It’s 2020 and STAR TREK continues to be the franchise that boldly goes where no one has gone before! We’ve got the adventures of Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Discovery, the return of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Picard, AND premiering in August is Star Trek: Lower Decks – an all new animated comedy series from Mike McMahan (Solar Opposites, Rick and Morty). That is three, count ’em three, new and different Star Trek shows gracing our televisions and laptops.
CBS gathered the casts and creators of all three shows for one massive panel for Comic-Con@Home this morning. Moderated by Deadline’s Dominic Patten, the panel was introduced by Secret Hideout executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin, who announced that the Star Trek universe would be expanding yet again! This time with a new children’s series for Nickelodeon titled Star Trek: Prodigy. It was also announced that CBS would be making a donation to the NAACP LDEF (Legal Defense and Educational Fund).
Next up was the cast of Star Trek: Discovery!
The panel included: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Doug Jones (Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Commander Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Ensign Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Alan Van Sprang (Captain Leland), Jayne Brook (Admiral Katrina Cornwall), and the Discovery Bridge crew Emily Coutts (Lt. Detmer), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. J.G. Owosekun), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Rhys), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. J.G. Bryce), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), and upcoming Start Trek: Strange New World stars Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Rebecca Romijn (Number One), and Ethan Peck (Spock), alongside executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise and executive producer Olatunde Osunsanmi, who also directed the season two finale.
They began their portion with a table read of Act One of the Season 2 Finale: “Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2” with never before seen story board art and character sketches. After, they discussed the importance of Star Trek in 2020 as a means of telling diverse and inclusive stories.
They were followed by the cast and Showrunner Mike McMahan of the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks!
The cast includes: “Ensign Beckett Mariner” voiced by Tawny Newsome, “Ensign Brad Boimler” voiced by Jack Quaid, “Ensign Tendi” voiced by Noël Wells, and “Ensign Rutherford” voiced by Eugene Cordero and the ship’s bridge crew including “Captain Carol Freeman” voiced by Dawnn Lewis, “Commander Jack Ransom” voiced by Jerry O’Connell, “Lieutenant Shaxs” voiced by Fred Tatasciore, and “Doctor T’Ana” voiced by Gillian Vigman.
They discussed how excited they were for fans to see a new, sillier side of the Star Trek universe. And because it wouldn’t be Comic Con without some surprises, CBS decided to reveal the first scene of Star Trek: Lower Decks!
And finally, we got to see the cast of Star Trek: Picard!
The panel included: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj/Soji), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Raffi Musiker), and Santiago Cabrera (Cristobal Rios) along with special guest stars Brent Spiner (Data/Dr. Soong), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh), Jonathan Frakes (William Riker), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), and Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi).
Most of their portion was spent with the cast gushing about how excited they were to work with the legendary Sir Patrick Stewart (or as they call him “SPS”) – except for Marina Sirtis, who lovingly roasted him every chance she got! Meanwhile “PStew” (their other nickname) spoke about how he was excited to come back and explore the ways in which the Star Trek universe and his character had grown and expanded in the 30 years since he last donned the uniform.
You can watch the entire panel, from start to finish, here:
Stay tuned for more updates and exclusives from Comic-Con@Home!
