‘Star Trek: Discovery’ is here, but the audience reaction to the new show is still taking shape. Despite the general praise accumulated thus far, some points of contention have already emerged. But while some of those have only become apparent in the wake of Sunday’s premiere event, others have been taking shape for some time.
One such controversy is the design of the show’s Klingon makeup. Suffice it to say that while the look of the Klingons has evolved over the years, ‘Discovery’ presents a version of the iconic warriors that is a far cry from anything fans have seen before. Indeed, while the show has taken its share of aesthetic liberties, this has arguably been the most controversial so far.
It now seems, however, that this wasn’t always the case. When Bryan Fuller – who ultimately left the show due to a combination of creative differences and scheduling complications – was still at the helm of ‘Discovery’, he approached Michael Dorn to play a role on series. Dorn, of course, is a ‘Star Trek’ veteran, having played Worf across two television series and four feature films between 1987 and 2002, and would have (once again) played one of Worf’s ancestors in Fuller’s version of ‘Discovery’. Asked on Twitter what the Klingons in Fuller’s show might have looked like, Dorn responded as follows:
Nope, Bryan Fuller’s Klingons were very different.
— Michael Dorn (@akaWorf) September 25, 2017
While Dorn’s reply doesn’t go as far as providing a description, the obvious implication is that the Klingons of the Fuller-led version of ‘Discovery’ would have had a more familiar look, whatever form that ultimately took. This is perhaps not that surprising to those who have followed the show’s lengthy development, as Fuller (who cut his teeth writing for ‘Deep Space Nine’ and ‘Voyager’) has elsewhere suggested that his version of the show would have avoided several of the visual discontinuities that fans have noted between ‘Discovery’ and the original series.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Jason Isaacs, and Michelle Yeoh. New episodes drop Sundays at 8:30 Eastern on CBS All Access.
