After being delayed due to the pandemic, issue 76 of the official Star Trek Magazine from Titan Books arrived this week, featuring a number of exclusive interviews with the cast of Star Trek: Discovery and more. In it, Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green talks about canon and her character’s journey in the upcoming season, which debuts on October 15.
Martin-Green on Disco Season 3
The third season of Star Trek: Discovery has the crew jumping forward into the 32nd century. In the new issue of the official magazine, Martin-Green talks about what this means in terms of Star Trek canon:
Everything we see is an establishment of canon. And there’s such beauty in that. There’s something wildly fascinating and very fulfilling about that, because now you have the responsibility to create canon with every single thing you do. What I love the most, I think, is that we still are who we are as a show. We still have the connection to canon, but it’s almost like you get to see canon go where it’s never gone before. You get to see what canon represents, the spirit of it, in this whole new world you’ve never seen. You get to see what it means to establish this universality, and the fight it takes to establish it. You see that in motion, which is exciting.
Preview page from Star Trek Magazine #76
Season two ended with both the USS Discovery and Michael Burnham separately entering a wormhole to jump into the future. In her new interview, Martin-Green talks about what Michael Burnham goes through in the future before reuniting with the rest of the USS Discovery crew:
It’s intriguing, because in the… time that I spent alone, I marched to the beat of my own drum, in a way. But then I’ve also always been so duty-oriented. So, there’s been this interesting progression of not having to work, not having to be so principle-based, but to just be on this mission to find my crew. We see what it feels like for me to get a little rougher around the edges. And the, coming back [to Discovery], it’s tough to come back. Surprisingly, Shockingly. It’s tough to come back, and to come back to the rigidity that I once knew, that was once home to me. I’ve gotten to live in a world where things are looser. I’ve gotten to feel what that feels like. So, It’s interesting because it’s not an easy transition back to the crew.
Star Trek Magazine #76 exclusive cover
More Discovery, Lower Decks, and Picard interviews in Star Trek Magazine #76
In addition to Martin-Green, the new official magazine features interviews with Discovery stars Mary Wiseman (Tilly), Anthony Rapp (Stamets), and Wilson Cruz (Culber), all discussing season three. There is also an interview with guest star Kenneth Mithell (Kol/Kol-Sha/Tenavik), who revealed he will be back in season three, this time playing a human character in two episodes.
As for Star Trek: Picard, there are interviews with Harry Treadaway (Narak) and Evan Evagora (Elnor). Star Trek: Lower Decks creator/showrunner Mike McMahan also has an interview.
See below for more preview pages from Star Trek Magazine #76.
Star Trek Magazine #76 is available now on newsstands, digitally, and via subscription. More info at titan-comics.com.
Star Trek Magazine #76 newsstand cover
Titan is also offering a special Star Trek Day 4-issue subscription for 25% off. Deal ends on September 11. Click HERE for more info.
Tuesday is Star Trek Day! Start the celebrations early with 25% off a 4-issue subscription!https://t.co/xUavLfWp8l#startrekday #startrek pic.twitter.com/MRuAsRNoh1
— Star Trek Explorer (@StarTrekMag) September 5, 2020
Keep up with all the Star Trek merchandise at TrekMovie.com.
The 32nd century is a brave new world.
So excited about season 3. How it handles canon is fascinating to find out.
I have to wonder what causes the Federation to dwindle into very few worlds between the 24th century and the 32nd. Given that the Federation already seems tarnished in Picard, does it suggest the next 800 years will be an exercise in futility until Discovery goes onto to save the Federation?
Which is why I don’t find this concept alluring at all. We’ve spent 50+ years appreciating the Federation and what it stands for, now we’re supposed to be OK with it being corrupt or declining or a decrepit shadow of its former self? We have this in the real world, we don’t need this in Star Trek.
Well the Federation was never perfect to begin with. Star Trek does mirror the real world in some aspect.
That’s true, but I tend to have a Disneyland view of it, like they’re the perfect example of virtue… Of course I know this is going too far, but it’s still difficult to take when the show is going completely the other way.
For me, in TNG, they tried to portray the Federation and Starfleet as too evolved, too perfect. Especially in the early days, conflict was frowned up. I feel Discovery and Picard have the opposite problem. There is almost nothing but conflict. The Federation and Starfleet are doomed for their arrogance like the Terran Empire, which Picard tries to hold onto scraps of what the Federation once was. There has got to be a middle ground.
That’s a pretty cool cover, but is it a little weird for Stamets to be foregrounded ahead of Burnham?
He’s a much better character, but I still see your point.
I think I’m right in saying that Stamets is next in line after Saru and Burnham. We know that Burnham is separated from the ship and the trailer seemed to suggest Saru leaves Starfleet.
So perhaps this is a hint at a plot twist about command of the Discovery, for at least some of the season.
Or they just thought that image looked best on the cover . . . (which still wouldn’t invalidate that plot possibility of course.
All I know is, if I were SMG’s agent, I might have some issues with this. She’s the lead of the show, she should be front and center on magazine covers like this.
I think it’s part of the LGBTQIA inclusivity attempt. To ensure minority groups are included. In future such issues will be a thing of the past which means the idea of a first Star trek show headlined by a black woman will take a backseat to that.
I don’t know, maybe I’m having a bad day, but these kinds of interviews are pointless. So many words to say so little. I’m fine with Trekmovie posting this, this is still Star Trek news or at least content, but really if you distill Sonequa Martin-Green’s comments to their bare essential, you’re left with almost nothing.
I enjoy Discovery for what its is. But this interview snippet just had me scratching my head. What is she actually saying? “You have a responsibility to create canon with everything that you do.” – what does that even mean?
Precisely. It’s double-talk. Like almost any show-runner and even actor interview. Next season is going to be wonderful, wait ’till you see what we have in store for you, wait you’ll see how this will all tie in to canon, … Then they show us Klingons talking through tupperware, hyper-dimensional bed bugs, mushroom-based subspace, …
It’s basically a whole lot of nothing.
LOL =)
I bet you SMG has never uttered the word ‘canon’ a single day in her life until she got on Star Trek. ;)
And my guess is this whole thing is a PR drive to make ti clear Discovery is just doing its own thing now since they got so much heat from fans for it feeling very uncanon its first two seasons and the big change to the 32nd century in the first place.
But she basically said this before in another interview I remember TM posted right after season 2 ended. I do think they ARE very happy they can just do their own thing now and not everything just be a reaction to stuff we already know (another reason I hate prequels). Now everything they do will be completely on their own terms and can make up whatever they want. That must be very refreshing.
Yes, why do you think they went to the 32nd century? It’s precisely because they don’t want to deal with canon. And in her very diffuse statement this is what she’s saying, that it’s exciting that everything you do becomes canon (because none of what we’ll see will ever have appeared or happened in Star Trek before). But then, why call the show Star Trek?
Well it’s not like they jumped to another universe (although that’s been done too lol), they are still dealing with the prime universe and everything that happened in the past happened. So canon is STILL there. It’s not like everything from Enterprise to Picard has been erased, its just far enough where they can do their own thing but still acknowledge the universe as a whole.
That’s literally what TNG did, right?
They weren’t set 800 years after TOS but even 100 years later the show could basically do whatever it wanted and put its own stamp to things, which it did VERY well and why it became so accepted. Making the Klingons friends made the point clear you CAN set canon any way you want once you get far enough from other shows. Same time the Romulans were still very much in the same hostile relationship we saw them in TOS. They could change whatever they wanted, but still kept some things we knew in play. That’s why it was so smart to go 100 years into the future with TNG.
I imagine that’s what Discovery will be doing, just on a bigger scale, especially since they are not ignoring the big players in the universe. I was a bit afraid jumping so far ahead maybe we won’t even see Klingons, Cardassians, Bajorans, etc again. I thought maybe they would just wipe the slate clean and just focus on brand new aliens completely like the way Voyager mostly did. That could’ve been fine, but same time we still want to see the others. And the trailer made it clear they are still very much part of the future since we saw Andorains, Cardassians, etc and we know now Trills are going to play a big role too since one of the new characters will be a Trill from that century serving on Discovery.
So why NOT call it Star Trek? From what I can see, everything we know about Star Trek is still there, right? In fact the story seems to be about restoring the Federation. They are not dropping it for some brand new group, which frankly being so far into the future they could’ve done. It’s literally about restoring what we think of what Star Trek is. That’s very, well, Star Trek. ;)
You make good points Tiger2. You’re right, what happened in the past still happened and they need to follow that. But they don’t need to be attentive to the possibility that whatever they’re doing in their present could clash with what’s supposed to happen in their future, because we don’t know what’s supposed to happen… That’s what the Kelvin movies did, they changed the timeline so they didn’t need to be constrained to a pre-determined future.
Yeah that’s true as well. But why I’m looking forward to it because all possibilities are open again.
“if you distill Sonequa Martin-Green’s comments to their bare essential, you’re left with almost nothing”
Yep.
I get the sense that she’s got a very narrow set of media lines and messages and isn’t comfortable enough to do more than skate with them.
She’s the star, top of the call sheet, so TPTB really should give her a few tidbits that she can share, even if they are just little things that fans would want to know.
It’s clear that the NDA’s that the actors and producers sign are very restrictive, but some are more comfortable than others letting a bit of personal stuff come through or figuring out a few anecdotes that they can get clearance to share.
Doug Jones is a joy on every panel, and some of the minor bridge crew actors can find things that they can be permitted to say. e.g. Patrick Kwok-Chung nerding out about his station on the bridge, or Raven Dauda talking about using all the props in Sick-bay. That’s stuff fans really want to hear about, and it involves no spoilers.
Other though just spin on about how great the writers are, or SMG’s leadership is within the company, but aren’t coming across as authentically because they don’t back it up with anecdotes or examples. So, it can come across as pretty vapid.
It sounds like a canon cannon is spewing forth a wondrous tapestry of canon for the canonistas that is beautiful, canonically speaking.
You caught the spirit of the interview perfectly.
You summed it up perfectly. Full of canon nonsense.
My hope is that the 32nd century is only for a limited Discoverys Stage and the final timetravel goes to the Picard-Time and from this point they prevent the downfall of the Federation.
Continuing Picard with the knowledge, that all what happens will be useless, is difficult to accept!
But we don’t even know when the downfall begin. It can start in the 31st century. Or it could even be future related (but I doubt they will go even farther in the future).
And since SMG says canon about 100 times in that article, canon wise we know the Federation was humming along just fine through the 31st century because of Daniels. So it can’t actually be something that started that along ago UNLESS of course there was a sudden time disruption or something which we know the Temporal Cold War was all about.
Maybe the current future Discovery went to was caused by the Temporal Cold War and other time travel stuff.
That’s certainly a possibility. I don’t know if the producers want to have anything to do with TCW story line though since it was so maligned on Enterprise, even that show basically dropped it after season 4. But it is canon. ;)
TCW storyline is just one of those odd things that had the potential to be great but they didn’t seem to know what they were doing with it even though there was so much focus on it. I always thought (as I’m sure many others) why not just have it be about a Romulan from the future who is trying to change the outcome of the upcoming Romulan war? And the Romulans would control a lot of the alpha quadrant in the future and not the Federation. And that could’ve served a great segue of creating the Romulan war story line in seasons 3 or 4 but I digress.
Sorry about the rant lol. It just really bothers me they had a great device to make the show tie in with TOS more while being a cool idea on its own and it was basically squandered.
But if Discovery does use it, it would be a chance to do something different with it and hopefully more coherent from the start.
I have really tried to like Discovery. The actors are fine and the effects are great. The stories however have just not been that entertaining to me.
Maybe season 3 will be different.
I am happy to hear that Ken Mitchell is returning, I hope this means his health is getting better. He is slowly becoming the Vaughn Armstrong and Jeffrey Combs of the Discovery era with his appearances as different characters.
Unfortunately, Ken Mitchell has ALS. The disease is fatal. It’s unlikely to get better before that.
ALS is progressive but some people experience periods of remission.
One can hope that Ken Mitchell is granted a bit more time.
However, it’s more likely that SH management and the writers made best of the situation by enabling Ken to play the role of a human with physical limitations. Kurtzman mentioned after season 1 that they had wanted to include a character with mobility limitations but realized that the character should be portrayed by an actor with a limitation. Ken is know to the producers and can provide authentic representation.
But it’s also that the Star Trek cast and crew sincerely want to continue to work with and support Ken. He mentioned in one of his interviews that Michelle Yeoh had taken him to Korea for a novel treatment that she hoped would slow the disease. One hopes that COVID-19 travel restrictions haven’t prevented his continuing with this.
Looking forward to this show
Is there an air date for Discovery S3 on Netflix in the UK? I’ve not seen any Netflix promotional material for it yet.
I think most people expect that Netflix will run new Discovery episodes a day after their US debut, like they did with previous seasons.
Thanks
Amazing really, even in interviews SMG is annoying and utterly hollow.
Just like your comments really.