Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek: Discovery character, Philippa Georgiou – captain, emperor, take your pick – will step into the franchise spotlight with a series of her own!
While the imminently returning series, Star Trek: Discovery, was a late-2017 launch centrepiece for CBS All Access, the venerable sci-fi franchise it adapts continues to extend its presence, dominating – or, should we say, assimilating – the streaming service with Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek: The Next Generation Jean-Luc Picard spinoff, Short Treks offerings and at least two animated series already in the works. The Discovery spinoff is being planned as an ensemble series starring Yeoh as Captain Philippa Georgiou, according to Deadline. As Yeoh expresses in a statement:
“I’m so excited to continue telling these rich Star Trek stories. Being a part of this Universe and this character specifically has been such a joy for me to play. I can’t wait to see where it all goes – certainly I believe it will go ‘where no WOMAN has ever gone before!’”
Plans for the would-be series are still reportedly in very early stages, with no details revealed about its premise. This may be due to the notion that Yeoh’s Georgiou will likely continue to play a part in the events of Discovery season 2, which premieres on January 17th. As a CBS All Access Star Trek project, the spinoff will see the involvement of executive producer and franchise steward Alex Kurtzman, along with Aaron Baiers, Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt. As Kutzman express of Yeoh’s spinoff project:
“Michelle has shattered ceilings, broken boundaries, and astonished us with her grace and gravitas for decades. As a human, I adore her. As an actor, I revere her,” He adds, “Erika and Boey are remarkable, exciting writers who bring a fresh perspective to the world of Star Trek, and we’re all thrilled to explore the next wild chapter in the life of Captain Philippa Georgiou.”
Yeoh, a venerable international superstar and action icon who achieved fame from, amongst many things, playing a sword-swinging warrior woman in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a super-spy in James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies and a bellicose soon-to-be mother-in-law in the recent smash, Crazy Rich Asians, should be quite the headlining feather in this spinoff cap.
Indeed, Yeoh’s Georgiou, first introduced as the captain of the U.S.S. Shenzhou – and a mentor to main character Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) – would meet a fateful death during the show’s initial clash with the Klingons; a tragedy that set the premise of Burnham’s incarceration for mutiny before being brought aboard the Discovery by the mysteriously-motivated Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs).
However, a Mirror Universe doppelganger of the character manifested later in the inaugural season as the heretofore faceless “Emperor” of the fascist Terran Empire. Subsequently, in a tenuous agreement, the doppelganger would later cross over into the Prime Universe to take her dead counterpart’s place as “Captain Georgiou” to provide a key component in the war against the Klingons. The doppelganger Georgiou was last depicted in a bonus scene being recruited by Section 31, Starfleet’s secretive, ruthless off-book intelligence agency.
Of course, whether the spinoff is a prequel set before Prime Georgiou’s death during the “Battle of the Binary Stars” or reflective of a new status quo set in Discovery season 2 for the Mirror Universe doppelganger remains to be seen.
We will keep you updated on the Captain Georgiou Star Trek: Discovery spinoff series as things develop!