A few days ago, ComingSoon.net reported that actress and martial artist Michelle Yeoh was up for a role in CBS’s forthcoming All Access series, Star Trek: Discovery. It wasn’t confirmed at the time, but developments in the last twenty four hours have finally made it official that Yeoh’s would be a Captain’s role.
More specifically, Deadline‘s own exclusive coverage confirms that Yeoh, best known for her prolific stardom in nearly three decades as one of the world’s most versatile and beloved action stars, will play Han Bo, serving as the Captain of another ship named the Shenzhou which will have a major role to play in the series. Yeoh marks the first official casting of the program since the show was announced nearly a year ago today, followed by a first-look logo teaser during CBS’s Upfronts presentation back in May, and a Comic-Con teaser a few months later brandishing the official title.
Executive producers Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts are running the series following the departure of Bryan Fuller who co-created the show with Alex Kurtzman.
Plot details haven’t been publicly disclosed but the word is that the show’s timeframe sets 10 years before the original series. Discovery in Star Trek’s return to scripted television in more than a decade, also marks the first time the lead character will not be a Starship Captain or a Commanding Officer, now with a protagonist in the form of a female non-white Lieutenant Commander.
Star Trek: Discovery makes its U.S. premiere in May of next year on television with a special premiere episode, followed by an exclusive roll out of the pilot and remaining episodes on CBS’s downloadable CBS All Access app. Netflix will then premiere the show in 188 countries excluding North America twenty four hours after its U.S. pilot debut.
