New 'Star Trek: Discovery' series to feature female lead
Also revealed: The new series will be set a decade before the original TV series.
When the upcoming "Star Trek: Discovery" edges out of port, it will have a woman as the TV series' lead actor.
However, she won't be captain, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but rather a lieutenant commander. The captain will likely be non-white, reports Deadline.
"We're going deep into something that was for me always very tantalizing, and [we're telling] that story through a character who is on a journey that is going to teach her how to get along with others in the galaxy," series creator Bryan Fuller told reporters Wednesday during the Television Critics Association summer press tour. "For her to truly understand something that is alien, she has to first understand herself."
Fuller also revealed that the new series will be set 10 years before Captain Kirk began his five-year journey in the original TV series.
Star Trek has a history of diverse casting. The first interracial kiss on US TV took place on the show back in 1968, and Avery Brooks lead the cast of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as commander and captain Benjamin Sisko throughout the '90s.
The series is set to debut its premiere episode on CBS in January 2017 before streaming the rest of its season on CBS All Access in the US. Episodes will stream a day later on Netflix internationally. (Disclosure: CBS is CNET's parent company.)
