When the first season of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ ended on a shot of the titular starship in the midst of a rendezvous with the Enterprise, the question on everyone’s lips was whether or not this meant we would be seeing Spock when the show resumed its run. Given the space the character occupies in the imaginations of ‘Trek’ fans the world over, this created a degree of suspense that the writers and producers of ‘Discovery’ have been all too happy to lean into. And now the suspense has been broken at last. Spock is coming.
Speaking during the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, executive producer and showrunner Alex Kurtzman didn’t mince words, saying simply “Yes, you will be seeing Spock this season.” You could be forgiven for taking that one with a grain of salt, though. After all, we’ve known for some time that we’d be seeing a young Spock in flashbacks to his and Burnham’s childhood on Vulcan. And while that would certainly count as “seeing Spock,” it wouldn’t exactly e the same as seeing the present-day adult version. After all, the Season Two trailer got a lot of mileage out of simply hinting at Spock’s presence and involvement.
But it turns out that’s exactly what we’re getting. Speaking to Variety, Kurtzman revealed that not only will Spock be appearing, but the role has already been cast. Though he pointedly avoided specifying who, precisely, had been cast, Kurtzman also spoke on the difficulty of casting the character, a challenge that goes beyond the nigh-impossible to fill shoes of Leonard Nimoy’s legendary portrayal:
“Everybody assumes that just because Spock is all about logic, that there is no emotion in there and that’s entirely untrue. So finding an actor who can convey what we know to be very Vulcan, but also reveal so much emotion in the eyes and in the small gestures, so you understand that there’s just a tornado of things happening under the surface is critical. So you need an actor who can do both of those things at the same time, which is very challenging.”
Kurtzman’s remarks echo Nimoy himself, who famously described Spock as a deeply passionate man who was constantly fighting to keep those passions in check.
No word yet on when in the season Spock is expected to show up (though the smart money is on the later half) but based on the recent trailer, he will almost certainly be a major player when he does. In the course of the trailer, we learn that Captain Pike will be assuming command of the Discovery with a mission to investigate a series of mysterious signals that have been detected throughout the galaxy. While Spock himself is said to have taken a leave of absence from the Enterprise prior to this mission, Burnham comes to believe that he is connected to the signals.
Who would you like to see take on the role of Spock when he finally appears? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back with ScienceFiction.com for more on the second season of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ and other upcoming ‘Star Trek’ projects as it becomes available.
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ will feature returning stars Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, and Anthony Rapp alongside newcomers Anson Mount and Tig Notaro. Though no premiere date for the second season has been announced yet, we know that it will begin airing on CBS All Access in January 2019.
