Star Trek Discovery casts a major flashback role, so expect more blasts from the past

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Star Trek Discovery has barely been around for five minutes and already it’s reached warp-speed in terms of shocking story beats and developments. That’s not even factoring in the casting of a brand new, very important role for the series. Spoilers for the Star Trek Discovery premiere follow...

TrekMovie are reporting that 24’s Mia Kirshner will be stepping into the boots of Mama Spock, Amanda Grayson. The human wife of Sarek, and mother to everyone’s favourite logical, pointy-eared Vulcan, will surely have a big part to play in future flashbacks after the premiere’s big reveal.

There’s plenty of stuff I won’t go into here, but it goes without saying that the past plays a major role for the new Trek series, what with Sonequa Martin-Green’s character Michael Burnham not only presently incarcerated, but also the small matter of being Spock’s adoptive sister.

Announcing a casting so (relatively) late in the day – while the show is ongoing – not only highlights how well the showrunners have been at keep schtum, but may also hint that flashbacks will come heavily to the fore. If not now, then the final batch of Discovery episodes that will begin airing in January will surely heavily explore the past of Michael (and maybe even Spock?).

It’s not often that shows can keep the past and present stories of a main character (ahem) engaged but Star Trek Discovery appears to be that rare breed of riveting main story and flashbacks that provide a genuinely interesting part of unexplored Star Trek lore – and Spock’s mum is going to be near the centre of it. 

Image: CBS

Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.