Discover the brand new Spock
Season two New York Comic Con trailer grants Trekkies their first glimpse of Ethan Peck as the young Vulcan in a bearded look
The second season of Star Trek: Discovery is still three months away, ready to drop on January 17, 2019 in the US. But fans have been treated to their first real taste of what’s to come in a new trailer that was unveiled at the New York Comic Con on Sunday, when a certain Vulcan made his debut appearance in a brand new look.
Ethan Peck steps into the shoes made famous by Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto to take on the only character that has spanned the breadth of Star Trek’s 53-year-long illustrious history, since Star Trek: The Original Series made its debut in 1966.
The second trailer for Discovery opens with Peck’s voice-over dispensing some Vulcan wisdom: “As a child, I had the same vision again and again. Now I understand its meaning, and where it must lead.” While he doesn’t feature prominently otherwise in the two minutes and 30 seconds long trailer, he shows up at the very end, sporting a beard — which is a first for the iconic character — and looking younger than he’s ever looked before.
According to Peck, his Spock will be a kind of precursor to the Spock of the original series.
“The Spock in the original series is sort of a light at the end of the tunnel,” Peck said at the New York Comic Con panel, as reported by Vulture. “We have to start Spock in a place where he’s becoming who we see on the Enterprise with Kirk.”
In season one, it was revealed that Spock is the foster brother of science specialist Michael Burnham (Sonequa MartinGreen), who is the main protagonist of the Discovery series. However, Spock was only mentioned in the series and he never made an appearance. However, Peck’s Spock has been touted to have an important role to play in the new season.
During the Comic Con panel, Peck also revealed that he wasn’t aware he was auditioning for the role of the iconic science officer.
“It was a long audition process, and in the beginning I didn’t know what I was reading for. I knew it was for Star Trek and this guy was struggling with emotion and logic. And toward the very end of it I found out who it was and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh I can’t believe it,’ and I had a panic attack throughout the last meeting with [Executive Director Alex] Kurtzman, and about two days later I was like, ‘You know what, even if it doesn’t go my way, what an incredible experience to brush arms with this character and this world.’
And I got a text message from the casting director, Orly Sitowitz, and she said, ‘Welcome aboard, Mr Spock.’ I was in such shock I sat down on the corner of the street and I cried for like 15 minutes, I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed,” he said.
The pointy-eared Vulcan is not the only character that will see its return from Star Trek canon into the Discovery series next year. Ansel Mount will take over the captain’s chair as Captain Christopher Pike, a predecessor to Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise in the original series, and the new commander of the Discovery.
The trailer shows Captain Pike and his team (including Martin-Green’s Burnham and Doug Jones’ Saru) investigating seven mysterious signals, which Burnham thinks links up to her foster brother Spock.
Another mysterious spectre that makes its appearance is the image of a Red Angel, a vision shared by both Burnham and Spock, and which many fans are theorising could mean the return of the Iconians, an ancient and highly advanced civilisation.
Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou is also returning for season two. Fresh in the prime timeline after her crossover from the mirror universe, fans are definitely looking forward to the evolution of a more badass Georgiou, who must control her world domination urges if she has to survive in this new world, guided by Federation rules.