It would appear to be one orbit forward, one back for Star Trek: Discovery which has announced yet another good news, bad news situation. In the pro column, James Frain has been cast as Sarek, father to Mr. Spock. And in the con? The series' launch has apparently been delayed yet again.
Variety reports that Frain is aboard to play the famed Vulcan ambassador who often had a strained relationship with his son. Whether this means some version of Spock will be appearing on Discovery remains to be seen, but it represents the first direct nod to the franchise from the new show.
The cast already includes the likes of Michelle Yeoh (as the captain of another ship), The Walking Dead's Sonequa Martin-Green (as the first officer on the Discovery and the show's lead), Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp as fellow Starfleet officers and Shazad Latif, Chris Obi and Mary Chieffo as Klingons.
As to the potential delay with the show now likely to miss a planned May arrival, US network CBS put out a statement on the fluctuating kick-off. "Production on Star Trek: Discovery begins next week. We love the cast, the scripts and are excited about the world the producers have created. This is an ambitious project; we will be flexible on a launch date if it’s best for the show. We’ve said from the beginning it’s more important to do this right than to do it fast. There is also added flexibility presenting on CBS All Access, which isn’t beholden to seasonal premieres or launch windows."
The show will launch, then, at some point this year, streaming on the All Access service in the US and available in the UK via Netflix.