Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty ImagesRejoice, Trekkies! After an exhaustive search, it appears we finally have our lead actress for CBS All Access' upcoming Star Trek: Discovery.
Sonequa Martin-Green, known well by fans of genre TV thanks to her work on The Walking Dead, has been tapped to star in the first Trek series in a decade. She'll play a lieutenant commander on the Discovery, according to EW, who first reported the news.
Martin-Green makes history as the first African-American woman to lead the cast of one of the franchise's ensembles. Not only that, but Discovery marks another first by making its main protagonist someone other than a captain—something that was important to then-executive producer Bryan Fuller when he spoke about the series with reporters back in August.
"We've seen six series from the captain's point of view," he explained. "To see a character from a [new] perspective on the starship—one who has different dynamic relationships with a captain, with subordinates, it gave us richer context." (Fuller stepped down from duties earlier this fall to focus on his upcoming Starz series, American Gods.)
The 13-episode first season, which will be made available weekly on CBS All Access following a two-hour launch on CBS in May, will follow an incident in the history of Starfleet that other series/movies in the franchise have touched upon, but never actually explored.
Martin-Green's involvement in the show is sure to have fans wondering about the fate of her character on TWD, Sasha, who is still very much alive. However, per EW, she will continue on as a series regular on the hit AMC series. CBS TV Studios declined to comment on her casting.
Martin-Green joins a cast that includes Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones, Chris Obi, Shazad Latif, Mary Chieffo and Anthony Rapp—who, in another first for the series, will play an openly-gay lieutenant.
Are you excited about the news, Star Trek fans? Worried about Sasha, TWD fans? Sound off in the comments below.