Social media is all abuzz today after a local Toronto actor, who we can assume was hired to be a Klingon extra on the set of Discovery, seemed to have taken a bold risk and snuck a quick camera snap of a gaggle of Klingons waiting to go on set. The image was quickly pulled, but as with all things on the Internet, it’s too late, people have copied it around.
As we strongly suspected, the spiky costumes we saw in last week’s teaser video were indeed the new Klingon costumes.
What’s definitely new here is the makeup design. These Klingons have ridges that go all the way back (similar to TMP), all appear to be bald, and perhaps most interestingly, some appear to have slightly elongated heads.
What do you guys think?
I think they’re the sarcophagus Klingons, and therefore ancient forebears to the Klingons we know.
Otherwise, they look kind of like the TMP Klingons with the single ridge, except bald.
Either way, it’s fine.
That would be very interesting. i recall reading about the sarcophagus ship last summer.
There’s further analysis on the ncc-1031 website. http://ncc-1031.com/heres-how-klingons-look-in-star-trek-discovery-and-why-its-a-big-deal/
I like the idea that the Klingon Empire which spans many star systems could have inhabitants who are adapted to fit their specific planetary environment.
They COULD also be a species who are part of the Klingon Empire but not Klingon by species themselves ( much like how the Roman Empire’s inhabitants across their territories weren’t all Roman ).
Crazy comparison, all Romans looked human. They didn’t develop head bumps because they moved to a higher altitude.
That is not a crazy comparison at all. What Jenkins is pointing out is that empires are composed of conquered “states”, so just members of the Roman Empire are not all Romans, not all members of the Klingon Empire are necessarily Klingon by species. They could very well be a differ alien species that is part of the empire.
That’s the way I always believed. A Klingon Empire should have a hundred different conquered stellar systems that comprise The Empire as such; like so many Roman Provinces that were former independent Tribes and Kingdoms, whose Chieftains and Kings all kiss the ring of the Emperor. Just like many of the Provincials rose to high rank, a Klingon ship should show other alien species on board; smooth, ridged, hairy, spikey, lizardy, brown, green, blue, etc…That’s one thing I’d change about the holy canon, to make the Klingon Empire a worthy rival of the multi-species Federation
No, Romans, depending upon where in the Empire they were from, looked markedly different. When the Romans conquered fairer races to the North, suddenly there were blonde haired blue-eyed Romans… Look at the remarkable differences in physical appearance on this planet… why wouldn’t a vast space-fairing encompass many different physical features?
That’s quite the canon juggling act.
That would be very interesting. i recall reading about the sarcophagus ship last summer.
There’s further analysis on the ncc-1031 website.
I hated every Klingon story without exception. They all seem like filler episodes in which angry people just fight amongst eachother all the time. It’s so disheartening to see it being pushed in everyone’s faces. Seeking out no new life, boldly going where we’ve already been..
@Mark Fry What would you like to see if they went forward?
Technological and scientific development beyond what has already been established, and furthering of concepts touched on in the latter parts of TNG, Voyager, DS9.
Instead we’ll be lucky if ships even have shields yet.
There can be absolutely no expansion on things like Warp drive, transporters, weaponry, nothing.
What I want to see are things like..
Were the federation able to make the quantum slipstream drive work?
Were the Borg actually destroyed?
How about that hull armour generator?
Did the fed go on to make any more self aware holograms, or was there some kind of ban on it?
Does the ECH become commonplace?
Did another captain take over the Enterprise E?
At what point does the federation develop their first time ships?
What does the federation actually look like moving forward, and what were the repercussions of the war with the dominion? What do starfleet ships look like beyond TNG?
Is an alliance with Romulans now in place? Any Romulan recruits at the academy?
Did poor old Picard ever make Admiral?!
What do we get instead?
An extremely ugly ship design
Klingons, Klingons and more Klingons
Pre TOS tech which will somehow have to look less developed than it does in TOS, or we are all supposed to ignore such glaring inconsistencies.
No realistic way of exploring any better than Enterprise was able to manage
Sandwiched in to a 10 year time slot with no real hope of any kind science fiction as most TOS fictions are already now science fact in 2017.
Absolutely no justification whatsoever for creating this series other than to appeal TOS fans, riding on the wave of other people’s successes.
I wonder if we’ll ever get an answer to the important questions you’ve raised…
@AusTrekker — hysterical. Such “important” questions …
@ Curious Cadet – What’s your point? These loose ends are obviously important to people like Mark and myself. Hysteria? Hardly. A differing opinion. Definitely. Your judgemental attitude stinks!
Your judgemental attitude stinks!
Think I’ll keep that one for my irony collection
Only if you play Star Trek Online.
Is Star Trek Online even considered canon? I’ve never been on it to this day. I only know about it reading sites like this. I couldn’t tell you anything about it.
I’m so happy to have read this. Your ideas of what you want to see Star Trek continue to be is exactly my hopes. Continue the time line and show how technology is continuing to advance. Perhaps someone will hear us and make another Star Trek that is after the Voyager timeline. What is inter galactic travel like? How far have we come to understand multi universe theories. What new advanced life forms do we discover.
It looks like the productions level for this new Star Trek is going to be pretty good but I completely agree, I’m not so excited as to when (on the timeline) it’s planning on taking place.
I guess depending on how popular STD is (STD, ha!) will determine if they ever go back and make a series set after VOY / DS9. Let’s hope so before we all die of old age, haha!
@ Mark
“Is an alliance with Romulans now in place? Any Romulan recruits at the academy?”
Interesting question.
Since Romulus has been destroyed between Nemesis and ST 2009 there shouldnt be much Romulans leftover.
Another question is what happened with this timeline after ST 2009? Shouldnt this timeline be overwritten and cease to exist after Neros disappearence in the black hole?
Didn’t you listen to Data and the multiverse theory in “Parallax”? ;-)
A new timeline is created, but the old still exists.
“What does the federation actually look like moving forward,
and what were the repercussions of the war with the dominion?”
You hit the nail right on the head, my friend.
This is ALL I care about! But what do we get instead?
A THIRD fucking prequel. THREE.
“Star Trek” just might not survive this upcoming devastating blow ….
Yeah exactly. Another tired prequel, the third one at that. Jesus, MOVE ON Star Trek.
But yes I’m still holding out hope its going to be good. Can’t be worse than Enterprise.
Since the theme won’t have crappy singing, it already is!
You mean a second prequel. I agree though. They should be moving forward in time, not backwards.
It’s a third, if you count the awfull Kelvin timeline in.
Pretty much all those questions are responded in Star Trek Online. And honestly, I can’t imagine them responded any better than STO did.
I don’t think we need to go that way. All those topics are self-serving (if that is the proper term in English): they are of no consequence to anybody and anything but the show that displays them. Star Trek doesn’t need slipstream drive, Star Trek doesn’t need Borg, Star Trek doesn’t need self-aware holograms, Star Trek doesn’t need time ships, Star Trek doesn’t need hull armors. Star Trek never needed Voyager or Enterprise-E, even: it could’ve been any other ship and any other crew playing out their adventures.
@Mark Fry. Good points. I’m not a big Klingon fan either. My hope with this show is that they’ll move beyond the time period of this first season. We don’t know the team’s plans plans, but seven seasons of the same crew in the same time period would make the show as tiresomely unambitious as the Berman era. I hope a new show will take advantage of the several Trek time periods and find a way to move through them and beyond, becoming a ‘spine’ to the whole saga in a similar way to that in which Stephen King’s Dark Tower series ties many of his works together.
Absolutely nailed it! Agree with you 100%
@Mark Fry
Wow, what you want for a show would appeal to nobody except you and a handful of other fans. It’s basically just “what happened next, and let’s keep telling the same stories over and over with new characters in the same roles.” That’s what Voyager was, and while I can enjoy it for what it is, it’s hardly the show I want to watch these days.
I can’t say I wouldn’t watch it… but… really… if that’s what you’re dying for, just read the books. Yeesh. You are so boring.
Well, said Mark Fry.
I wish the series took place 20-30 years after the fallout of the Dominion War. To see what became of Cardassia, the Marquis (did they ever recoup?), Ramifications from Voyager’s return (if any).
They are going to totally screw this all up. And I’ll bet this actor is getting his ass reamed big-time for leaking such a photo and bragging about it!
I’m right there with you Mark. There’s still one more quadrant of the Milky Way to explore and than you can even go intergalactic and start exploring other galaxies, Keep pushing further into the future. Star Trek was at its best when it kept building on the previous show or movie that came before it and kept adding another layer to its canon. As soon as they started going backwards the franchise has been spinning its wheels stuck in neutral. Plus going into the future allows you to update the aesthetics bad technology of the show with it being easily explainable. Heck look how different styles and tech changes in 10 years in the real world let alone 20, 30, 40 years later. You don’t have to worry about hitting continuity bench marks or stepping on toes. All you have to do is respect what’s come before but then blaze your own new trail. It’s a win win all the way around. Unfortunately creators today make mind boggling decisions and these studio execs have no idea what to do. They trust these franchises into these people’s hands who they think know the material but they make so many bad decisions creatively. I’m not just talking Trek here either. The DC movie verse, Fox’s marvel verse, and even Star Wars (which unfortunately is immune) have made horrible creative decisions and have paid for them. Episode 7 just showed with Star Wars you can literally film a guy taking a crap in a bucket, label it Star Wars and it’ll make a billion dollars minimum.
I Agree with you on your comments. ether Star Trek needs to continue forward with its future after Picard and with captain Riker (or with a new actor like the new movies have done so far) and the USS Titan or continue to lose fans. The costumes while futuristic isn’t period correct. Refere to ST6 for correct arrangement. This new show is supposed to take place after the kitomer peace accords where Kirk saved the federation president. Technology dosent change much on ether federation or other alien ships for much unitil the period of the Enterprise-C. Look at the production in the different series. Tech dosent change much between TMP and ST7 Generations (Enterprise-A and Enterprise-B). So, I feel that they need to keep it original and go forward, finish the future or complete the past longer than 10 years.
Good stories, great tech. That is what drawed me to this program a long time ago. There was evolving tech and and evolving story lines.
TMP the human adventure.
If you have read I am Spock, paramount didn’t want Lenard nimoy to have creative control of the character Spock. Most of the movies (1-6) mr nimoy had to wrestle for the right for creative control and development rights. Even when desilu produced the show it was constant arguing over the same afore said statement that is why Leonard nimoy never returned for ST7
Generations. Deforest Kelly was dieing of cancer at the time at mount sanii medical center (pardon my spelling auto spell on iPhone for ya).
Reference deforest Kelly’s biogorahpy for exact quote.
This is just a little bit of paramounts creative tinkering in the wrong direction. Star Trek has lost its unqiness when it went left with this new trek.
I didn’t expect ST20 (joke) but after ST10 I exspected a new movie with the next generation passing the tourch to ether a new crew or another ship, maybe even not the enterprise
Maybe bring to life the book series vangard as a throw back or push on with a new Captain Riker (actor) with the USS Titan or maybe Captain Calhoun USS Excalibur. This series happened not to far after ST7 it would be like discovery and the fact there only doing it on network tv once then moving it to cbs all access for those of us who don’t have or can’t afford this service really sucks.
In other words, you hate and don’t understand Star Trek.
Mark wants something that bears no resemblance to Trek but is something he likes with the name Star Trek on it. He is clueless
What do you want TUP?
God forbid you don’t want exactly what they want, Mark. This is why I have gone from being a daily reader to coming by once every couple months (not that my reading schedule is weighing on anyone’s mind). Aside from a few exceptions, its just not a pleasant fan community.
I don’t agree with or disagree with your thoughts on what you want from Trek; they are yours to express. I have my own as well but wouldn’t want to upset the echo chamber ’round here.
People like mark make it unpleasant here. Most people are great. It’s the anti Trek few that troll the board
Tup, Mark isn’t anti-Trek, he’s anti BAD Trek. The problem isnt with fans like him who actually have taste, it’s with LCD fans like you who take whatever Paramount craps into your mouth without question. You are everything that’s bad with the fandom. When there’s no demand to improve, things never get better. I bet you liked ENTERPRISE, too.
What Mark wants bears infinitely more resemblance to Star Trek than anything since DS9 started.
Why when there is disagreement we immediately turn to name calling and belittling. Mark just laid out so much relevant ST story ideas, it’s impressive, yet because people disagree he gets called clueless and knows nothing, doesn’t understand. Please can we regain civility even in these anonymous halls of Internet? Exploration of ideas is everything Star trek. And so is generosity and diplomacy with our words.
Have to agree here, he laid out some really cool ideas a lot of us would love to see. Hopefully some day when they got the prequel stuff out of their systems.
By the time that happens, any possible 24th century sequel will be unrecognizable to their predecessors. 24th century Star Trek already looks and feels dated today… I was watching some DS9 recently and I was surprised how much it feels like 1970s shows (except with worse music). It’s not gonna get any fresher. If they ever revisit that timeline, the result won’t have anything in common with TNG, DS9 or VOY anyway.
And even if they bypass that problem by situating the show farther into the future, say, to the 35th century… will it be still relevant to today?
I think, what Star Trek needs is to go back to the bare bones: a naval adventure in space. Best Star Trek I’ve seen in a decade was the Master&Commander movie. ;)
Well OF COURSE its going to be updated. Jesus I would so.
But this is the problem, you seem to assume just because I want it in the 24th century again that I want it to look like the TV shows from 30 years ago. This is the weird idea with anal Trek fans. You can simply have a different aesthetic while continuing the same story lines. Its done ALL the time. Thats what reboots do over and over again. You take something you know, make it fresh, change it up, while still adding to it. Again TNG WAS a reboot to TOS. That was the point. And I would assume whatever comes next later would look VERY different from what we got in TNG and DS9 but still stays in canon. For me this is exactly what I want. If the idea was to redo same look from the from the freakin 90s I would say don’t bother.
Actually even Enterprise looked more modern than TOS and TNG. But it’s okay. We shouldn’t focus on those little things.
Nobody would watch the series, if everything would look like in TOS.
Exactly!
And spoiler alert, Discovery is going to look way more modern than TOS even though they only take place 10 years apart from each other. So I don’t get this weird argument you can’t make a show in the 24th century that look more advanced than the other shows lol. Only on a Trek board is this an argument.
But considering Enterprise, Discovery and the KT films all look (or will) more advanced than TOS but perceived to still all be connected in terms of canon kind of proves the opposite anyway.
Actually the perfect example is TOS itself. TOS the show vs TOS the films are VERY different from each other, would you agree? Obviously its a film, bigger budgets and the effects improved immensely and YET we are suppose to buy that the characters and setting we see in TMP comes from the TV show which almost feel night and day in its approach. TMP doesn’t come off like a campy 60s show, its a grown up film with aesthetics that bypassed anything on the show and obviously people accepted it (besides being a complete bore lol). Its still considered canon to the show although it honestly looks nothing LIKE the old show. We even got some radical looking Klingons too. ;)
But thats what I’m saying here. Whatever they come up with later is naturally going to look and feel different but would naturally stay in canon. So if they go back to the 24th century its going to look more updated than the last episodes of Voyager did. This is a no-brainer since this happens in every production. TOS itself proved that.
Tiger2, – thankyou! Thankyou for explaining this so perfectly.
Well said.
@Michael – explaining cluelessness doesn’t change the fact its clueless.
Right!
And TUP makes it unpleasent here, by rejecting ideas and hopes as “clueless”. Especially the questions he asked show, how much he knows.
These “Klingons” are laughable. It looks to me like most everyone in this comment section does not care that these ridiculous Kittati with head ridges do not belong in Star Trek, and the horrible Discovery ship design is a fail. You NuTrek fans are okay with anything. You can have this fake NuTrek garbage.
@OvermindOne I don’t think it is a wave of Nu Trek fans per say. I think its just that the more casual non hardcore fans have always been more accepting of change and the minority of hard core Nazi fans have not. When the movies came out the hard core fan boy minority kicked and screamed about everything from the Klingons having ridges to the Enterprise looking too different. Casual fans were like, okay cool, this is still a fun space adventure. You had the same thing when TNG came out etc. Same with Kelvin Trek.
In truth, the casual fans don’t really give a rats arse about the Klingons imaginary ridges like the hardcore fan boys. Hard to believe, I know. The thing many purists have a hard time understanding on top of that is that you have always been in the minority and that the casual fans have always made up a far larger portion of the audience. Hence why the producers don’t bend to your kicking and screaming online tantrums and feel free to, you know, actually be creative with their own shows and movies.
Just saying.
Oh and don’t give me crap about Enterprise failing. That show would have done far better had it been on a network that wasn’t in the midst of death throws at the time.
Thank you! I am by NO means a new fan. I been watching Trek since the early 80s but I have NEVER had an issue with just updating the look of a production as it naturally needs to stay fresh for each new generation. The Star Trek films certainly did it. Notice with TMP while the same basic look of bridge stayed but everything was updated and that was just 15 years a part. By the time the KT films came out we are talking a 45 year difference, oddly enough 30 years after TMP. Yeah of course its going to change.
I do find it pretty funny though that people got on Abrams case for changing the look of Star Trek too much but then the Star Wars fans complained he didn’t go far enough with TFA as everything basically looked the same from 30 years ago in that universe. Just proof damn if you do and damn if you don’t I guess.
Star Wars episode 7 took place 30 years into the future. You wouldn’t think all the tech would look exactly the same as it did in ROTJ. Does tech today look identical from tech of the 80s? Conversely The JJverse and now DIS are trying to make prequels but with updated visuals and Tech. This is not hard people. If you want to update stuff, go into the future as it allows for an easily explainable natural progression of the changing aesthetics. If you want to make a prequel you better go back pretty far and/or be prepared to match the look of that time period. You wouldn’t make civil war era soldiers in a civil war era movie with modern weaponry because you want to update the “look and feel”. It’s ridiculous.
Discovery looks like a flying Dorito. I’m pretty sure 95% of all Trek fans I’ve talked to and read up on don’t like it at all, including me.
Well what he wants is the continuation of what we got so far. To boldly go forward and answer some questions, that where raised in the different series before.
Nothing is more Star Trek!
By the way in my opinion STO doesn’t count, because it’s a game. They should answer questions either on TV or on the big screen.
A space faring warrior race does seem like an oxymoron.
Maybe the sarcophagus Klingons are from the Future Post Nemesis that would explain there radical new look because this look is Darker and edgier and a step up a evolution.
Totally agree. I always need about a week to take in the design. After that, I’m good. I am completely down with the uniforms. Not so sure about the heads, but I’ll reserve judgement until I see footage. I have to admit, everything I see about this series has visual appeal, even if it isn’t old school enough for me LOL. Truth is, knowing the people they have hired, knowing this will be more cinematic like a Netflix series, I think this series will be a milestone for Trek & a turning point toward the future. Couldn’t be more excited.
I look forward to getting more context on this Klingon crew.
Gonna take some getting used to. But I will, I’m sure.
Who is Andrew Mackay?
Some guy who is about to be fired from STD
I dont believe that. Nothing happens without purpose. It is suposed to be leaked by an actor but I’m sure is PR done by the producers to gain attraction. Now the tweet has mysteriously disppeared but everybody talks about that.
Hahahaha, that’s what I thought exactly!
Like the Steelers’ WR doing a live stream in the locker room a few weeks ago.
“Whoops! I’m not supposed to do this on social media??”
He’s a local (Toronto) actor.
Thanks. I guess he must be this guy: https://twitter.com/mackay_andrew
…who probably just found himself with a job.
…er… I mean, withOUT a job.
Bye bye canon, hello STD.
This is typical of the reason why there has never been a successful prequel reboot on tv, of any kind. It’s like watching a very expensive car crash unfolding in slow motion.
It gets worse with every leak and press release. You have to ask yourself just who they think they are making this show for.
So these Klingons would be fine if it was post nemesis? lol mark you are full of crap.
@TUP
No, they wouldn’t, in much the same way that the recent reboot films have also taken a dump on well established assets of the franchise.
The whole galaxy, and beyond, and what do we get for a new show? The same junk just slightly altered and sandwiched right where it shouldn’t be. I’m sorry, but it’s a lame duck as far as I’m concerned.
But mark you’re entire reason for being here is to whine about it being a prequel and yet you just admitted that the look of the Klingons is not a prequel issue at all. And yet you used it to justify further whining.
It doesn’t seem you can keep your nonsense straight.
But you complain about it being a prequel. Changing the appearance of one of the iconic species has nothing to do with era in which the show takes place. I agree if this is regular old klingons, then its a bad sign.
I tend to agree for the most part. Enterprise divided the fandom in much the same way. The moment producers change things for the sake of it, it’s going to annoy a lot of people. Ugly ship, reboot Klingons, dumb choice of timeline position. It really does seem like a whackjob fan movie idea, only someone at CBS decided to fund it.
Sadly I have to agree with carboy and this guy is wrong on so many things. But yeah in terms of this he’s completely right. Every change we seen so far seems to only divide people. I think for some the changes we seen so far is too much and whats funny is we have barely seen anything yet. We have no clue what the interior of the ship looks like, what the aliens (other than Klingons) look like, how the universe overall will look. But if its anything from what we have seen, even in small glimpses prepare for a complete redesign from top to bottom. My guess is they are doing it just like the KT films did: keep certain things relatively close like the uniforms and phasers but basically redesign everything else. There is nothing on the KT Enterprise that remotely looks like the TOS Enterprise or the refit. Nothing. It has the same exterior design but it stops there. Everything else is a complete change and were changes for the better IMO.
Right now, just based on the ugly ship I’m divided on Discovery but again we have seen very little. And I’m for change but these may not be the BEST changes which would be the other problem. Not the fact that they just changed but they are simply bad changes. I mean for example if we get a fleet of ships that look like Discovery they are going to lose half the audience after the first episode. But it was nice when they showed the other ship in the teaser video to make it clear we are at least getting the Starfleet normal look but like the KT films I wouldn’t expect any more than that at this point.
@ Tiger2 – still think my intention to view this new show as being ‘set in an alternate universe’ to the TOS show is so ridiculous… ;)
I don’t have an issue with you doing it even if its bizarre, we’re simply tired of you repeating it over and over again like a baby. We get it already.
You keep saying ‘we’ in your various responses to me Tiger2. As I don’t see large numbers of others here griping about my personal ‘solution’/preference, I’m wondering if you have some sort of ‘multiple personality’ disorder.
#StarTrekDiscoveryIsMerelySetInAnAlternateUniverseToTheClassicStarTrekShowInMyHumbleOpinion!
Dude others have said to knock it off too in that thread, not just me man. One person even called you crazy. Stop playing stupid. And I never said anything in THIS thread about it lol. I didn’t mean to hit a nerve but I guess I did.
Didn’t they already stated, that Discovery doesn’t take place in the KT, but in the original timeline?
So an alternate universe is out of the question.
Just wait, new photos have been released of the new Klingon ship designs….they look like Michael Bay Insectoid transformer dragonflies……..production wise…there really doesn’t seem to be anything that comes across as iconic, just rather generic rather forgettable designs.
I don’t care for Klingons in any series. They have become a parody of themselves, like the ferengi, the vulcans, etc. Unless some kind of mass genocide takes place between this series and TOS, we’re stuck with the same boring parody aliens. When that’s not working they’ll try to shoehorn borg, ferengi and romulans, just as Enterprise tried, and failed at incorporating, as did it with Dr Phlox whome’s species was never mentioned before or after, yet was pivitol in the birth of the federation as one of Archer’s crew.
Naming the ship “Discovery” is surely a joke? Discover what? It’s just going to be a “how we got there” failure, again, like Enterprise.
I find it astonishing that a show of space exploration is even greenlighted by CBS, as there is nothing to discover, it’s already been written.
Again, when Enterprise suffered this problem THREE TIMES. There’s no sense of danger if you know it all turns out OK, so the producers had to use time travel as a plot device to get around this fundamental problem not once, or twice, but THREE times.
First there’s “future guy” who wants to prevent the formation of the Federation. Then there’s the xindi aliens who also want to stop the formation of the federation, then some other time traveling alien who worked with Nazis to.. you guessed it, travek to the future and stop the formation of the federation. when that didn’t work they decide to make Archer critical in the formation of the federation, so every episode was a knife edge and completely detracting from the actual stories written.
They of course had to stick keyboard buttons to every TFT monitor attached to the wall, because of continuity, and it looked cheap and unrealistic. We’re supposed to believe that in 150 years time humans would reject touch screen devices, gesture interactivity, etc, and revert back to keyboard buttons on every single device? Come on, a $30 printer has a touch screen.
The producers had to throw in a time travel story, so there was some kind of real danger. Discovery will suffer the same fundamental issues as Enterprise, even more so that it’s sandwitched so tightly to the TOS timeline that it will be impossible to ignore such glaringly obvious flaws in the concept.
I fear we’re going to end up with battlestar galactica, at least they were able to justify the heavily outdated tech by essentially flying around in a museum with 99.9% of the human race having been killed off.
Discovery will have no such luxuries. It’s jammed so tight to TOS that creative freedom is limited to a ship which looks like a roulette wheel attached to a triangle. Fans have already pointed out the inaccuracy of the badge design, so we’ll just have to ignore that too. Now they are rewriting the Klingons to suit. I don’t believe there’s been a single press release, or leak which hasn’t required everyone to ignore the obvious flaws.
It’s not a good way to begin a series, particularly when they are expecting people to pay to watch it on top of their usual cable/satellite/terrestrial/iptv subscriptions, particularly Americans who arn’t even able to get it with their Netflix subscriptions!
I could go on, but needless to say that there is a huge split down the fandom with this one, more so than the reboot movies (ike In To Darkness voted worst trek film). They aren’t doing themselves any favours at all by casually rewriting well established assets of the franchise so haphazardly, as it very quickly begins to feel like a cash cow being milked.
Rather than being excited for any little titbit of info coming out, I’m instead cringing and slightly offended that a franchise we’ve all invested years in is being flipped the bird every time, because, well CBS “shut up and take my money” All access.
At this point so many fans have been turned off by the details coming out that they effectively want to boycott it completely, with the other half telling them to be enthused by Klingons, roulette wheel starships and gratuitous rewrites of anything to suit.
“there has never been a successful prequel reboot on tv, of any kind”
Better Call Saul.
The Clone Wars.
Power Rangers.
Fear the Walking Dead.
All VERY successful.
sure, because they all lasted for 7 seasons…
So a TV show has to last 7 seasons to be a success? Wow, that’s a pretty high barometer.
Yes, that is exactly the barometer for success in this town. Assured syndication.
So you’re claiming that Better Call Saul, The Clone Wars, Power Rangers, and Fear the Walking Dead AEREN’T successful? If so, you’re an idiot.
Why be so unnecessarily spiteful? Especially when you’re not entirely correct. Success in these days of multi-platform exhibition is relative. But Fear the Walking dead, for example, is nowhere near as successful as TWD.
To add to Dingo’s list:
Bates Motel and Enterprise both ran for 4 seasons (Bates Motel and Gotham are still going). Gotham is on it’s 3rd this year. Clone Wars ran for 6 seasons. Smallville ran for 10. Those all count as successes to me.
Now, one could argue that these are not all strictly in continuity with their past successors (?), but they ARE prequels.
Maybe viewers like you should stop caring so much about continuity the way viewers of these other shows, and just enjoy quality storytelling.
“there has never been a successful prequel reboot on tv, of any kind”
*cough* Smallville *cough*
Exactly.
And Legend of Korra.
The person who claimed there has never been a successful TV prequel clearly has very little knowledge of TV.
Legend of Korra is a sequel, not a prequel.
Smallville was a very different concept though. Star Trek transports the viewer to the future, we are looking for continuity and to have a show set in the futures past is incredibly frustrating. Just coming up with a way to describe it was frustrating. I did not care much for Enterprise for this very reason- plus they butchered the stories quite drastically.
Trek is about the future A few episodes that take you back to the “past” to explain a story are fine, but I predict this show will be a major flop, especially since it will be behind a pay wall.
The future’s past is still the future.
I get that some people want to see new – but Trek is, at its core, about telling human stories, not about perfecting fictional technology.
What was Smallville a “reboot” of? Also, there is no such thing as a “prequel reboot.” It wasn’t a reboot, per se. It was an entirely new telling of a subject matter (Superman), but wasn’t a reboot of any specific show that came before it. And Better Call Saul isn’t a reboot either. Neither was Enterprise, for that matter. The 2009 feature, Star Trek, was a reboot.
Smallville was great, especially the early seasons (2-3).
They really need to get Michael Rosenbaum back to play a big screen version of Lex Luthor. He’s had to best portrayal of him of anyone.
Bates Motel isn’t a prequel since it’s not leading up to anything already shown. It’s its own continuity. It’s a reboot, not a prequel.
Smallville and Gotham both don’t lead up to anything either. Yet, they still share a prequel setting for those well-known characters. They are prequels to the main stories of Supes and Bats, while at the same time being reboots as they are not the backstories for on-screen outings of these heroes.
DSC is NO prequel for the TOS characters. It’s just set 10 years before TOS, that’s it. It’s a spin-off, just like TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT. A prequel à la Smallville or Gotham would depict Kirk, Spock etc growing up, attending Starfleet Academy, first starship adventures as ensigns, lieutenants etc.
But DSC is about another crew, another mission, another corner of the universe.
War Horse is not a prequel to Saving Private Ryan although it’s set 25 years before the latter.
“Bates Motel isn’t a prequel since it’s not leading up to anything already shown. It’s its own continuity. It’s a reboot, not a prequel.”
It is a prequel to the movie Psycho showing what made Norman Bates go nuts.
“It is a prequel to the movie Psycho showing what made Norman Bates go nuts.”
By definition, it isn’t since it take place in the current era. Psycho took place in 1959, and the backstory explained in the movie doesn’t match what happens in the show. Plus, characters from the film will be in season five, and the film’s events will play out differently on TV. So no, it isn’t a prequel.
I agree on all your points. I don’t get all the hate you’re getting.
Pointing out that he is wrong is now ‘hate’? Dial it down a notch, Dr.I. Not everyone who disagrees with you is a ‘hater’, no matter how much the Facebook crowd wants you to believe that.
Ummmmmmmmm
Unless there is an in universe explanation there is no reason to change their design. This is the first miss so far.
Oh no really? You can’t have a prime universe prequel and then completely redesign arguably the most well established race out there! I hope there is an in-universe reason, as the do look similar to TMP Klingons, but I’m more anxious about Discovery then I was
Don’t be silly. We’re stupid viewers and are to accept these changes with a high degree of enthusiasm and acceptance, or we don’t get any “New Star Trek”.
This is an unmitigated disaster, and there’s absolutely no excuse or reason to meddle with what’s already been done, for no good reason.
I find it offensive, and at this point I don’t realistically see myself getting any enjoyment or entertainment out of it, no matter what stories are written. It’s still TOS junk in any clothes.
Don’t be silly. We’re stupid viewers and are to accept these changes with a high degree of enthusiasm and acceptance, or we don’t get any “New Star Trek”.
This is an unmitigated disaster, and there’s absolutely no excuse or reason to meddle with what’s already been done, for no good reason.
I find it offensive, and at this point I don’t realistically see myself getting any enjoyment or entertainment out of it, no matter what stories are written. It’s still TOS junk in any clothes.
They’ve already changed the Klingon design in the primeverse (yeah, and later explained those changes as a fan service). They’ve changed the Borg design between TNG and FC/VOY. They’ve changed the Romulan design between TOS and TNG, and again for Nero’s crew originating in the primeverse!
They’ve changed the Cardassian complexion between TNG and DS9. Same with the Trill, who had their first appearance on TNG and looked nothing like Jedzia would later on.
Bottom line: This is NO NEW THING to Trek. It’s just a different visual style, not the end of the primeline. This is IDIC. Get over it!
Exactly! The Klingons have changed their look from TOS, to TMP, to TSFS, to TUC, to the TNG era. Even within the TNG era the Klingons underwent physical changes. Worf himself changed his look over the seasons of TNG.
I think this looks awesome and gets me very excited. I’m trying to keep my expectations in check, however.
Why do they feel the need to fix what isnt broken?
Because they arn’t brave enough to write anything new. I think it’s fair to say that most people are getting a bit fatigued with reboots and prequels.
So many people new that the Ghostbusters reboot was going to completely miss the mark months before it even reached the multiplex. It’s terrible, but some people won’t be told until they actually pay money to go see it and be offended by it in person.
knew*
@Mark They didn’t actually know. Nor is it fair to say most people are fatigued by prequels (unless you’ve done some massive polling).
What would you like to see in a new Star Trek show?
Anything but ruddy Klingons and TOS lipserice. More advanced than TNG, but certainly not a backstep to this extent. We’ve got movie prequel reboots, we’ve had Enterprise, and now it’s being done a 3rd time. I’m tired of it, particularly as I was never a fan of TOS in the first place. It’s very disappointing to me. It could have been something so much more.
Hmm…Funny how opinions differ. I personally love TOS and that while era. The ships are cooler; the aliens are cooler. There is also so much we don’t know about that era, as opposed to the TNG era which has had almost every crevice opened and explored – mostly by DS9.
Before calling this show a disaster before even watching one episode why not look forward to the possibility of something excellent. Perhaps the best Trek yet?
I don’t get the negativity.
Funny thing, those Ghostbusters. I am what many would call anti-feminist, anti-progressivist, pro-white privilege, staunchly nationalist kind of guy – and yet, I actually enjoyed the new Ghostbusters tremendously. I was expecting a disaster, but I ended up having fun. If there was a second part, I’d happily watch it back to back, like I do with the original Ghostbusters.
So, did it really miss the mark? Sure, it wasn’t the 1980s paranormal comedy anymore, just as Starsky&Hutch wasn’t the 1970s show and just as Green Hornet wasn’t the 1960s show. But it worked! It worked on a different level than original, but it worked.
Exactly! I’m so sick of reboots, remakes and prequels. Hollywood is becoming more scared to take big chances even with guaranteed brands.
Its why MCU is so popular now because regardless how you feel about that franchise it TAKES chances, big ones, and it pays off. They don’t just go forward, they actually reinvent a lot of the story lines from the comics and characters keeping the fundamentals but going a very different ways in the films. Audiences are responding to it for a reason. Star Trek NEEDS to take real chances again. And to be fair the KT films did take SOME chances but it still stuck to the same formula, just look cooler.
But whats crazy is Star Trek use to take chances. TNG actually did that. DS9 was the biggest ever going away from a starship. I think thats what Fuller is trying to do with Discovery. The problem is he seems like he is trying to have his cake and eat it too but doing radical changes but still keep it in a period people are famaliar with and judging by the responses its probably something you can’t do both with.
Because they think it is broken, they started changing the concept with DS9 & things kept getting worse.
They keep trying to make it “dark/gritty & realistic” & “more relatable” each time getting farther away from what “Star Trek” was.
With each change there is more division in the fan base & the shows are less successful/iconic so they change it more & more because “Star Trek” isn’t popular enough. They keep changing it more & more until it’s not recognisable as Star Trek anymore. Then they say, “Star Trek” isn’t popular anymore.
Enterprise started working in season 4 because they embraced the original series this DISaster is going so far in the wrong direction it’s Sad.
Unless they are not really Klingons?
That is my only hope.
They look like a different species
Well, I don’t detest the Klingons as much as Mark, but I would rather have seen something new in DSC too. But who? They can’t use the Romulans because of canon implications from “Balance of Terror”. Bringing in an all-new villain that nobody mentioned before (*cough*Xindi*cough*) invites complaints about “if these guys are so dangerous, how come no one ever mentioned them before in hundreds of hours of Trek?” Maybe Tholians, but they’d be difficult to work with due to their weird atmosphere/temperature requirements.
They really should have just moved on and set this show 30-40 years after TNG. Life would be much less complicated for the writers, I think.
You talking about the Klingons? The TNG era broke the Klingons long ago as far as I’m concerned. TOS Klingons were great. The makeup can definitely be improved over the crap they were pushing out in TNG,DS9,VOY and ENT
The TOS Klingons looked like creepy black face pirates. You TOS fanboys really sound delusional at times.
Very intriguing. Obviously awaiting the “frontlash” from mad fans who will judge the designs without having any inkling of the context.
Ghostbusters, batman v superman, Prometheus terminator genesis… fans are pretty good at deciding whet not to waste money on.
@carboy Those four movies made over $1.95 billion at the box office. Somebody was spending money.
Regardless of the context, those uniforms don’t make any sense for a spacefaring species. With those spikes, they’d pose more danger to each other than to an enemy.
Yes, I appreciate how similar the design is to those ship concept drawings leaked last year. But I’d suggest toning the “edge” down a bit.
Wonder if the actor/extra who took the photo will be fired?
So why are you leaking it even more?
Nope. I’m sure this “leak” is just PR made by the producers.
Because it’s their job. If they don’t leak it and everybody else does, they’d be bleeding readers. They don’t want that.
I’m sure they will have a good explanation on why the Klingons look like that. Not that I like that, because it looks awful. “Yeah, let’s be just like the Kelvin Timeline and mess with the look of everything”. I think they are forgetting that this is the first instance in ST history that fans will pay for TV content.
Hab=ve you ever spent money on Star Trek memorobilia or books of any kind? But you won’t pay for a new big budget live action series?
*Have*
Beyond was the only star trek film I didn’t go watch at the multiplex, aside from films 1-4 which were before I was of age to enough to get in! Without any decent 4k Beyond content yet I’ve simply watched the movie as part of my Satellite subscription. Interestingly enough I plan to ditch Sky at the end of my contract, I watch Netflix and Prime far more than I can justify £40 a month to Sky for the movies package.
Cant say I’ve bought any memorabilia, and Trek was always on UK tv free to air, until Enterprise. Now the rights have all been bought up by the likes of Netflix, although it’s still shown on SciFi. Sky don’t show it any more.
It takes a special kind of fan to buy an online subscription just to watch a back catalog of Trek content. At best it will attract casual viewers who already have a netflix subscription, but for you Americans it’s a different story, you suckers have got to make a special purchase if you want to legally watch what the rest of the world gets included in their netflix subscription for free.
Any sign on CBS giving you 4K and HDR yet? I would feel quite bad for you if us netflix subs get 4k as standard, and you guys don’t. Netflix is the reason 4K TV sales have gone through the roof. My 65″ looks great with Netflix HDR 4k content, which is as standard for virtually all of their leading content.
Similarly I’d be very disappointed if only 1080p was offered because CBS say so. Us Brits get 4k Sky. I can’t imagine Netflix would pay the entire production budget of this “Trek” reboot if they can’t present it in their highest quality standard.
What no one talks about is how Klingons lost their sense of humor.
Haha! Love it. They did have a rather dark sense of humour in TOS, before they became overly earnest about honor in TNG
So this is a remake of ST then? I’m confused!
prequel/reboot/fan production.
This is certainly not a fan production. And because it’s not populated by characters from previous ST movies or TV shows, it’s not technically a prequel either.
I’m going to be brave and say this, here and now…
These are not Klingons. The actor has made a mistake or is deliberately winding us up. I don’t believe the new show would destroy canon in such a way.
Imagine how the people who saw TMP for the first time must have felt? Who were those people on those Klingon ships? Who looked nothing like the TOS Klingons?
Don’t have to imagine. I was there on opening night and my reaction was “Cool!”
Id have to hear an explanation for how TNG destroyed the Klingons…please explain.
Also, in regards to how Worf behaved which was sometimes contrary to the warrior race aspects, he was raised by humans.
It wasn’t a distraction, any more then Federation/Starfleet crowd shots that were not populated by white men were. Sorry.
Those are Klingons. The photo was taken yesterday in the background holding area next to set. I was there.
My thought as well. The actor was mistaken or trolling.
Nope. Maybe it is just a wrong track.
They’ve been destroying it from the get go. Theres only so much reboot/prequel/alt timeline rubbish people will accept before rejecting it as not being a part of what’s come before.
We get it, Mark – you don’t like TOS/reboots/prequels. You don’t want to watch it – fine.
Some agree with you, some don’t. What more do you want from us here, exactly?
This is our only hope
Too late, TNG already destroyed the Klingons with Worf, long ago.
“Too late, TNG already destroyed the Klingons with Worf, long ago.”
In other words, you are not a Star Trek fan.
@Dingo. Not cool. I wasn’t a fan of what TNG did to the Klingons either, and I’m very much a Star Trek fan.
Canon? Like ST: TMP picture depicted Klingons versus the way the original series did? Creativity is fluid, things change and evolve, so I would argue that there really is no “canon” in fiction.
Wow, some of you have issues, and I suspect wouldn’t be happy with anything… And it’s funny how they can’t make alterations to the look but then in TMP they completely redesign the Klingons, and TNG redesigns the Romulans by adding forehead ridges too… Star Trek isn’t a religion, it’s a franchise that changes a little (or a lot) with each iteration. I think some of you just like to complain..
Exactly. I was more po’ed about the forehead ridges on the Romulans in TNG than I am about this. The fact that the Romulans looked *exactly* like the Vulcans was a major plot point of ‘Balance of Terror’.
At least there was 100 years of evolution to explain it or it was a different race of Romulans who had control? There was 190 years to have change
The Klingons have been firmly established in Enterprise/TOS
100 years
Yes it’s amazing how different humans look now compared to 1917.
@FLB. Agreed. I also didn’t love that TNG-era vulcans all wore those Mo Howard wigs.
Exactly. A lot of these complainers like to think they are the authority on all things Trek by complaining about this or that not being right or not being ‘canon’.
And they clearly do like to forget that every iteration of TREK has modified and updated not just the Klingons but other alien species too.
Sometime I think they only enjoy Star Trek to complain about it and act superior.
The changes between TOS to TMP to TNG had time to evolve & be explained, they were understandable & improved the show
There do not
These changes make no sense, get farther away from what we know Star Trek is & just alienate people who used to love the show
Krull Klingons
I think the changes from TOS to TMP have more to do with available technology and advances in prosthetic makeup. Remember Worf’s little wink wink comment about the original Klingons when he said that “we do not discuss it with outsiders.”
Which was then explained in Enterprise…
It is true and it is not true.
It is true, no matter what design they choose .. the design does not make the story any better or worse. It even doesn’t matter what timeline they choose .. the timeline does not make the story any better or worse. There could be bad and good stories in every timeline.
But on the other hand it is not true. Because the complainers are just discussing what they see. They argue about what got published until now. It’s not their fault nothing else got published, that could satisfy Canon-Fans. There is nothing else published we could talk about instead. When CBS is not publishing anything except of some “leaked” costumes and these costumes are obviously different than established canon, they are just provoking Canon-Hardcore-fans to complain. They have to know that these kind of complaints would be the result. Hardcore-Fans are not that unpredictable. The pessimistic hardcore-fans at least can found their arguments on something that actually got published. The optimistc fans can only can found their optimism on hope, hope there might be good stuff also, that just wasn’t published, yet.
I agree completely, Mark. To me, that would explain why the Powers That Be have been so scarce with whatever info is coming out. They saw the reaction to the rushed preview that we saw last summer and have acted accordingly. We’re (the Trekkers) are hungry for new Trek and they know it.
That being said, that strategy is wrong on many levels, because in this day and age, any sort of leak is going to generate interest. The producers are playing against themselves. No news is interpreted as bad news (i.e. ‘Is this thing happening at all?’)
As an example, Chris Obi’s Twitter account has whet my appetite so much that I’m binge-watching Trek in anticipation. His enthusiasm has fueled mine.
That should be ‘Conversely, Chris Obi’s Twitter account…’…
The Klingon ridges have been explained in-canon. No such luck with the reboot movies though. Now they are changing again? Come on.
You don’t write Vulcans without pointy ears, and you don’t get to pick and choose which parts you do rewrite for no good reason other than wanting to be different.
If you want to be different, don’t write a bloody prequel.
I hope they are *not* Klingons. It was tough enough to “explain” the transition of “TOS” Klingons into the “TNG” version. Don’t go crazy with the costuming, guys.
As I said in another post, you don’t make a prequel if you want to rewrite such things. The two concepts are incompatable with eachother.
It’s not real. James Bond becomes a completely different guy every ten years or so.
It’s production design – maybe there’s an in-series explanation (some of the novels talked about different castes within the Klingon empire), maybe there isn’t.
Personally, I’m fine with any changes, as long as they work (First Contact made the Borg less interesting overall, IMHO – but the existing Borg production design wouldn’t have worked on a movie screen).
I think they look great if you want to call them something other than Klingons. Their heads look more similar to the STID JJ-Klingons. I like the theory that they’re a genetic variation. I never wanted to see TOS Klingons anyway so I can live with this I guess. Ultimately though, I wish this wasn’t a prequel.
Those aren’t Klingons. I don’t know what the hell they are but they aren’t Klingons. This isn’t even the JJ Klingons so if they’re TOS era they’re either supposed to be bronze colored humans or TMP Klingons. They almost look Reman. Half Klingon half Reman hybrid? I don’t know, my brain is trying to process this logically and failing.
These ARE Klingons. It’s a new set of aesthetics for a new decade… It’s as simple as that. It’s like composing a new main theme, designing a new bridge, new gadgets, new uniforms. Things keep changing. Alien make-ups do as well. The only problem with Trek is that from 1987 to 2005 there had hardly been any creative change at all and people began taking it for granted that this era’s style was “the real” Star Trek now.
Well, breaking… it’s NOT. New millennium, new century, new styles! The setting matters storywise, but the aesthetics are unrelated to that. You can’t expect them to re-introduce bronze human Klingons, paper rocks and illuminated cardboard walls again… It’s not the 1960s anymore. Batman can’t look like Adam West used to.
The only difference between Bats and Trek is that at least we got a narrative framework whereas Bats rebooted time and again content-wise.
Who knows… maybe it is just another species which is far related to the klingons. Alot of species in Star Trek looked like humans with some minor changes. So why shouldnt there be another species which looks closer to klingons?
Hey I’m not disagreeing. I don’t want to go back to TOS looks. That would be stupid. A ship with blinking Christmas lights and analog clocks everywhere. But those things NEED to change. The look of the Klingons do not. Even in STID they were different but not as different as this picture suggests. In STID those were definitely Klingon and if someone showed me a pic I would guess Klingon immediately. This pic from Discovery is so vastly different I would never has guessed Klingon. I can see making some changes as technology allows but if you’re going to so completely change them to make them almost unrecognizable you might as well make a different species altogether.
They look more like someone’s interpretation of a cardassian, or even a romulan.
Could even be some kind of klingon hybrid, or mutant, like the series has done before.
In any case,they look nothing like a klingon (even if that’s what they are supposed to be).
The look doesn’t fit into the cannon for the TV series.
Also….nothing in Hollywood ever happens by accident.
I wouldn’t put it past the studio to release a “leaked” photo of some random alien race they made fore one episode, and call them klingons to throw us off and get us talking.
I agree 100%!!!!!!
I ave a suggestion. what is these aren’t new Klingons, what if they are the Hurq?
Looking at the photo, on the bottom right, the actor seems to be tall and have a slim and slender figure. Which would fit with a female Kilngon.
Which would fit with Mary Chieffo.
These look like the abominations from Abrams’ abysmal Trek-themed action films. The timeline of STD has been established as between ENT and TOS, which means Klingons should look essentially human, save for pointier eyebrows and a penchant for sinister-looking facial hair. This ain’t it. After being burned by Trek for so many years, I think this is the last straw. The franchise is dead, the best we can hope for is for the studios to stop abusing its memory. The last canonical Trek to be released was the final episode of ENT as far as I’m concerned.
I am leaning toward this attitude. If rewriting things is their choice, why do a prequel in the first place? It makes no sense to me other than selfish creative licence no one has given.
The only info coming out which I was actually enthused with was the very first teaser, which was generic space CGI. Ever since then it’s unfortunately been one straw of disappointment I’ve begrudgingly accepted after another. I think I’m at my limit now, to the extent that I am becoming annoyed even discussing it.
I worry what is actually being created here, in much the same way as I came out of the 2009 movie feeling like the Paramount cash cow had taken a wrong turn.
I believe that this series is doing the same, right now, throwing huge sums of money in to making changes to a franchise established over hundreds of hours of tv across 50 years, just to pull in non-fans and casual viewers.
And that is an extremely worrying thought, because if it is successful at pulling in casual viewers, it will likely do so at the expense of established fans. Simon Pegg gave it his best shot in Beyond to balance the two, but even he has spoken about being unable to make it “too star trek” because paramount won’t let him as it’s for a wide audience.
I now have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the same is being done here.
Let’s take all these pop trek elements and mash them all together and call it a new star trek show. It’s so disappointing to watch unfold, screwing with what’s already established, and they are indeed well on their way to a boycott. So sad :(
I hate to say “I told you so” but I knew this was going to happen and why I don’t get the hard on for trying to make this a prequel?
To be fair though I don’t know if people would except the changes to klingons even if it wasn’t but the problem with trying to make a prequel but make it own style and tone is that a lot of fans REJECT it if it doesn’t fit the canon of the timeline. Thats the issue for a lot of fans it has to feel JUST RIGHT or they don’t see it as authentic. And from EVERYTHING we seen from the look of the ship to uniforms and now the Klingons tells you they really are doing their own thing which for someone like me this is a positive actually but I’m not one of these people who is obsessed with canon and why I’m fine with the KT films. But I’m not speaking for myself, I knew for picky Trek fans this stuff would automatically be an issue.
And this is EXACTLY what happened with the KT films as you described. It just looked and felt TOO different so many fans outright rejected it. Now it doesn’t mean everyone but clearly enough if Beyond told us anything. Same with Enterprise.
All that said though I’m not saying that will happen with Discovery because we still know very little about it. All of this may fit into some context many are speculating. And if it turns out to be good most of this will go away. But sadly I see a possible threepeat here where some of the fans think it looks too different to be in the timeline and others just don’t like it as a prequel in general and just want to go forward again.
There will be third set who will love it despite all of that but I don’t know if they will be the majority or not however but at least reading the comments here yes there is genuine concern. To reiterate though it DOESN’T mean people have already rejected the show in big numbers I’m more than certain most will watch it first and go from there but it is now in the air at least and that bothers me.
The costumes and make-up look fine, but I hope that they offer some sort of explanation for the change in appearance. The ENTERPRISE ret-con involving the Augment virus was a great way to do it. DSC really should do something similar to tie it all together.
P.S. The Klingon standing in the middle looks kind of like Admiral Ackbar.
It’s a trap!
From that pic they sort of look too small in stature.
IDIC – I wasn’t a big fan of the retcon at the time, it seemed too fanservicey. I watched it again a couple years ago and it worked a little better.
Boycott time.
I like their look with hair otherwise I would not be a proud warrior and would not get to stova cor.
No 👎
I actually like the new make-up. Those armors, though…what the flying fudge is that? Leftovers from The Chronicles of Riddick? Hellraiser rejects? Designs deemed too mad for Mad Max? Come on. Yes, I realize they are aliens and they should be alien, but that doesn’t mean they should throw any design sensibilities out of the airlock.
I don’t understand the mentality of wanting to make a prequel, and then rewriting things.
At least Enterprise largely respected the way aliens look. Isn’t the whole point of prequels for fanboys who want to see things which lead up to stuff they’ve seen before?
Delta badges, Klingons, Ship designs, dodgy CGI, showerunner leaving.. What’s next, Vulcans without pointy ears? Oh no, wait, Enterprise rewrite them to be angry belligerent a-holes for no good reason. That worked out well.
One thing is for sure, they are doing a wonderful job of systematically managing to irritate fans left and right.
oh, and lest we forget that JJ has committed mass genocide with Vulcans in his reboot, because.
I will never forget.
The best end to the JJ & Orci crapfest is that it whimpered to an end.
“Oh no, wait, Enterprise rewrite them to be angry belligerent a-holes for no good reason.”
They did eventually explain it in the episode ‘The Forge’.
Admiral Forrest: “Ambassador, are Vulcans afraid of us? Why?”
Ambassador Soval: “Because there is one species you remind us of.”
Admiral Forrest: “Vulcans.”
Ambassador Soval: “We had our wars, Admiral, just as Humans did. Our planet was devastated, our civilization nearly destroyed. Logic saved us. But it took almost 1500 years for us to rebuild our world and travel to the stars. You Humans did the same in less than a century. There are those on the High Command who wonder what Humans would achieve in the century to come. And they don’t like the answer.”
Of course, it sadly took over three years before Enterprise got around to excellent discussions like this one which explain what the hell is going on and why.
Look more like the Xiindii. We have established what Klingons look like. I hope this is not true
To quote Julian Bashir, “Those are Klingons???”
Much to simulair of the Xindi species and a bit of the Kelvin Time Line Klingon Style. Futher more Not even simulair between the Enterprise and Original Series….
Very dissapointing if I may say so. Not so very typical Klingonese
Ugh. Why do they have to screw with things? Why are they trying to vandalise Trek :-(
I don’t want them ruining “my” trek by rewriting it, and I don’t want that to be hanging in the back of my mind when I rewatch my favourite episodes.
If these are indeed klingons I’m out, and will actively avoid it because I don’t want it effecting the enjoyment I get from the show I’m perfectly content with leaving it as it is.
I’d rather have no new trek than rewriting it, thanks.
http://gph.is/2kfmpwe
Not entirely convinced these are Klingons. We’ll just wait and see.
At first I was uneasy about re-imagining the Klingons. The idea that they’re ancient Klingons made me feel a bit better. But the more I see, and the more I think about it, the more I wouldn’t mind a bit of retconning.
Bring it on!
The issue to me is of these are regular Klingons with no explanation or reason for their change, it’s a change for change sake. And unneeded. So what’s the point.
It’s akin to Orci and his band of morons making changes because they thought it was “better”.
On a side note I watched Into Darkness again tonight as if was on tv. Man is it bad. The dialogue is brutal. Junior high level. So juvenile and amateurish. Orci should be embarrassed. That Film killed the film franchise. Hopefully STD can revive it.
If these are just the way they are having Klingons look, i’d argue it’s a change to update the characters to a more modern, fresh look for a sci-fi alien race with up-to-date SFX and makeup that have come a long way since 1979.
Really, it’s not much different than when Roddenberry updated the Klingons in TMP because makeup and FX had advanced, and the budget was bigger. There was backlash then, too, but eventually fans came to love it, and now are asking for DSC to revert to the bastardized changed Klingons from the movies.
Its very different. And there is a big difference between the budget contained three year run of TOS and the 40 years of “modern” Klingons.
I don’t think it’s very different at all. This is a case of Fuller & Co. wanting to update to a more interesting visual after years of limited budgets on TV syndication.
Say what you will about TNG vs TOS, but by comparison to what shows spend on FX today, TNG’s FX budget in the 90s was miniscule in comparison, not to mention they were on schedules that meant they had to create makeup that could be applied quickly on a daily basis so they could pump out 26 episodes a year.
Now you have as few as 10 episodes, with each one getting millions of dollars of budget poured into it.
Very comparable to TMP– a movie with a longer schedule and a bigger budget than it’s 15 year old TV counterpart.
That’s not updated make up. its a completely redesigned look. So sorry, it IS different.
Enterprise updating the Andorians is one thing. This isnt that.
May be these are sans hairpieces??
Wow after 10 years, first post!
Most of the actors there, you really can only see the back of their heads.
I am going to reserve judgment for awhile.
Congratulations!
“Star Trek” DISaster
Thanks 🖖
Ive been Pro STD minus the ship and now this. This is a big step back. When you combine it with the ship, you wonder about the people in charge and their arrogance at needing to change everything. Lets hope this isn’t the case.
I am going to wait until I see a trailer before I declare the show a disaster.
To recap (and these are my opinions, feel free to disregard them if you wish, it’s all opinion after all):
Ugly/out of place ship design for Discovery… not so great looking uniform (my opinion based on what is available)… the above pictured reboot of the Klingons…
For me, this is adding up to not the prime universe anymore because it doesn’t have a flow that makes it fit the established design work. They can call it “prime universe” but… it doesn’t fit very seamlessly (which was something I had been hoping for since the words “prime universe” were first tossed out there).
Perhaps there will be an in-universe explanation, but it seems like the plan is to fit Star Trek Discovery into the prime story canon but not the aesthetic continuity. I guess this is what Bryan Fuller meant when he said he was reimagining familiar aliens.
God I hope there’s no in-universe explanation. ENT totally made a mockery of that with their convoluted Klingon appearance explanation. Totally unecessary and a waste of three hours of my life to watch that pointless story.
Curious Cadet
Are you suggesting that having an arbitrary change in the appearance of the characters, without any explanation for that change, is better than having an explanation for the change? Or was there some specific reason, apart from the general purpose, that you didn’t like the Augment-virus ret-con in ENTERPRISE?
I actually didn’t mind the arbitrary change from tOs to TMP. For the simple reason that the idea was that’s how Klingons actually were. And TOS was just a victim of their budget.
TOS was a rather small timeframe that was vastly surpassed by the films and later series. An explanation wasn’t needed.
But since we got it, they can’t just reimagine things to this degree without an explanation. The idea they just do it because they feel like it is so disrespectful and arrogant.
TUP
To put it another way, the change in the Klingons from TOS to TMP was an improvement in their appearance. So, even before they ret-conned the change in ENTERPRISE, the change was already a good thing. Ret-conning it made it even better, as far as I’m concerned. The Trek universe being more self-consistent and making more sense is always better than it being less self-consistent and making less sense. And, we got a good story out of the ret-con that paid off the 3-episode Augments arc even more. As you said, there’s no explanation yet for this new change. And there’s no problem, that I’m aware of, in the Klingons’ general appearance from TMP onward. So, why are the Klingons being changed? If it’s being done arbitrarily, for no dramatic reason, and they’re not going to explain it in-story, then all of the criticism about the change is warranted. As you said, it would be disrespectful and arrogant to simply come in and change it, for no good dramatic reason, just because you have the power to do so.
@Cyg – yes, agreed. And the fact we had the TOS characters who saw new Klingons and accepted it, changed our perception of the change I think. As viewers it was easier to just say oh yea those are Klingons and its how they always looked.
Hmmmmm need a better photos to blurry. But its definitely diffrent not hate it but not sure if i like it that much i think some of them should have hair and beards.
Maybe the picture shows a different species afterall. The guy who leaked the photo messaged when asked, he is not sure about it being Klingons. He just assumed it because he thought they would look like Klingons.
Others have mentio picking up where the last TV left off, and I would love to see that universe continue. I also thought a true reimagining would be valuable to bring energy back to the concept of space exploration. Starting with near future science fiction. Taking what we have factually learned abo EXO planets around us and imagining the challenges and discoveries of that exploration. More imagination with regard to alien races, leaving behind dependency on humanoid only variants. I think that is what we really need, if we depart from pushing existing canon forward.
Here is my take on the Klingon ridge situation in regards to the timeline. In TOS we only ever saw non ridged Klingons. We know that in ENT they had them and due to the augment DNA they lose them. but here is the thing, It is never explicitly stated that ALL Klingons lost their ridges. It was likely just a portion of the population.
My theory is that in TOS while we only ever see non-ridged, it is possible that Klingons decided to segregate their ships and only those no ridged Klingons ever delt with Kirk. But out there are normal Klingons. (eventually we know the non ridged Klingons like Kor eventually got “cured and gained their ridges)
As for the DISC Klingons, it could be a different “Race” or “breed” of Klingons. Perhaps they are a more primitive (and hopefully, more brutal) sect of Klingons.(the ones we saw in the JJverse could be yet another sect. )
Exactly! To add to that, because not all Klingons were infected with the virus it is possible that the non ridged Klingons in TOS were in control of the empire at the time because the augment DNA made them more intelligent so they were in power and possibly thought themselves superior to the “primitive” ridged Klingons.
And yes it was mentioned on twitter that there are many races in the Klingon empire, not just Klingons. These could be a certain race of Klingons who have changed due to living on another planet i.e. Romulans and Mintakans who are Vulcans but not.
For whatever reason the costumes remind me of the Goa’uld from Stargate, especially with the two different colours, grey and the Klingon in the white off to the left.
Right now its a love/hate for me and the Klingons new look, but i’m sure they’ll grow on me. I don’t think anyone should get in an uproar about the way they look, technically this is the 6th different look the Klingons have had in Star Trek. TOS, TMP (narrow forehead ridge and ridges on the nose), Star Trek 3 and 6 had Klingons with ridges smooth human-like noses, TNG (ridges everywhere),Into Darkness and now Discovery. Counting all those little intricate changes, these are the 6th version of Klingons. Change is good, and 50 years later, there is nothing wrong with changing the look. And if there are more changes, who cares, just cuz its prime timeline does not mean everything has to adhere to canon.
Look at it this way, when we discover new artifacts or evidence like dinosaurs having feathers we change our history books accordingly. Star Trek has always been called the history of the future. So lets say we are telling the history of the future, if we discover new evidence the story, the facts, the looks will change. TOS is how Star Trek was 50 years ago, but now 50 years later, things will naturally look a little different. Embrace change.
Another apt point was brought up on Twitter. The Klingon empire consists of many different species, what if these are another race of Klingons who have evolved on another planet, I.e. Vulcans and Romulans, same species but not.
What I am wondering though, is who is that in the background in the centre of the photo? It looks like a red uniform. Looks like that person is also wearing a helmet, akin to the helmet we saw in the recent teaser video who some people are guessing is Lt Saru.
Yeah, with rank on the sleeves and shoulder? It looks like it could be a star fleet uniform, though that person is surely an alien crew member? Such an odd shaped body and head.
Yes exactly. When photos like this leak, I take a good hard long look at them. And I see that person in the background and it looks like a Starfleet uniform.
Wow. The Remans don’t seem so bad now, in comparison.
LOL!
Which multiverse is this timeline from?
One unrelated to the TOS ‘prime timeline’, that’s for sure! ;)
How bout they just leave the Klingons alone and stop making them look stupid. They been perfect for 20 yrs. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
I’m going to skip past the doom and gloom and “true fan” fun and wonder why there is one klingon wearing a white version of the armor? Leader? Priest?
That’s a very interesting observation. One of the things that made Gene Roddenberry with ST:TUC’s script was that he felt it was a lost opportunity to get to know the Klingons better and to make them more than two-dimensional villans. Leonard Nimoy apparently agreed… and Nick Meyer (Tah-dah!) has also come to that point of view.
We’ll see the Klingons more fleshed out than ever before, I’m sure of that.
See, if you take the time and ask the guy, you get a straight answer. I think that’s how “journalists” did that back in the day… You know reach out to the interested party…
Others on the production have confirmed they’re Klingons. That’s either faked (anyone can rename a buddy’s contact to his name and start a conversation and then screenshot it) or he is trying to cover himself. He’s likely fired.
This seems to infer as much:
https://twitter.com/StarTrekDog/status/830558692223369216
Trekcore is taking the stance that the text is real and the actor only speculated they were Klingon…interesting.