After extensive research I couldn’t find any reference to a character with this name and while it’s not unusual for casting breakdowns to use codenames, it doesn’t seem likely here. So, your guess is as good as mine for this one.
Last up we have Biodun’s nurse, Miller. She’s in her late 20s – early 30s, Caucasian, heroic, charming, free-thinking, and “the beating heart” of sickbay. So, more or less, Dr. Crusher?
This Strange New Worlds line-up sounds like it should make a really interesting cast. Star Trek is always at its best when the characters all really connect with each other and everyone’s personality is a compliment to the others. Just from the title alone, we know what to expect with this show.
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Each week (more than likely), the crew of the Enterprise under Captain Pike will be exploring and charting new worlds and new civilizations. While we really won’t know what we’re getting into until we see a trailer, it seems like they’re off to a good start for a show that will compliment Discovery, Lower Decks, Picard, Prodigy, and whatever the still in development “Section 31” show will be.
Let us know your thoughts on these Star Trek: Strange New Worlds casting calls in the comments below or on Twitter, and check back with The Illuminerdi for the latest in sci-fi news and features.
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