Akiva Goldsman, showrunner for the upcoming series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, has explained the details behind the show's decision to adjust the set design and crew's uniforms.
Goldsman is the showrunner of both the upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the Emmy Award-winning Star Trek: Picard. Recently he spoke with TrekMovie as part of Star Trek Day celebrations, to discuss both shows, including some recent design changes spotted by eagle-eyed Trekkies in a recent character reveal video.
During the interview, Goldsman was asked about visual changes made, as the new show was compared to Star Trek: Discovery. "Even though they were close on Discovery, did you want to get even closer to the look of The Original Series?" Goldsman affirmed this was the case, stating, "Yeah, I would say we iterated one more time. I think that the organizing principle for our iteration was our view of canon. But having said that, we body English the shit out of some things in order to make it work."
Longtime fans will be eagerly anticipating the new series, with the response to Goldsman's attempt to move the Strange New Worlds' visuals closer to the original being mostly positive. In the comments to the interview, one fan replied, "I think they could have done a much better job with the Enterprise and the overall look and feel of the era on Star Trek Discovery," while also adding, "I did like reading that they made more changes to the look."
Goldsman also discussed his long-time fandom of Star Trek, as he spoke about how important the tone and style of the new adventure will be to longtime fans of the franchise. "I really wanted to make a show that would have appealed to the 12-year old me that went to that Star Trek convention in 1974," he said. "And it felt like the best way to do that would be to kind of help set the tone visually, and really more in storytelling. I don't do much visually. I have great people like Glen Keenan, who is a great director of photography. I'm not actually a visual director. I just kind of know where the story is. But together, I think we made something pretty special."
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is set a decade prior to Star Trek the Original Series, and chronicles the adventures of Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise. The show is set to premiere on Paramount+ in 2022.
Source: TrekMovie