‘Star Trek: Discovery’ First-Look Trailer Analysis With Screencaps And GIFs

Time to take a deep dive into the just released first look trailer for Star Trek: Discovery! Let’s begin with a step-by-step look. (Note: you can zoom in on the still images with a click.)

Burnham and Georgiou lost in space

We start with Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) in a desert on what is likely an alien world, with a scene shot on location in Jordan. Burnham wonders where they are going, and Capt. Georgiouis says Burnham has served under her for seven years and it was time to talk about her getting her own command. Take note: previous reporting has Sonequa-Green’s Burnham serving aboard the U.S.S. Discovery, but at this point it appears she is a member of the U.S.S. Shenzhou crew under Captain Georgiou.

A closer look at the communicator

A close-up on Georgiou gives us a good look at the new Starfleet communicator when she requests a beam up.

U.S.S. Shenzhou breaks through

We then get a nice shot of the U.S.S. Shenzhou breaking through the clouds.

Transporter effect

Every iteration of Star Trek has its own transporter effect and Discovery is no different. This new effect gives the impression the transporter is creating a sort of grid pattern before converting a person’s matter into energy.

Shenzhou at warp

We have a new look for a ship at warp as well, as we cut to see the Shenzhou headed out. This new look has a sort of warbling or even watery effect, plus what looks to be a bright sphere at the center of it.

An under-saucer bridge

The Shenzhou has something new – or at least not seen before – in Star Trek, with the bridge situated on the underside of the saucer section, seen in a zoom in to Burnham looking contemplative. The bridge is darker than most seen in Trek, especially on TV, with a design somewhat reminiscent of the NX-01 from Star Trek: Enterprise or the U.S.S. Kelvin from the 2009 Star Trek movie. It features a window as viewscreen, which was something seen in the recent Kelvin-universe Star Trek movies.

Holo-Sarek

Next up, a holographic Ambassador Sarek (James Frain) talking [apparently to Burnham] saying: “Great unifiers are few and far between, but they do come. Often such leaders will need a profound cause.”

Let’s check out the bridge crew

We then get a collection of shots featuring Captain Philippa Georgiou and her bridge crew, including the first look at science officer Saru (Doug Jones). It is also worth noting that Saru has been reported to be part of the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery but like Burnham, we find him here on the bridge of the Shenzhou.

We get quick glances at a couple of other interesting-looking characters on the bridge, one with some kind of cybernetic headgear that reminds us of someone from another galaxy, and a blue alien. We also start to see the variations on the new uniforms which seem to be standard blue with different piping in gold, silver, and bronze.

The viewscreen/window in action

Saru tells the captain they have discovered something of “unknown origin,” and we get a look at the sort of HUD viewscreen window.

Michael goes for a walk at the edge

With Sarek ominously asking, “What have you found out there on the edge of Federation space?”, giving us an idea that they are indeed out on the final frontier, we see Michael Burnham suited up for an EVA in what may be the most elaborate Star Trek space suit ever.

Burn baby burn

And Michael isn’t just going for a walk–we see her suit has thrusters, as she issues the command, “Computer, enable igniter,” reminiscent of Spock’s thruster suit flight through V’Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Say hello to the Klingons

Things get tense as we see Burnham observing what appear to be a very big Klingon ship or structure.

We then cut to the interior and see what appears to be some kind of sarcophagus of what is presumably a very revered Klingon.

And we get to see our Discovery Klingons for the first time (if you don’t count those leaks), and these guys definitely have ridges.

Nice console, wonder if it explodes?

Cut to a quick close-up look at a bridge console with a lot of high-tech detail.

T’Kuvma

And now we cut to a close-up of the leader of this group of Klingons, T’Kuvma (Chris Obi).

Shenzhou registry

We catch a quick glimpse of the U.S.S. Shenzhou rolling over where you can see its registry number.

Here is a zoom in where we flip the image and enhance to see NCC-1227. This would imply that the Shenzhou is a later ship to the U.S.S. Discovery, whose registry is NCC-1031.

Sarek’s questionable bedside manner

Then we are back to Sarek, non-hologram version, telling what we assume is a young Terran (she has no points on her ears), “You will never learn Vulcan, your tongue is too human.” And the way this segment is cut, they are at least trying to give the impression this is a young version of Burnham, who is lying down in some kind of chamber.

Corridor

We soon get a brief glimpse of what is presumably corridor on the Shenzhou. Like the bridge, the design has hints of the NX-01 Enterprise, U.S.S. Kelvin and even the U.S.S. Enterprise refit from the TOS movie era.

Aural alert

We see what looks like some kind of attack on the Shenzhou which has everyone covering their ears, including Ensign Connor (Sam Vartholomeos).

Strange new world

Next, a quick shot of an alien world.

Screaming Klingons

We then see T’Kuvma and other Klingons performing what appears to the the Klingon death ritual.

That is one ugly alien

We see Michael speaking to her captain suggesting “we target its neck and cut off its head” interspersed with a shot of a seriously creepy alien, possibly from the same alien planet above.

Daft Punk in the house?

We all know Mr. Data is the first android to serve in Starfleet and he was created with cutting edge 24th century technology. So it isn’t entirely clear what we have here. It could be a robot, or maybe the helmet is just some kind of elaborate life-support system, possibly just a way to make cool techno beats.

To fire or not to fire

Another shot of a console shows the Shenzhou comes loaded with photon torpedoes. While a staple of Star Trek, they weren’t actually introduced into the original series until late in the first season.

We also see a heated disagreement between Burnham and Georgiou over firing first (presumably at the Klingons), with Burnham arguing that they need to do it.

Saru’s special purpose

Saru reveals, “My people were biologically determined for one purpose alone – to sense the coming of death.” And apparently his alien Spidey-sense is tingling.

Space fight!

The trailer ends with Burnham and a Klingon on what appears to be the hull of the Klingon ship engaged in EVA space combat.

Title cards tell a story

Throughout the trailer a series of title cards set up Star Trek: Discovery.

Bonus Klingon content in Netflix trailer

In our earlier article we posted the Netflix version of the trailer which is cut differently but has almost all the same footage except for a couple of quick close-up glimpses at some Klingons. You can see some kind of weapon and some nasty claws too.

Where is the Discovery?

There is a whole lot to pack into one trailer, but there is one thing missing: the U.S.S. Discovery, which will presumably be the main ship for the series. Also missing is  Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and some other members of his crew we’ve heard about.

Did you spot anything else?

Sound off in the comments below about our deep dive and what you have spotted in the new trailer.

 

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so this looks like 10 years before kirk in the kelvin universe

Nah, it looks like a series that’s been updated for modern audiences, deriving its style from the USS Kelvin, which was established as Prime universe canon — both of which appear as a logical progression from the Prime universe ENT style.

So, now the fanboys have only the “wait until you watch the whole season” card to play.

What next? re-runs?

Lets see..

The post production is comparatively worse than some of the better fan films. Saturated with generic horizontal blue lens flares as if it’s never been done before with gratuitous glow blowing out every frame.

One has to question the decisions in spending stupid dollars sending the cast and crew to international destinations when the end result and it’s post production gives it such a false output.

Clearly the prequel card is long gone, and we’re so far in to the reboot territory that you have to wonder if Bad Robot have thrown their junior staff in under a different brand.

The pre production isn’t any better, cue dolly rails with tilts to give the signature 2009 rubbish that came and went within five years as JJ made it a test bench for The Force Awakens.

Once again we’re now walking the line between pleasing the minority existing TOS Trek fans and “the wider audience”, ie jack of all trades, master of none, which this is failing at.

The social media backlash is on par with Batman V Superman.

The CGI we’ve now seen is abysmal. It’s gone so far in to digital post compositing that it rather effectively gives a good argument to reverting back to physical studio models and cloud tanks.

Explosions, anger, hatred, firing first, that has no place in the Utopian future being abused by branding it as “Star Trek”.

As for the set designs, TOS?. CBS banked on the JJ reboots as a starting point, little did they know that Beyond would be a flop, ignored that ITD was voted the worst trek movie from the entire back catalog, and are now stuck with the Titanic.

Talk about burning through the last remnants of goodwill the fanbase had left.

Keep peddling it my fanboy friends, you’ve killed it with love.

THe klingons are not part of the paradise people talk about. Can I ask do you work in tv? film? Are you an other or have any role in the entertainment industry?

yeah. VFX and post oddly enough..

“The pre production isn’t any better, cue dolly rails with tilts” – That’s production, not pre-production. Someone in the industry should know this.

Enter Prize has admitted to being a kid from the UK. He doesnt know anything.

please tell me which tv scifi series you made so I can compare it to STD… thnak you

I notice he didn’t respond. *sigh*

Enter Prize,

Re: “wait until you watch the whole season”

Wait, weren’t you the bloke who said he was hanging with a large crew that loves to hate DISCOVERY so much that they all were going to illegally download all 13 episodes and binge watch it so that it could be talk about it with authority ANYWAY?

Why are you wasting time now whining about a suggestion that you didn’t bother to complain about when your large crew first suggested it?

Sadly I’m pretty much with you.
This misses every mark & does everything wrong. it is trying so hard to not Be star Trek while expecting the fans to kiss the hand that slaps them in the face by paying for the insult.

Does everything wrong?

Good thing their making this for the rest of us true fans while ignoring your bull.

You are just laughable, man.

I agree that the lens flares are gratuitous, looks like it’s Sapphire to me, though, not Tinder. And the CGI is…uneven. Some of it was impressive, some decidedly not. I disagree about the production design, though. As others have commented, I think the design is a conscious attempt to imagine 23rd century tech based on what we know now, not what we knew when Trek debuted in the 60s. I think maybe you confuse the trappings with the core identity of the show. Adding dutch to the dolly rails has been done in other productions, Trek and non Trek – it doesn’t inherently spell disaster or lazy direction.Certainly every other Trek production has a less than spotless record, in that regard. One of the worst directorial choices I’ve seen in a Trek episode happened in the original series (anyone remember the repeated snap-zooms on the flashing red alert light on the bridge – man, that was laugh out loud bad!)

I’ve seen a lot of your posts here on Trekmovie lately, most of them excoriating every detail of Discovery. What is it about this production that’s got you so pissed? Are you another fan who feels that only 25th century Sci-Fi is futuristic, that going to the 23rd century, a mere 200 years into the future, is somehow going backwards? Maybe a better question is this: Did you like Star Trek for the stories or the sets and tech?

I’m not criticizing, I’m just trying to understand the nature of your beef with this.

You must have little to no joy in your life. Sad.

Nah, don’t buy it. You can “update” without the drastic aesthetic changes (see: ENT’s “In the Mirror Darkly). But, since the producers of STD wants this show set in the Prime Timeline, then the logical explanation is this: the aesthetic changes is the result of a faction of the Temporal Cold War (it also explains why ENT even exists, given the progression of ships that bore the name “Enterprise” vis-a-vis TMP).

Looking forward to the show, though.

Curious Cadet, that’s my take on this and it matches up with what Fuller originally said about it being a bit of a reimagining while being in the Prime universe. Personally, one thing I do like is that Klingons actually look more like an alien species but I also think these Klingons are something older.

I think these are offshoot or ancestors of 23rd century Klingons.

Agreed – maybe the show ends with a galactic apocolypse (yeah – misspelling that!) that somehow knocks the galaxy back to the “old timey” technology…. and then we have cardboard… I mean original Star Trek.

I agree. It couldn’t be more JJ as far as set design goes (but add in some unnecessarily dark and dramatic lighting for good measure.)

I DO love the tactical screens / HUD – screams ST II/ST III. Torpedoes locked on target!! All decks to red alert!

To me the overall look suggest ENTERPRISE more than the Kelvin Universe.

The helmet says Shenzhou. Assjme not a robot.looks like a human neck popping out too. Maybe part of the LoBot looking guy?

Bryan Fuller said in 2016 there would be robots. It’s part of what they’ve kept from his show.

What’s wrong with robots? There were robots in TOS. I think looks cool as long as they aren’t all Data androids with feelings. Let’s see some mining for dilithium here.

Not a fan of the new Klingon look. Or a lot of the rest of it. On the other hand, I am intrigued. I suppose we’ll soon see, one way or the other.

Its not a “new” Klingon look- they are really really old Klingons…. but, yeah, I get what you mean.

It absolutely is a new Klingon look.
Old Klingons had no ridges, which was somewhat cleverly explained in ST:ENT. These Klingons have no hair… where’s their amazing beards and long locks?

I noticed that the Klingon image on the sarcophagus appears to have hair. The others may the Alopecia stricken of the Empire.

What he means by OLD Klingons is they are older than OLD Older than Enterprise Era Klingons.

ok but… so much Shenzhou and no Discovery…
Showcasing a ship that probably bites it in the 1st half of the pilot. Like making a DS9 1st look trailer and showing nothing but the Saratoga

Ive been speculating for a long time that the Shen isnt long for this world…And Michelle Yeoh, I assume, goes with it.

I like the thought of following crew members, ships can be lost in the unknown, variable characters and a story arc. Much more intense than TNG for sure.

Which I feel is a shame unless the Discovery is massively changed from the first “look” we had of it. The Shenzhou is a very cool looking ship, IMO.

I suspect the Discovery will swoop in to save the Shenzhou just in time.

Super excited except for lens flare. But I’ll deal. Extra episodes and after show is icing on the cake!!

It seems that it was added only for this trailer. The Netflix trailer doesn’t have the lense-flare effects.

Oh yes it does. Netflix have just ramped the contrast, presumably in an attempt to correct it..

Looks over designed. To be Star Trek, designs are simple.

As the old saying goes: StarFleet Clean.

I know I’m in the minority, but I’d much rather see “The Cage” uniforms. These new uniforms are my least favorite inconsistency so far.

My next least favorite inconsistency is Sarek. Why couldn’t they use prosthetics to give him Mark Lenard’s likeness? I hope his skin will at least have a greenish tinge like Michael Westmore’s Vulcans and Romulans.

If these are meant to be ancient ancestors to the Klingons, then I can accept it.

Even Star Wars said they wouldn’t CGI Carrie Fischer’s appearance going forward. It’s a horrible idea here too. Also, there’s no inconsistency here with the uniforms. TOS already established older ships wear older uniforms. If this were the Enterprise, you might have a point. I don’t love these uniforms, but they do make for an acceptable transition between ENT and TOS, especially when factoring in the Kelvin uniforms.

There was 140 years between the series & Uniforms. there was no need to Transition & the Kelvin is in anothe timeline that didnt just start with spocks time travel remember & we already know the uniforms of that era were basically the same as the original series with simply more subdued colors

Actually the Kelvin was in both timelines. Before the wormhole opened up and the Narada came through it was in the main timeline. Thus it’s design language is in play here.

You may insert chief obrien quote here “I hate temporal mechanics”

No, you are wrong- that was our assumption lead on by the creators of the JJ films have who have since stated that Spock merely moved into an alternate timeline that existed before spock arrived.

Kelvin is not in a different “timeline”. It was Prime era. The timelines diverged when Nero came through. Kelvin existed prior to that.

This is true if you buy the attempt to shoehorn the JJ-Verse into “canon.” Frankly, the JJ films, while they’ve had their bright spots, on the whole just don’t fit in with the rest of canon in terms of their tone and realism. I’m inclined to think of them as a reimagining and not canon.

A reimagining with plot holes to get the whole Alpha Quadrant through…

Its not shoe-horning. The beginning of Star Trek 2009 is good old Prime universe with the Kelvin. Which, by the way, is the best thing about that movie in my opinion.

I cant get my head around the costume design decision to chop off one side of the collars? That along with the star fleet delta chopped in half as well. Must be some completely unsubtle reference to the main pitch, clearly pitched by people who underestimate the intelgence of the average 2017 viewer.
What next, breadcrumbs?

Please, you shouldn’t speak of intelligence. It’s obviously a concept that’s beyond you.

You’re worse than him.

Yes but do you really think in the future people will wear polo neck sweaters as uniforms?

Kevin Bleasdale,

Re: … polo neck sweaters as uniforms?

You’ll go broke trying to win fashion fads bets. There’s no logic to which catches and when.

Are you kidding? Thats like saying why didnt they give Chris Pine William Shatners Gut? These are fictional character, not real life. it is all open to interpretation

Yeah, I had hoped they art direction would take “The Cage” as its inspiration. Uniforms aside, there are technologies and sleek designs (graphic overlays on the main viewer? Spacesuits that look more First Contact than the quilted tube suits worn in TOS?) that I’m going to have a hard time believing predate Pike and Kirk. Sarek looks okay, but he should have worked with a language coach to get Mark Lenard’s accent and diction right. TL;DR, this looks like something hatched in the Kelvin Universe and they should have put it there rather than mucking with the Prime canon and, frankly, my childhood.

A search at Memory Alpha for “1227” only brings that up as the year of death for Genghis Khan.

What do I think of this Discovery trailer? I will tell you. Today, I was fired from my job. A few hours later, my wife told me she wants a divorce. Also, I have a stomach virus. I blame Discovery for all of this. It’s horrible. It has ruined my life, and it’s not even out yet.

For real? If so, sorry, man. Hang in there.

hang in there, man.

How’s the next movie looking? Are you seeing if you could bury the integrity and soul of star trek just one more inch deeper?

The next one is being written by the Mormon guys (or Simon and Doug Jung). Not sure which team). Bob has moved on to greener pastures.

Its being written by the guys Bob brought in to work on his Trek 3 story, isnt it?

Hey BobOrci, what do you think of the Discovery trailer?

Boborci,
I thought you guys claimed you actually liked STAR TREK. A lot of these decisions since the reboot have been baffling. The most egregious thing was Kirk going from a Lt. about to be kicked out of STARFLEET to Captain in a few days. To be honest I loved the Kelvin stuff and was onboard…then it fell apart after the destruction of Vulcan.

That was 7 years and 3 films ago already. Do you think every time he comes here he wants to argue the same 50 points over and over again?

Or you sucked at your job, cheated on your wife and eat a horrible diet. Don’t blame Trek because you’re a loser.

Or…he was joking.

So sorry to hear that.
I hope you start feeling better soon.

Stay with it man. Hang tough.

The Discovery is in the poster with the Vulcan salute. It still looks a lot like the horrid ship from the original year-old teaser.

Hmm. Based on this article, I’m leaning to believe Discovery is gonna be more in line with JJ influenced shots, story and design.

The ship looks too advanced to be in line with The Enterprise, as well as the uniforms and camera shots (lens flare)

Not happy about these things, but it’s Star Trek so I’ll take what I can get.

Are you kidding? The ENT Enterprise was too advanced to be inline with The Enterprise. It’s not realistic to restrict a series made in 2017 to the same look as one made in the 1960s.

Why the hell try to make it a “realistic” prequel then?

Because even if you set it 5 years after Picards time. According to Star Trek chrology the were using iPads in the late 24th century. Plus they didn’t use wifi for most of there stuff. Comm badges are pretty recent too.

The truth is allot of stuff has changed since 1966. We will probably be way ahead of what is depeicted in Star Trek (all versions) with regards to computer tech and way, way behind with propulsion.

I agree who wants to watch a new Star Trek show with 60’s tech.That is just dumb.BTW were way ahead of 23th century tech now in 2017.The tech the CIA,FBI and NSA have now is ahead of any Star Trek.All any show can do is guess what tech will be in any century forward. TOS gave us cell phones and few other things but as it turns out tech in 2017 is better then back then.

Curious Cadet,

ENTERPRISE ended at the start of the Earth-Romulan War which was supposed to be devastating as I recall. So there were no military setbacks, materials shortages, espionage or sabotage resulting from that engagement that could cause a throwback to relying on older tech?

If you read the Romulan War Enterprise books, this is exactly how they explain it. Suppose I shouldn’t spoil any further than that.

Military engagement, even unsuccessful military engagement, rarely causes a “throwback” to earlier tech. It’s far more likely to spur new tech.

You would have to be talking a geopolitical (er, astropolitical) sea-change on the order of the fall of the Roman Empire to see technology regressing.

To bring this back to the main point, though: a show made in 2017 is not going to have 1960s production values. The few exceptions (TNG “Relics,” the DS9 tribble episode, the ENT Mirror episode) work because they’re one-off homages that play on nostalgia. That would not work for a long-term series, where the audience wants to see future tech, not retrograde tech.

Well put. Thanks.

The River Temarc,

Re: unsuccessful military engagement, rarely causes a “throwback”

Engagement? What are you talking about? The Earth-Romulan War was the second all out nuclear war that Earth fought a century after devastating itself with WW III nuclear cataclysm. And the fact that, STAR TREK’s future wars had knowledge-robbing throwback results that goes hand in hand with technological ones was noted in several episodes BALANCE OF TERROR, ASSIGNMENT:EARTH, etc.

The River Temarc,

Re: unsuccessful military engagement, rarely causes a “throwback”

When I said “that engagement” I meant the DEVASTATING one to which I had just referred.

Agreed this notion people want TOS tech is just way stupid.Star trek got itself in a bubble all these years its time to think out of the box.This new series has to hit on the Trek vibe,but it does not have keep going back to the same old Trek.Trek has always been about good stories but each series had its bad episodes.The question is can Star Trek still be Star Trek with the audience it has now? It can but it can’t keep recycling old ideas like it has.

The Orville sets were better. Sadly. That series looks like a modernised version of the star trek stlye. & the crew can actually see what they are doing as they have lighting.

Im a canon junkie but I see no issues here. As far as technology set backs, we know from the Mirror Universe episode of Enterprise that when the future Defiant came back, they referred to it as significantly technologically advanced.

So clearly the intent is that NCC-1701 is more advanced than NX-01. But we have to be reasonable.

We now have conflicting canon to a degree. They could us ship designs and uniforms more similar to TOS or using modern effects, base them on reasonable advances from Enterprise and Kelvin. They made the right decision.

The Shenzhou looks very similar to Enterprise and Kelvin in design. The uniforms look like reasonable advancements from both of those as well.

I would strongly suspect at some point, a familiar TOS era ship/uniform/character will show up and we can judge it then. Its like the JJ films using the “same”uniforms but updating them. We’re supposed to accept they are the same but werent made by a seamstress in the 60’s.

Everything is GOOD so far.

totally agree with you. The uniforms look like they derive from the USS Kelvin, which was in the Prime universe for the first 10 seconds or so we see it (and obviously all the way back to when those uniforms were even conceived by the Fed). So I’m good with that.

or the Kelvin uni’s derive from these. Whatever. Even my time is all screwed up now just thinking about it. But still good.

But we’ve seen the uniforms from 2254 before. We saw it in The Cage. Those were the Starfleet uniforms from 10 years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise.

We saw every uniform on every ship?

Starfleet is a military, right. Militaries have uniform uniforms. That is, our great Navy may have 4 or 5 different uniforms, but everyone in our Navy has those uniforms (enlisted vs officer differences aside). So yes, I’m going to go out on a limb here (insert your favorite Star Trek tree here for me to climb on) and say yes, all Starfleet ships have the same uniforms. We’ve seen it in TOS. We’ve seen it in TNG. We’ve seen it in DS9.

To quote the great Dr. Leonard H. McCoy: “The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe.” All of Starfleet has the same uniforms.

We’ve seen the 2254 uniforms before. These aren’t them.

I look at it like this.

They had two options – to make everything look the same as TOS/Cage or go in a different direction. And with going in a different direction, they could be completely new and random or make sense within the context of canon.

They chose the latter. The uniforms are clear evolutions from Enterprise & Kelvin. That’s a great commitment by production staff to make it make sense.

Sure, there is some contradiction within the TOS-era. And maybe the in-universe reasons wont be awesome, but there can be some. Prototype uniforms, different ship uniforms, special ops uniforms. Or just simply that TOS was the 60s and they made the decision to embrace ALL of canon when doing designs and not JUST TOS.

And keep in mind, they clearly care about TOS canon with the communicators, tricorders, red alert klaxxon etc.

So what and that’s not the point.Really your going to judge a series based on the uniforms!Why on earth would they go back to TOS series look or even a ENT look.Its a new show,that’s what they do with each new show.Besides this series maybe the first Star Trek some people have ever watched.Do you really think the uniform is going to matter? I been a Trek fan since the 60’s and I telling you Trek fans are the worse fans ever.As the Shat once said ”get a life”! Its only a TV show enjoy the fact we have a new show geez’s!!

The whole uniform thing was just for show.I mean would go into space with bright colored uniforms like TNG or even TOS,not in the real world.They would be dull not to bring to much attention to themselves or other races that maybe hostel.But this is a fictional TV show and Hollywood,so you have to have it for show.So a debate on fashion is again stupid.

I like the bit when it auto-played to the next YouTube video

Very mixed feelings on the trailer. I am pleased that the Klingons look more like the Klingons we are used to than that bizarre leaked photo. Hopefully there is an in universe explanation for why they are not consistent with TOS and Enterprise.

I’m really not sure how I feel about seeing a new Sarek or especially a young Spock. I mean, if it truly is a Prime Universe prequel then how are you going to get around the fact that The Cage will happen soon?

I’m always concerned about the obvious JJ Trek influence. I know that production methods have advanced since Enterprise, but the show feels more Kelvin timeline than it does Prime. Also really disappointed in Yeoh’s acting. Was very excited at her casting but her line delivery was pretty stilted. That said, the clips are clearly from the first episode/s where the ship is rumoured to not yet be the USS Discovery and instead be Yeoh’s command before Jason Issacs shows up and becomes captain.

But, to put a positive spin on it, the most important thing is the stories in Trek. I think if they can put aside the dumbness of JJ Trek and return the show to it’s more intelligent, thoughtful roots, then hopefully I can find a way to overlook any minor continuity issues as great stories are my priority.

Oh, and I quite like that the ship currently looks like an evolution of the NX-01. For all the moaning I’ve seen about uniforms and Klingons, that fits in nicely with continuity.

Oh for Christ sake its only a trailer.A good trailer doesn’t show much and this trailer did just that.Really, your going to judge Yeoh’s acting on a few lines which is out of context? I saw no issue with her acting.Even if that was true all Trek series had bad acting.Even the Shat had some bad acting moments.That’s really nick picking.

So, now the fanboys have only the “wait until you watch the whole season” card to play.

What next? re-runs?

Lets see..

The post production is comparatively worse than some of the better fan films. Saturated with generic horizontal blue lens flares as if it’s never been done before with gratuitous glow blowing out every frame.

One has to question the decisions in spending stupid dollars sending the cast and crew to international destinations when the end result and it’s post production gives it such a false output.

Clearly the prequel card is long gone, and we’re so far in to the reboot territory that you have to wonder if Bad Robot have thrown their junior staff in under a different brand.

The pre production isn’t any better, cue dolly rails with tilts to give the signature 2009 rubbish that came and went within five years as JJ made it a test bench for The Force Awakens.

Once again we’re now walking the line between pleasing the minority existing TOS Trek fans and “the wider audience”, ie jack of all trades, master of none, which this is failing at.

The social media backlash is on par with Batman V Superman.

The CGI we’ve now seen is abysmal. It’s gone so far in to digital post compositing that it rather effectively gives a good argument to reverting back to physical studio models and cloud tanks.

Explosions, anger, hatred, firing first, that has no place in the Utopian future being abused by branding it as “Star Trek”.

As for the set designs, TOS?. CBS banked on the JJ reboots as a starting point, little did they know that Beyond would be a flop, ignored that ITD was voted the worst trek movie from the entire back catalog, and are now stuck with the Titanic.

Talk about burning through the last remnants of goodwill the fanbase had left.

Keep peddling it my fanboy friends, you’ve killed it with love.

So vehement you are in your critique you felt the need to post it twice, eh? :P

Blame it on the random “your comment is awaiting moderation” I frequelty am advised for no apparent reason. Why would the first not go through, but the second do so without issue?

Enter Prize gets angry about stuff and goes to the interwebs.

Twice? He posts the same nonsense over and over and over and over again. He’s Jack Torrance endlessly typing away on his typewriter. (He wont get the reference). lol

Looks there was a lot for details in the American trailer than the Netflix one.

Let me try that again. Not sure which is more tired – my fingers or my brain.

Looks like there were a lot more details in the American trailer than in the Netflix one.

I like the trailer of the CBS new series star trek discovery and the debut of the starship USS shenzhou ncc-1227 and USS discovery ncc-1031 they should create a website of the star trek discovery fan club site like ncc-1227.com live long and prosper

Still willing to bet that the SHENZOU is from the future beyond TNG and that it is thrown back in time and meets up with the DISCOVERY. It would explain a great many things…the technology, uniforms.the overall aesthetic, as well as why we don’t see the DISCOVERY.

Wagers?

Nah it would seem that Michael grew up on Vulcan or has some other connection to Sarek and she is serving on the Shenzou. I think we just have to roll with the fact that they aren’t matching the aesthetics of the earlier show.

thank god.

Cool theory. That would be nice. :)

nice idea.

Worst idea I’ve ever heard. There’s a reason the Temporal Cold War arc failed so hard — it sucked!!! Nobody wants to see future people meddling with the past, AGAIN. That was UPN’s stupid way of connecting ENT to the other series, and it was a terrible move.

Yeah, I found the temporal stuff very annoying where ever it showed up. I also wished Enterprise had used a Daedalus Class-looking ship, instead of a TNG wannabe NX 01.

“Still willing to bet that the SHENZOU is from the future beyond TNG and that it is thrown back in time and meets up with the DISCOVERY. It would explain a great many things…the technology, uniforms.the overall aesthetic, as well as why we don’t see the DISCOVERY.”

But wouldn’t that be sort of a repeat from the 09 movie? Another ship from the future arrives in the 23rd century and changes history? Yeah I don’t think they want that comparison.

And its clear Burnham knows a young Sarek so that throws that theory right out the window.

The special effects available to Desilu studios in the 1960’s were state-of-the-art for the times yet they would not stand up to shoddiest of fx today.
In my opinion, the best way to honor the creators vision, and satisfy the production values needed for today’s viewers is to design the sets, props, uniforms keeping the original look in mind.
For example: The original Enterprise’s helm console was how Gene envisioned the look. But today’s production designers can just modernize the helm console, but keep the things that made it special, like it’s red, and black color, blinking red light, at the top-center, and the big astrogator that sat between the two positions. The constant beeps, and whirs of the consoles, and many other things should have been integrated in ‘Discovery’, and even the JJ-verse Enterprise, but I digress.
The trailer feels like a JJ creation, IMO, due to the look of the sets, and the presumption that these so-called Klingons are a re-imagined version, and not some ancient, quasi-homo-erectus version from a 100,000 years ago.
The Shenzou bridge looks a lot like the bridge of the USS Vengeance, and the spacesuits look like they are more advanced then Picard’s.
And why have we never seen the Discovery’s, or Shenzou’s class of ship before? That’s what I don’t get. The powers that be claim to respect, and honor previously established canon, yet they consistently mess with it. The franchise has gone where our own space program has gone- nowhere. TOS was like our space program in the 60’s, reaching forward.
Instead of filling in Star Trek’s missing links, why not tell us what happens post Nemesis- without destroying what is established in the books.
The powers that be created a conflict between the novelizations, and post-Nemesis on the big-screen. The novels have already moved beyond that point, to where the Borg is neutralized, and Worf is first officer of the big E. Now, in order to move beyond Nemesis on the big screen, they will have to explain the advancement of the characters from that era.
All this being said, I still intend to digest whatever ST: Discovery has to offer. (Providing the premise is believable)

If Roddenberry didn’t consider novels canon, then I’m not going to worry about several hundred out there that I have no time to read.

You lost me at red and black helm console — you do realize that in the time period this took place, there was no red anywhere on the ship (I.e. The Cage)? And the reason there ended up being so much color was because RCA owned NBC and made color TV sets?

Why do you assume that because we’ve never seen the Shenzou or Discovery classes before that they never existed and are contradicting canon? That’s absolute nonsense. We had never seen the Miranda class before TWOK, what a hoax! Christ you people are ridiculous.

Overall it looks okay…except those crappy Klingon makeups/costumes. Sets/hardware nice but inappropriate for this supposedly taking place pre-TOS. Another “Akiraprise” redux?

Right so I am a massive Star Trek Fan and consider myself a loyalist to the Franchise but it’s seems I am one of few people who are open minded enough to embrace Star Trek in the modern era. So what if the klingons are a different look, or the ship or uniforms. As long as the story it’s self is the essence of Star Trek surely that’s all that matters. People working on this show know Star Trek and have written for Star Trek. You can’t expect the shows design to fall in line with TOS. A set design from the 60s. As much I love the show… looks notching like what you would expect a star ship to look like. Do you think If Star Trek was created today there would have been the same poloneck sweater uniforms of the cage NO. Those uniforms looked like they were going out for Brunch. People complain that it doesn’t not promote this paradise future Gene created… that can only be shown to an extent from what we see of earth/federation. What DS9 showed us is, is that theory can be tested up against he likes of the klingons/Dominion. So maybe give the show a chance and stop acting like you’re in the entertainment industry and know what you’re talking about or even before you have watched the show. Especially you ENTER PRISE guy or whatever he is called! Stop being so F’ing negative on here all the time and stick to watching re runs of the TOS!

It’s like anything: what we remember of our favorite things tend to be a warped version of reality, and when fantasy and reality meet, we get disappointed. Sad, but true.

Open Minded? sure lets all fire first. Forget ethics, Forget Morality, Forget philosophy. lets just be cool like all the other dystopian universes! Pew pew! Bang Bang! Make trek Great again right?

its a bloody TV show!!!!!!!! its not real life. Jesus H Christ

Probably the most sane comment ever posted on thiamine website.

Can you post a link to said “Thiamine Website?”

Don’t bother banging your head against the wall. This ilk will never be convinced. They still think the bridge should be made of cardboard and christmas light panels while the women officers all wear go-go skirts and your captain chews scenery like he’s in a 4th grade school play.

Harry, just when you begin to make sense you resort to your usual immature insults. It doesnt always have to be you vs everyone else. Grow up. You’re dropping into Enter Prize territory…

Alright alright but you gotta admit there are a large number of fans that won’t be happy unless it looks like a glorified TOS fan film.

Yeah but they are the minority. We’re spending too much time focusing on the whiners and contrarians who werent going to like anything. And we make them seem louder than they are.

The trailer is being widely praised. The vocal minority that hates everything can choose not to watch. But they will and they will come here and complain about every little thing and say how terrible it is…and they will watch.

A fair amount of “dystopian pew pew” doesn’t preclude ethics, morality and philosophy. If anything, it opens more room for interesting stories full of ethical and moral dilemmas (like, under which conditions it is acceptable to fire first).

Ever saw DS9? It’s stuffed to the brim with such topics.

Here here. In fact in the TMP novelization supposedly by Gene Roddenberry they have the utopian new-humans being too metropolitan to handle a galaxy so different then their utopia that only “old-humans” like Kirk can explore and put up with.

Um, no. The “new humans” of Roddenberry’s novelization (a wrinkle I actually appreciated as out-of-the-box thinking) were described by Kirk as too open and susceptible to alien influence to be conventional (i.e. Starfleet) and reliable space explorers, not because they couldn’t handle life outside their “utopian” safe spaces.

♪ Starship Captain James T. Kirk: We come in peace, shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill ♫

Have you seen Arena? Kirk could be pretty bloodthirsty at times. It’s pretty clear to me that no one on this site has even watched Trek, let alone understands it. I can think of a dozen reasons why firing first is a good idea. Quit complaining, for fks sake.

I am sooooo over the Taliban wing of Star Trek fandom.

The fact that, at its core, the show we love is about tolerance, diversity, embracing differences, and yet the Taliban wing behaves in a way that goes against all that makes you wonder what they have been watching all these years.

All I know is that my 15 year old son says, it looks supremely cool. Thank you STD !!! Mission accomplished.

This looks good, like a movie actually. In terms of aesthetics, it looks like it fits better in the Kelvin timeline that the TOS one. To be expected really as no one really wanted retro-Trek.

Just every Star Trek fan who watched Prime Universe Starfleet shows like TOS, TNG, VOY. Thats all.

Why do the “Klingons” look like ugly Xindi Drag Queens?

That’s kind of my reaction, too. Everything about them screams ‘Xindi Reptilians’.

The headrigdges and noses are reminiscent of TNG while the uniform colours (gold, black) make think of TOS. The brown and biege colours in the set design are much like TOS movie and TNG era Klingon sets. Open flames as well is quite a TNG/DS9 thing for Klingons.

Can’t say a single thing made me think of Xindi.

Yep – although I like most of the aesthetics of the trailer, and am definitely in the “retro aesthetics won’t work” camp, I do think the new Klingon look is overkill. (With the huge caveat that these may be a Klingon offshoot, and I can likely accept an in-universe explanation like that.)

So Unfortunately we whiney Fanbois have been right, CBS have been lying the whole time, this is not set in the Prime Universe. it is a Total REBOOT! If they were going to do that they could have at least stayed with the Kelvin universe. now we have a third universe of contradictions & inconsistencies.

I’m starting to view it as its own Discovery-verse. A variation on a theme, so to speak.

If that’s a reboot then that’s fantastic. They can next redo TOS completely and cast someone else as Kirk so the bitter taste of that ass Shatner can be wiped from Trek completely.

You know that video makes fun of fans like you, not me right?

The message was for you to get a life.

I have been a fanboy longer than most people on this thread. I remember watching Star Trek Tuesday night on NBC 7pm with my grandmother. My 15 year old son is named Benjamin Avery for a reason.

I love the effort to make space as realistic as possible.

The new look klingons, I get the need to make them look less like humans with a bumpy skull cap and less like a pen Asian warrior derivative and more alien.

As long as the philosophy of Trek is there I’m all in.

When you watched the episodes, what else happened?

Discovery is neither bad nor perfect. My reaction to the trailer was neutral and leaning to excited. We’ll have to see more before we judge if it’s good or not. I didn’t like that they changed the Klingons’ appearance. Also, the lens flares were very annoying. I hope that the series has NOTHING to do with abrams-verse(Kelvin timeline). It would be nice if we see guest appearances of actors from TNG, DS9, VOY or T’pol from Enterprise. We want to see other species too like the Xindi, the Borg, the Romulans. Why CBS put a geo-block on the trailer? Discovery is gonna be available worldwide.

Having seen the trailer a few more times, I feel that the dialogue was a bit stiff, and that for someone with the rank of “Lt. Commander”, the Michael Burnham character had the mannerism of a person fresh out of the Academy. But since the actors are new to the gig, I will give them a pass, since it took previous cast members of previous ‘Trek shows sometime to hone their tone for their roles.

Nevertheless, I am looking forward to this show.

Ten years before TOS, the Enterprise had already been in service over twenty years. Pike was already in command. “The Cage” had already taken place. This isn’t unexplored territory. The uniforms would continue to be worn throughout that decade.

The only thing worse would be shoehorned in references like “How do you like our special uniforms which we’re wearing only on a few ships?” Of course, ENT made a whole two-parter like that.

That’s nitpicking, though. Substance? I’m a little underwhelmed by this trailer. I’ll wait and see.

Well even for the JJ Verse it would not really match, as the first JJPrise was built in 2258.

This can only mean – the facts had been ignored – or – yes this is a total re-boot of Star Trek. Otherwise ist is strange why they then take the TOS reference in the trailer.

I think what is clear from this is that Discovery is very much going to be a DS9 style ‘dark’ show. Nothing wrong with that of course – plenty of people like that sort of thing and DS9 is very well thought of by most folk. It’s just a shame that it looks like we’re going to be losing those self contained, hopeful moral fables that the franchise used to do so well. Hayho though, if the stories, writing and acting are up to par, I suppose I’ll get over it.

The cage was 3 years or less before DISC. We have no idea what uniforms Pike and the Enterprise crew were wearing prior to that. TOS already established that older ships were wearing older uniforms in Charlie X. The Shenzhou is clearly not a flagship, and is wearing uniforms that appear to be direct descendants of those worn in ENT and on the Kelvin. GEN Wore both old and new uniforms mixed together on the ship at the same time. The crew of VOY Continued to wear the old style uniforms despite the fact they could have easily set their replicators to create the new style. And it goes on …

Yeah Im more thrilled that they took care in making uniforms that show an evolution from Enterprise and Kelvin than that they dont look like Cage or TOS.

Not impresed. I don’t mind the changes in uniforms etc but i do mind the wooden acting and dialogue. And it seems that this will be a show about klingons or at least the first episodes (btw the new klingons are horrible). It’s not bad (the visuals are really good) but nothing really inspiring. There is a phrase that Yeoh says at some point: “inform starfleet command. we have engaged the klingons” . Perhaps that was their mission?
Anyway not what i hoped for after 1 and a half year of waiting.

If you saw TNG’s pilot today, you’d never watch it again. Give them time. Also different directors might bring out something else. TNG cast were generally horrendous that first season until they started to relax and understand their characters more.

LOL. Some of you lot are living in the mirror universe. Wooden acting? Oh right, let’s watch overacting instead or silly acting, that’s TOS for you in many episodes. Let’s watch the utter shite that was TNG for at least two whole seasons of wooden acting and other nefarious nonsense. Or the Shakespearean dialogue of Voyager, now that was something we can quote all day! Spacious anomaly ahoy. Please.

Er, TNG was always superbly acted. Poorly written in Season 1, yes. But not poorly acted.

“Beukema” ROTFL

I like the transporter effect. It looks like an evolution of the effect used in TWOK and TSFS.

I’m just gonna point out all the things I LIKED about this:
Firstly, the warp effect looks neat. It conveys the impression that it’s actually space WARPING around the ship – not entirely dissimilar to what they’ve done in “Beyond”.
Secondly the props look neat so far.
Thirdly, so, from what I’ve seen, I would presume that they find SOMETHING in outer space that the Klingons are interested in. Whether those Klingon-like aliens we see here are actually “standard” Klingons, proto-Klingons, hyper-evolved Klingons or something else entirely is left unanswered and I find that rather intriguing. The same is true for what appears to be the general premise presented here – a lot can be done there.
And lastly, the ship design for the Shenzou has grown on me very quickly. Really, for example the bridge being located at the bottom part of the saucer is a rather interesting concept. It still looks a bit too “fierce” for an exploration vessel and I really don’t see why they felt compelled to have the bridge looking so much like what we’ve seen in the Abramsverse – 1 part alternate Enterprise, 1 part USS Vengeance, 2 parts USS Kelvin (along with the dutch angles and lens flares) – but hey, it’s KIND OF sticking to continuity (just the “wrong” continuity in my opinion – but that’s just what it is: my not-too-humble opinion).
Oh yes and I wonder whether the dialogue means to explain to us that Cmdr. Burnham has been raised by Vulcans. If so: Interesting!

Enjoyed the cinematic look & vibe. Speculation:

The trailer summarises just the pilot episode. So that ship is the Shenzhou.

The shots of Michael on her spacewalk look similar to the black hole/event horizon in “Interstellar”. Maybe the Klingon ship emerging from it is from the distant past — some kind of time-travel via black hole. The sarcophagus is actually Kahless in cryosleep. In the confusion/chaos, Michael unnecessarily shoots first, and Kahless is accidentally killed during the battle. Cue the Klingon death scene, a lot of justifiably angry Klingons, and the revelation that a bungled Starfleet mission triggered the TOS-era hostility between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

Georgiou furiously disagrees with Michael’s “shoot first” attitude and fires her from the crew. Or the Shenzhou is destroyed in the battle. Either way, Michelle Yeoh turns out to be a guest star. Michael is reassigned to the Discovery at the end of the pilot, which is when we get the “big reveal” of the ship and Jason Isaacs. (There’s another rumour about the connection between the two ships, but the Shenzhou’s registry number seems to contradict that).

If her decision to shoot first were influenced by Saru’s premonition, it would explain their both being ejected from the Shenzhou simultaneously. It might also be interesting to find out that they end up on the Discovery because of their demonstrated unorthodoxy and it’s utility for whatever ‘special misson’ the Discovery might be on.

I’ve just had a weird thought: What if Saru turned out to be Future Guy and that starting a war was the whole point?

Good speculation. I also assume the Shenzhou bites the dust. I suspect it is destroyed. I think the Klingons look the way they do for an in-universe reason.

Im not sure if it will be time travel or cryosleep or just ancient misfit Klingons. It would be interesting if, in this way, they sort of fix a big blunder from Enterprise – that being that “First Contact” with the Klingons went so badly it kicked off their “war”. In Enterprise that wasnt really the case. Perhaps this is the actual catalyst for the decades of strife between the two sides.

I also think there is more to Michael then we know. Has she been frozen in time? I dont know…I think there is something there.

Also, regarding the ship. So the “triangle” ship is the Shenzhou. But in that horrible CGI preview Fuller gave us last year, the “triangle” ship was the Discovery. Has there been a change? Will the Discovery be a ship re-build from parts of Shenzhou?

“the revelation that a bungled Starfleet mission triggered the TOS-era hostility between the Federation and the Klingon Empire”

Interesting. And it would be consistent with Picard’s comments about a first contact mission gone wrong triggering decades of conflict with the Klingons. (The first contact with conventional Klingons that we saw on ENT didn’t go smoothly, but it didn’t immediately result in overt conflict, either.)

I don’t think we should assume Michael Burnham identifies as a “she”. They could be a transgender or gender non-conforming person.

SHE is a fictional character. I don’t think anyone will hurt her feelings.

Just stop.

STAR TREK DIS. STAR TREK: STD. Sad but appropriate.

Unless the promotions are misleading like Star Trek Beyond, I guess I will view it the same as I do Deep Space Nine. As just another Sci-Fi show.

Ignorant

I’m a fan of the idea that both ships will remain in service, and will coordinate with one another in some form because of the splintering of an evidently well-established crew dynamic when Burnham and Saru transfer to Discovery. I was reading the Rise of the Federation books when I caught first rumors of Discovery, and may have even said something on here about how much I enjoyed the two-ship dynamic they created from the splintered remains of the NX-01 bridge crew. Could the suggestion have been intercepted? Meh, probably just wishful thinking.

I hope this is the case, too, and that Captain Georgiou is a recurring character, like Ericka Hernandez. Michelle Yeoh is a first-rate actor and the Trek universe will be much richer with her in it for the long-term.

Someone, please make the transcript for non-English speakers!

Just a guess: the desert planet in the opening scene might be Vulcan. When they walk away from the camera, you can clearly see storms over the Forge on the horizon.

That would make sense but has it been established before that the other visible planets would be seen from Vulcan?

Yes. While Spock in “The Man Trap” says that Vulcan “has no moon”, we see a companion planet or something to that accord in the sky in The Motion Picture:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/vulcan-79.jpg

That visual effect was changed in the director’s edition; I’d go with Spock’s line. But of course in JJ’s universe you can see other planets in the sky no matter where you’re standing, so who really knows. Delta Vega? God only knows where that is.

And even though it was edited out in TMP special edition in favor of some not-too-great cgi statues, it’s still clearly visible in TAS: Yesteryear.

http://www.startrek.com/legacy_media/images/200704/ani-003-shikahr/320×240.jpg

In other words Spock was lying!

They aren’t moons, but co-planets.

I was just re-reading one of my favorite ST novels: Spock’s World, this weekend.

There was an explanation – admittedly in response to the original (non-Director’s Cut) version of TMP – in that story.

After reading a portion of these comments, I only have one question. Why does production value now vs then matter? Why can’t we just sit down and enjoy a good Star Trek related story and be done with it?

I liked the part when Capt. Georgiou said “we have engaged the Klingons” reminded me of TNG Best of Both Worlds when Picard said “we have engaged the Borg”.

I am old enough to remember when “Code of Honor” was bad for being a caricature of folks of African descent. But now in this “progressive” Trek this is okay?

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAG56C0UIAMGLvc.jpg

Are the Klingons of African descent? That would be quite the bombshell….

Too stupid to live….

I imagine strong “sun” rays and good oxygen exists on many different planets (hence dark skin and flared nostrils).

Think about form and function. All basic “racial” human variations, for example have a purpose based in the region where that particular variety of human dwelled for a long time.

Klingons have always been dark(er) skinned and somewhat African in appearance. Draw from that what you will, but this is nothing new and has been around since TOS.

…Wooden perfomances…more animated delivery from a Vulcan and an alien, than the series’lead. Rejected High SChool Band uniforms. Lots and lots of “blue” on the bridge. A trailer dripping medocrity and totally void of humor or fun. Why am I not excited?

Also, does anyone think the asteroid belt in this trailer and the asteroid hangar in the Discovery reveal teaser have any combined significance?

oops my bad.

concerning the designs – i’m out. hoping for some fine acting though. isaacs, jones, green, yeoh – good actors. still hoping for the best with scripts by nick meyer & co.!

It does not say if it’s a prequel to TOS or the new movies. Only that it’s before Kirk,Spock and the Enterprise. Why would a viewer assume it’s before TOS?

At this point just about every person involved in the production has stated that it’s a prequel to TOS set in the prime timeline. And CBS doesn’t have the rights to use the Kelvin timeline anyway. Paramount and CBS are separate entities and the films and TV shows are legally considered to be separate franchises. No way CBS would be paying licensing fees to Paramount when they can use the prime timeline for free.

Speculation. The USS Shenzou is damaged heavily and Captain Georgiou is killed in the confrontation with these Klingons. Fast forward several months and the ship is retrofitted and re-named Discovery and Captain Lorca is put in command.

I agree with this theory. Possibly its retrofitted out in space with available parts. Remember the speculation that it was a Federation/Klingon hybrid?

That doesnt explain how they get a new Captain unless Lorca etc are already out there too…

I was thinking the same thing

I bet the Shengzhou gets destroyed in the pilot, making it possible for the characters to become the bridge crew of Discovery. That’s why we don’t see Jason Isaacs/Captain Lorca.

What a bunch of whiny babies. I think it looks really good for tv show. If you want generic trek just watch Voyager or Enterprise reruns.

Meh. To me The Orville – sadly – looks better than this.

Also – there was an easy way out of “but we need to modernize the looks even if it’s pre-TOS so that it does not feel retro”. That way is “Don’t make a prequel”. Plain and simple.

THIS on all counts!

I am a long time TOS fan, liked ST:2009 reboot; thought ST:ID was an epic failure on many levels, liked Beyond… I got to say that this looks way better than I expected! Looks like Wagon Train to the Stars with some action and a chaotic galaxy to explore. Love the communicators (note that these have to communicate with ships in orbit, not cell towers). Not quite sold on the divided helm console and uniforms but looks rugged pre-TOS so I’m in.

“…we assume is a young Terran”? You’re trying to be too cute. I believe the word you’re looking for is “human”.

You don’t understand the the usage difference for human v. Terran. Cute!

Recall that in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Spock is being quizzed by a computer and identifies a ‘Klingon Mummification Glyph’. Perhaps we will see one for the first time here.

Great catch.

Someone else speculated about the Klingons and is this what caused the rift between them and the Federation. I kind of like that idea since Enterprise screwed it up so bad.

I believe the TOS dialogue was referring to “First Contact with the Klingons”. Which we take to mean the VERY first contact. But it doesnt HAVE to mean that. And if these are ancient Klingons, it might still stand to reason.

Even without the temporal incursion of the Narada, the U.S.S. Kelvin did exist in the Prime timeline in 2233. Twenty years later, in DSC, it appears that the “uniqueness” of Kelvin’s tech style and layout are still influencing the design of Starfleet ships, including the Shenzhou. I’m not really surprised the producers would pick up on this bit of trivia and carry it forward. Hey … I’m not a fan of the “window” viewscreen or the HUD functionality, but I can’t dispute its use, either.

Yes, this is a very good point. Because many of us are saying “Enterprise….Discovery” but the Kelvin is practically a contemporary to the new ships seen in the trailer. 20 year difference give or take when the new ships launched.

I see a lot of similarities. Makes sense. It really does fit within the technology evolution seen with Enterprise, carried into Kelvin and now these ships and you can extrapolate to a degree into the TNG era.

The issue is TOS but we do have to reasonable about a series from the 60’s. If we get to see a Constitution Class ship in the new series, even if its the Enterprise, my hope would be a great deal of care taken to maintain the look and feel but I’d be fine with some reasonable updates to make it make sense (more detail, flat screen etc).

If the feel of the designs, technology and uniforms all make sense from Enterprise to Nemesis and the only blip is the three years of TOS in the 60’s, I think its reasonable for us to accept that.

The caveat being, MAKE THE WRITING GOOD! Bad writing will make every little change and creative choice glaring. Good writing will let us forgive things we might otherwise not particularly like.

Agreed. Seems like it’s a better approach to integrate the Kelvin into the design lineage for Starfleet than just to pretend it didn’t happen. That way you get to integrate a more modern looking tech base and extend an olive branch to the fans of the movies (many of which are younger and absolutely essential if we actually want Star Trek to stay financially viable enough to justify more content.) Granted none of it really looks that similar to the Constitution class, but then again neither did the original Constitution class and her own refit. Starfleet seems to like experimenting. Hell, for all we know, each species would build the ships they were responsible for with their own style.

The window viewscreen was one of the few things about the Kelvin films I immediately embraced. It makes so much sense. There’s no reason to put the bridge in the most exposed part of the ship, if there’s no benefit from doing it. There have been many episodes of Trek where looking out the window would have proven useful. Even the original Enterprise model from the Cage has what appears to be a window on the front of the bridge about the size and placement of the viewscreen inside. Moreover, it makes much more sense that a bright explosion would make a crew person shield their eyes. I didn’t necessarily care for the depiction of visual communications for instance, as it should have been opaque to the exterior in that mode, but otherwise I’m all for it.

Thoughts on the ships. There is clearly some mystery about Shenzhou/Discovery.

Was there not some images released showing a “Shenzhou” that looked a lot different?

We see the Shenzhou here looking like a fully rendered version of the triangle ship Fuller showed us last year as the “Discovery”.

If we assume its Discovery on the poster, at first I thought it looked more traditional, like the Enterprise but in seeing it close up, it also has the triangle hull. Is it the same class as Shenzhou?

Whats up with these ships?

I don’t see that at all. To me, Shenzhou looks like the wireframe model we saw in the behind-the-scenes trailer, and looks nothing like Discovery.

No? Ill defer to you. It just seems triangular to me.

Upon closer inspection…it’s hard to say lol we’ll just have to see, but my strong hunch is it’s Shenzhou