‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Cast And Crew Welcome Anson Mount As They Prep For Season 2 Production Start

The cast and crew of Star Trek: Discovery are about to get to work making season two up in Toronto. Their welcome messages for Anson Mount – just announced to be joining the show in the role of Capt. Pike – leads off our round up of social media and interviews of Discovery happenings.

Cast and crew welcome Anson Mount

Anson Mount showing off his steely blues

The news hit social media on Monday:ย Anson Mount has been cast to play Captain Christopher Pike in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. Mount posted a lengthy and appreciative message on Facebook to celebrate:

Anson Mount Facebook post about being cast as Captain Pike on Star Trek: Discovery
Hisย Discovery castmates were quick to welcome the newest member of their ranks.

The writers and showrunner Aaron Harberts chimed in as well.

And Jason Isaacs, who played Captain Lorca for most of Discovery‘s first season, wished him well with his usual panache.

Gearing up for season 2 production

The second season of Discovery is set to begin production very soon. Stages at Pinewood Studios in Toronto are officially booked by Star Trek: Discovery (production codename Green Harvest) starting next Monday, April 16, 2018, through to November 8, 2018.

The Discovery crew has started to pull the pieces together to get ready. Monday afternoon James MacKinnon,ย Dept. Head Prosthetic and Special F/X Makeup, showed he was “station ready” adding “makeup tests here we go!”:

And today, showrunner Aaron Harberts teased Twitter with this (presumably about seeing Anson Mount in full Captain Pike uniform and make up for a camera test):

Others tweeted their excitement today about getting things rolling again, including this note from actor Doug Jones on Twitter.

Anthony Rapp took a selfie with his fellow redheaded co-stars Mary Wiseman and Emily Coutts.

Prep work for season two has actually been going on in Toronto for weeks. Last week VFX Supervisor Jason Zimmerman (frequently referred to by the production team as “Jay Z”) announced his arrival on the scene by showing off his chair on Twitter.

And while there is no indication that he will be back in season two, actor Kenneth Mitchell, who played Kol in Season one, sent his well wishes to the team, featuring a classic Trek t-shirt from the days of iron-ons.

Sonequa talks her early Trek process and enacting Trek’s lessons in her own life

Speaking with theย Essenceย podcast Yes, Girl! the Commander Burnham actress shared her passion for the creation of the character:

We are chugging away and diving into so many themes on [Discovery]. We are all so passionate and believe in it. What an enduring legacy that Star Trek is, because of what it represents. Because it represent this utopia of diversity and equality and universality. And so one of the many themes is that my name is Michael and I appreciate they had the boldness to do this, because the original creators of the show, Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman, decided to pay homage to one of Bryan Fuller’s stylistic choices. He typically gives his female characters male names. There was even talk the Archangel Michael when referencing the character and influencing the character. But then when I grabbed hold of it, I created that I was named after my biological father. So, we sort of all decided that is what we are going with. What I love about it is that it is this tiny little political statement or socio-political statement about gender roles being a little more open and a little less confined and black and white. In the future a girl can be named after her father or a son could be named after his mother.

When asked what’s next for Burnham and Discovery:

For us, what is next is continuing to pour into this story and to continue to believe in what it stands for and continuing to see, at least for me, I want to see that change in my own life. The stories that we are telling in the show, I want to see them reflected in my own life.

Sonequa Martin-Green at the BAFTA Tea Party

A Betazoid, a Human raised by Vulcans, and a Klingon walk into a restaurant…

There was some inter-Trek-generation love last week, with TNG’s Marina Sirtis and Michael Dorn running into Discovery’s Sonequa Martin-Green at a vegan restaurant last Thursday.

 


Star Trek: Discoveryย is available exclusively in the USA onย CBS All Access. It airs in Canada on the Space Channel and streams on CraveTV. It is available on Netflix everywhere else.

Keep up with all theย Star Trek: Discoveryย news at TrekMovie.

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Thank you Trekmovie.com for all the awesome production updates and news. Welcome back to Toronto ST Discovery cast and crew. Hopefully it warms up soon – we are still getting flurries back east!! This seemingly never-ending winter will eventually be over so we can all once again enjoy eating and drinking on the outdoor patios in downtown TO!!

Where do the events of “The Cage” (or whatever part of it that is canon) line up with where Discovery is in the timeline? Is Discovery still prior to those events?

yes, I think Discovery is around 5 years before

@Spiked Canon — Nope. Discovery starts 10 years before TOS. The Cage is 13 years before TOS. Season two presumably starts 8 or 9 years before TOS now. So The Cage is 4-5 years before Season 2 of DISC.

That timeline is DOA. It’s going to be overwritten this year. It’s today’s “Warp 14” — we will pretend it away.

It is generally accepted that “The Cage” was sometime in 2254. Discovery’s first season was approximately May 2256 to approximately September 2257. So, assuming season two picks up right where season one ended, it is anywhere between 2 3/4 to 3 3/4 years after “The Cage”.

It’s also important to note that in Discovery season 1 the USS Discovery was a newly launched vessel. The USS Enterprise was launched in 2245, so it is already 11-12 years old in Disco.

Is it just me or does this sound like Pike is going to be in command of Disco for a short while before returing to Enterprise? Why would they make a big deal of the Pike casting while nobody really cares for the actual captain of Discovery?

That thought crossed my mind but we’ll have to wait for further casting news I suppose. They must have chosen the actor to play the new Disco captain waiting on Vulcan by now, unless they don’t plan that reveal until much later in the season.

I wonder if the season will be split into two again with the first half comprising Chapter 3 and the second half serving as Chapter 4.

Maybe Pike will be in command of Discovery in Chapter 3 with the new CO on Vulcan introduced in Chapter 4?

Or they could go “captainless” for the first chapter with Saru in command. Who knows how long the arc with the Enterprise will be, two episodes or eight… interesting dynamics to be had with an acting captain on Disco and a seasoned veteran at the Enterprise. Also Sarek/Burnham/Pike/maybe Spock…

Remember in season 1 when several actors who were only part of the first 2 episodes were announced just like the main cast? Just because they talk about Anson Mount now doesn’t necessarily mean that he will have a longer arc in season 2. As for Discovery’s new captain it’s possible that they are keeping it a secret or early season 2 story will have that he won’t be introduced until later in the season.

How come Anson Mount looks so different in that pic?

Angle/lighting?

He looks 10 years younger without that beard.

Acting!!!

Welcome back DSC Team!!! Can’t wait for the Season 2 adventure!!!

Sweet, I collect 375 quatloos every time Jason Isaacs uses the word “woke.”

So the doctor’s definitely back!? Spoiler?

Not really. It’s been discussed by the actors and producers that he’ll be there, at least as part of the mycelial network. They just haven’t said how exactly.

It’s nice to have another fan cast in the series!

So they aren’t calling me to play Spock? Typical. Their loss.

Splendid choice! I know the resemblance isn’t everything, but he is a good match for Hunter, and he has the chips for it.

Doesn’t sound as though Jason Isaacs will be back. A pity.

Agreed. Lorca was a very compelling character. And I bet we won’t get an answer to what happened to Prime Lorca anytime soon either, which kind of pi**es me off.

Isaacs was great, though I doubt he would have signed up to be in Discovery if the role was multi-season. That’s just not his thing.

Won’t he reprise his role for season 2 of that Netflix series? Sorry, forgot the name. But it would suggest that he’s not completely against doing a multi-season role.

He’s filming Season two of The OA right now.

I’m pumped! Looking forward to the next season

CONGRATULATIONS, Loved you in ” Hell on Wheels” so do us trekkers proud on “Star Trek : Discovery. So engage engines and full speed ahead Capt.Pike. ๐Ÿš€๐Ÿš€๐Ÿš€

Wait – is Wilson Cruz back on the show??

They have indicated in other interviews that he will be on the show again, but probably not as a regular. What form he’ll appear in (e.g., flashback, Force Ghost in the mycelial network, Mirror Universe version) is unknown.