Bryan Fuller talks Star Trek rumors and teases the upcoming CBS series
With the franchise celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Star Trek fans are eagerly awaiting the arrival of both next month’s Star Trek Beyond and next year’s new Star Trek series — the franchise’s first since Star Trek Enterprise concluded its four season run in 2005. Although we’ve seen a teaser trailer, specific details about the new show are few and far between. Moviefone managed to catch up with showrunner Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, American Gods) at this week’s Saturn Awards and got an update regarding some of the Star Trek rumors that have hit the web.
“I mean, it’s funny,” Fuller tells the outlet. “I’ve read that we’re [set] before ‘Next Generation,’ after ‘[Star Trek VI: The] Undiscovered Country,’ which is false. I’ve read that it’s an anthology show, which is not accurate. So it’s interesting to see those suggestions, and seeing the truth mixed in with them and going like, ‘Oh, they got that part right…’ But it’s sort of on the truth-o-meter on PolitiFacts. It’s sort of like some truth, and a lot of like, ‘No — pants on fire! That’s not true.'”
Many of the recent Star Trek rumors originated in a story at Birth.Movies.Death published back in April. While some, like the show’s time period, now appear to be in question, Fuller’s comments do suggest that there is some also some truth to be found in that report. One of the Star Trek rumors that Fuller does confirm is that the new series will tell a singular story across its first season.
“One of the things that is exciting for me is that we are telling a ‘Star Trek’ story in a modern way,” he explains. “We’re telling a 13-chapter story in this first season. It’s nice to be able to dig deep into things that would have been breezed passed if we were doing episodic and had to contain a story to an episode.”
Fuller also says that we’ll see multiple crews in that storyline and that we’ll “eventually” see some familiar Star Trek characters. Initial casting, however, will aim for diversity.
“We are going to be continuing [Star Trek’s] tradition of progressive casting and progressive character work to be an inclusive world,” says Fuller. “…[T[hat’s the most promising thing that ‘Star Trek’ offers, is a vision of the future where we do all get along.”
Click here to check out the full Bryan Fuller interview.
Star Trek is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman, Fuller and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers.
Which Star Trek rumors are you hoping will pan out? What do you want to see from the new show? Let us know in the comments below!