For months now, CBS effectively teased it’s new Star Trek show Star Trek: Discovery, revealing only bits of information ahead of the January premier. The studio keeps details tightly under wraps, but we finally have the first cast news from the set.
Michelle Yeoh’s confirmation as the first Malaysian captain of a Star Trek ship came this week. George Takei’s legendary Hikaru Sulu made history as the first Star Trek captain of Asian descent, who’s character eventually took command of his own ship, the Excelsior.
Word about Yeoh’s casting in Star Trek: Discovery first came in an interview with consulting producer Nicholas Meyer.
Michelle Yeoh’s casting generates massive excitement
Yeoh’s classic performance in Ang Lee’s massively popular film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and its sequel solidified the Malaysian actresses’s place as a top martial arts actress. Prior to those, Yeoh enjoyed fan favourite status due to her prominence in Hong Kong action films in the 1990’s. Think The Heroic Trio by Johnny To and Tai Chi Master by Yuen Woo-ping. She’s also known for her western movies Memoirs of a Geisha and the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies.
The initial wave of press indicated that Yeoh would captain the flagship vessel of the show, the Discovery. News quickly spread that confirmed Yeoh will portray Captain Han Bo and her ship would be the Shenzhou. As of this writing, no further details were available.
A new Star Trek for a new generation
Star Trek: Discovery will be available only on CBS’s online streaming service, CBS All Access. It’s the first major network television series that won’t be broadcast. In addition, the flagship ship won’t be the Enterprise but rather the Discovery, and the events will take place prior to the events of The Original Series.