Shortly after Comic-Con 2016 gave us our first look at the title ship of Star Trek: Discovery, creator Bryan Fuller pointed out the vessel’s preliminary design, tacitly acknowledging its Ralph McQuarrie influence as well. Now, Fuller offers a few updates on the Discovery’s look, including redesigned nacelles and more.

As outlined by IGN, Fuller reiterated from the TCA press tour panel that the Comic-Con presentation was engineered to clue fans in on the process, moreso than the final result, having already changed several aspects of the U.S.S. Discovery. The influence of McQuarrie’s abandoned Star Trek: Phase II designs will still be felt, but according to Fuller:

Everybody got a glimpse of what the ship looked like as a work in progress, and so much of that has already changed because that was – that design wasn’t even finalized. It was, like, ‘What can we share with folks at Comic-Con that lets them into the process?’ And already I look at that design and go like, ‘We’ve got different nacelles. We’ve got different lines there.’ So it’s an evolution, and we’re finding that look as we get closer and closer to production.

In particular, Fuller referred back to early talk of racing-inspired designs, and finding ways to distinguish the new series visually, just as J.J. Abrams’ Kelvin timeline re-imagined the Enterprise:

As we were looking to have something distinct about what our Star Trek was going to look [like], we looked back at – there was an abandoned Star Trek series in the ‘70s. It was actually for a movie. And Ralph McQuarrie had done some wonderful illustrations, and we saw those and saw sort of harder lines of a ship and started talking about race cars and Lamborghinis in the ‘70s and James Bond cars and started working on the designs, taking those inspirations and coming up with something completely unique to us.

Shooting in Toronto this fall, the new 13-episode Star Trek: Discovery is officially said to take place 10 years before Kirk’s original Enterprise mission, as well to be “heavily serialized,” akin to a novel, more-so than an episodic nature. The new series will also feature a non-captain female lead, and explore the fallout of an event referenced, but never seen in the original series.

Bryan Fuller will headline the new streaming iteration of Star Trek as co-creator and executive producer, while Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer has also joined alongside Gene Roddenberry’s son Rod, fan-favorite Voyager novel alum Kirsten Beyer, franchise vet Joe Menosky and Heroes writer Aron Coleite. So reads the initial synopsis for the series, which debuts on CBS in January 2017 before moving to All-Access:

The brand-new “Star Trek” will introduce new characters seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.

Additional details will emerge within the next few months, including an updated ship design, but what else should we expect from the new streaming Star Trek: Discovery?

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