The Federation takes on the Klingons in a brand new clip from Star Trek: Discovery. This new Star Trek TV series from CBS, which will air on CBS All Access in the USA and Netflix pretty much everywhere else, is set ten years before The Original Series - therefore, it predates Captain Kirk’s legendary rivalry with the Klingons.

And yet, the ridge-headed baddies of the Star Trek franchise will have a huge role to play here. Much has been made of their appearance in the series, with the cast and crew stepping forward to explain the scientific reasons behind the unconventional Klingon designs in Discovery. Klingon characters have also been pored over in posters, candid costume pictures, and previous promo videos.

Now, in the month of Discovery’s premiere, CBS has released a clip which features Sonequa Martin-Green’s Michael Barnham facing off with a Klingon Torchbearer, on the exterior of a spaceship. As well as showing Barnham preparing for combat, the clip also unveils some of the tech from Discovery: a very snazzy spacesuit, which looks a lot more modern than the classic designs.

You’d think that Barnham would be able to handle that confrontation a bit better, given that she is – according to Martin-Green’s recent quotes – “the only human to have gone to the Vulcan Learning Centre and the Vulcan Science Academy and excelled at that.” If anyone is able to negotiate a Klingon out of a fight, surely it would be her. But still, it’ll be fun to see how this exchange ends.

Alongside this Klingon-centric clip, NBC also released a second promo video. This one features Barnham stranded on a sandy planet with Michelle Yeoh’s character, Captain Philippa Georgiou of the U.S.S. Shenzhou. The two seem to be contemplating a long stay in the uncaring desert landscape, before Georgiou’s ingenious plan becomes clear:

One can assume, then, that Georgiou drew some sort of landing pad in the sand – perhaps the exact shape of her ship – in order to attract attention and save her and Barnham from a lifetime trapped on a strange world. Out-of-the-box thinking like that is clearly vital in Federation Captains. It remains to be seen how Jason Isaacs’ Captain Lorca, of the U.S.S. Discovery, compares to Georgiou. Would he have dreamed up a different escape idea?

It’s not known yet exactly how the crews of the Shenzhou and the Discovery will collide, or how their beef with the Klingons will kick off. It is clear that CBS has big plans for the Star Trek brand, though: spinoffs from Discovery are seemingly already being thought about. First of all, however, Discovery will need to be a big hit in of itself. Right now, it's up for debate whether the show will succeed or fail.

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Star Trek: Discovery premieres on Sunday, September 24. You’ll find all the latest coverage right here on Screen Rant.