Star Trek: Discovery Klingon's Changed

Screen Rant

Star Trek: Discovery's Early Klingon Designs Were 'Very Different'

By Dusty Stowe

Published Sep 25, 2017

Star Trek: The Next Generation actor Michael Dorn says Discovery's Klingons were very different earlier in the show's development.

Star Trek actor Michael Dorn, who played the iconic Klingon Worf in multiple iterations of the sci-fi franchise, has confirmed original showrunner Bryan Fuller had different plans for the warrior race in Star Trek: Discovery.

Star Trek: Discovery is a prequel series that takes place 10 years before the adventures of Kirk and Spock, and revolves around Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), who accidentally finds herself at the dawn of a long and bloody war with the Klingon empire. Discovery has taken a number of aesthetic liberties with the venerable franchise, updating the look of the costumes, starships, and alien races to more accurately reflect a 21st century prestige television production. Arguably the most controversial change has been the appearance of the Klingons, who look decidedly more alien than in previous iterations.

This apparently wasn't always the plan. When Bryan Fuller - who departed the show over scheduling issues and creative differences before filming began - was still in charge of the series, he was in early talks with Michael Dorn to play one of Worf's ancestors, and Dorn has suggested on Twitter that Fuller's Klingons would have been much different.

Nope, Bryan Fuller's Klingons were very different.— Michael Dorn (@akaWorf) September 25, 2017

Dorn portrayed Worf through seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, four seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and in four feature films with the TNG cast. He is, without a doubt, the most iconic member of the Klingon race, and the TNG version of Klingon culture - honor obsessed, leather wearing warriors - has been the most enduring version. It would make sense that Fuller, a lifelong Star Trek fanatic who got his start in the industry working on Deep Space Nine and Voyager, would stick closer to that version of the Klingons, and that his departure eventually led to a drastically overhauled look for the warrior race is not particularly surprising, though will likely be disappointing for longtime fans who have felt Discovery is taking too many liberties with Star Trek canon.

Discovery is really just getting started, and while the Klingons may look very different, there's still a lot of their traditional characterization on display in the show's first two episodes; the Klingon language is still true to its roots, and the concept of squabbling Klingon Houses is a long and storied one. However, this is likely the first of many instances where it's going to be difficult not to wonder what Discovery would have looked if its original creator was still at the helm.