There are all sorts of reasons to love spring, flowers blooming, birds singing, and of course, the most important reason of all: It’s the season the newest Star Trek series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is coming out! The Discovery spin-off series that follows the pre-Kirk crew of the Enterprise has garnered a lot of excitement and generated many potential fan theories about what might be in store.
We still have a little time to wait, and we’re desperate to be back amongst the stars, so let’s take a look at some different stars (as in the actors who will be bringing it all to life). Here are all the confirmed cast and crew of Strange New World’s USS Enterprise!
Anson Mount is Captain Christopher Pike
Continuing his role from season two of Star Trek: Discovery, Mount will be playing Captain Christopher Pike. Pike was the first captain of the USS Enterprise shown in the original series’ unaired pilot (though canonically, he is the second as Captain Robert April was the very first captain according to Star Trek: The Animated Series), before being replaced (and recast) by Captain James T. Kirk. Canonically, the show dealt with the swap by promoting him to fleet captain, however, he was grievously injured and makes a second appearance in his altered state in the famous TOS episode, “The Menagerie.”
However, Strange New Worlds takes place about six or seven years prior to the arrival of Captain Kirk, which means that we won’t have to witness the tragedy that is doomed to befall Captain Pike any time soon (fingers crossed!)
Rebecca Romijn is Una Chin-Riley/Number One
Romijn returns as Una, aka Number One. Una Chin-Riley was also a main character in the unaired pilot, and was played by creator Gene Rodenberry’s eventual wife Majel Barrett. (Barrett later went on to play several characters throughout the franchise including Nurse Chapel in the original series, and Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.)
Ethan Peck is Spock
Our other returning Discovery cast member is Ethan Peck as the young Spock! In this show, Spock (originally played by the late, great Leonard Nimoy), the half-human half-vulcan, is still a science officer and has not yet met and befriended his best boy, Captain Kirk. Discovery also revealed that Michael Burnham is Spock’s adopted sister, so it’s possible that part of this series will deal with him coping with the loss of his recently reunited family member.
Jess Bush is Nurse Christine Chapel
Bush will be bringing a new twist to the iconic Nurse Chapel once played by Majel Barrett. In the original series, Chapel left her job as a biochemist to join Starfleet and track down her missing fiancé (she does eventually and it… does not go well!) However, while on the Enterprise, she develops feelings for Spock! It’s possible that this might come into play in Strange New Worlds as well, both her unrequited feelings and her missing fiancé. Dr. Roger Korby.
Christina Chong is La’an Noonien-Singh
One of the casting announcements that generated the most buzz was Chong playing the mysterious La’an Noonien-Singh. Fans obviously noticed the similarity in the name to Kirk’s greatest nemesis (and the greatest fake chest of all time) Khan Noonien-Singh. Khan was a genetically engineered superhuman that controlled a large portion of Earth during the “Eugenics Wars” and was accidentally revived from suspended animation by the crew of the Enterprise.
La’an is a relative of Khan, but it is unclear if she is a daughter or a sister. It was also revealed that Cameron Roberts will be playing a character named Manu Noonien-Singh, so it is possible that there are several superhuman Khan offspring running around out there! Also curious to find out how one of these superhumans ended up as a member of Starfleet, considering that in the original series, they were awoken by Kirk’s crew and Kirk isn’t a captain yet, nor is he in charge of the Enterprise! There might be timeline changes and retconning afoot!
Celia Rose Gooding is Nyota Uhura
Gooding will be playing a younger version of the iconic Lieutenant Uhura! In the original series Uhura, played by the legendary Nichelle Nichols, was a translator and communications officer who specialized in linguistics, cryptography, and philology. Uhura was one of the first Black characters in an American television program that was not portraying a menial role. She also had a romantic fling with Captain Kirk (which was also the first time an interracial kiss was shown on American television.)
Gooding will be playing Uhura when she was a young cadet, but it’s exciting to know what the character might have in store in future series!
Babs Olusanmokun is Dr. M’Benga
Olusanmokun will be playing Dr. M’Benga (originally played by Booker Bradshaw in the original series). On the original series, Dr. M’Benga specialized in treating Vulcans and even interned on the planet Vulcan itself.
Bruce Horak is Hemmer
Horak will be playing Hemmer, an alien officer on board the Enterprise. He is an Aenar, an albino subspecies of Andorians who are generally depicted as blind. Horak is blind in one eye and has limited sight in the other.
Other confirmed cast include Melissa Navia as Lieutenant Erica Ortegas and Paul Wesley, who will be joining the cast in season two as James T. Kirk (before he became captain).
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will release on Paramount Plus on May 5!
(featured image: Paramount Plus)
