Star Trek: Discovery is the latest in a long series of Star Trek shows that CBS has had in active development. The show was original supposed to launch the premium streaming service CBS All-Access last month, but was plagued by problems that has delayed its debut numerous times (including, but not limited to: the loss of their original showrunner, Bryan Fuller), leading to much speculation from fans about whether or not Discovery will ever actually make it to the small screen.

In spite of the show's struggle, Star Trek: Discovery has cast three new Starfleet characters. Terry Serpico (Sneaky Pete), Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock), and Sam Vartholomeos (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), have been announced and likely flesh out most of the regular cast.

Serpico will be playing Admiral Anderson, a high-ranking Starfleet official. Pancholy is to play Dr. Nambue, Chief Medical Officer on board the Starship Shenzhou -- his casting recalls Alexander Siddig's Dr. Julian Bashir from the franchise's third series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Rounding out the new additions is Vartholomeos in the role of Ensign Connor, a junior officer from Starfleet Academy who is assigned to the Starship Shenzhou in the beginning of the series.

The three new actors join the cast of Sonequa Martin-Green (The Walking Dead), Doug Jones (Hellboy), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Anthony Rapp (Rent), James Frain (Gotham), Chris Obi (Roots), Shazad Latif (Penny Dreadful), and Mary Chieffo (Miss Dial), aboard Star Trek: Discovery. The new series is set before the voyages of Captain James T. Kirk's classic Enterprise and will introduce new characters to familiar themes -- including the eponymous "discovery" -- established in the original Star Trek series.

While it is exciting to see that Star Trek: Discovery is making strides that are bringing the series closer to airing, none of these actors come with a genre pedigree that some of their predecessors do. Their inclusion also marks an overwhelmingly male cast, which is not wholly unusual for a Star Trek television show, but for one being made in 2017 a few more female cast members would have been nice -- and may yet be coming in future announcements. Making an educated guess from the new characters' names one can also surmise that they are all humans.

On the other hand, the nice thing about casting unknown actors is that they have a chance to define themselves by the characters that they play on Star Trek: Discovery as have many of the Trek cast members that came before them. There is  great potential here for each character to become the series breakout star and no way to know who that may be until more details about the show and their respective arcs are announced.

Next: Can Star Trek: Discovery Save the Star Trek Franchise

Star Trek: Discovery does not have a premiere date, but we will keep you posted on any development.

Source: THR