Producers said that they planned on having these characters in the season 1 finale months ago.
Viewers of "Star Trek Discover" got a surprise when two familiar characters made their presence felt in the season finale. Captain Pike and Spock from the USS Enterprise sent out an emergency distress call that the Discovery intercepted.
The ending left open the question on every "Star Trek" fan's mind. Will "Star Trek Discover" feature Pike and Spock in season 2? If so, who will play the characters?
Showrunner and co-creator Alex Kurtzman clarified what the season 1 finale's ending meant in an interview with Variety. He made it clear that the show is still very much focused on Discovery and its characters in season 2, hence viewers might not necessarily have to see Pike or Spock in the flesh and in a current timeline.
Executive producer Aaron Haberts also told The Hollywood Reporter that they are not casting the roles for Pike and Spock as of this time. The EPs acknowledged that it will not be easy putting a new actor in the role of Spock, especially, given the impact of the previous actors who played the character -- Leonard Nimoy in the original series and films and Zachary Quinto in the rebooted movie franchise.
"Finding another actor that could even come close to what Leonard Nimoy did with the original portrayal, we'd never want to go down that road," Harbert said.
The producers, however, planned on introducing Pike and Spock at the end of season 1 months before filming the episode. They hinted that more than Spock, Pike's presence might be more significant in "Star Trek Discovery" season 2.
Captain Christopher Pike commandeered the USS Enterprise in the years 2254 to 2262. Actors Jeffrey Hunter and Sean Kenney played the character on television, while Bruce Greenwood portrayed him in the 2009 "Star Trek" film.
Nimoy, on the hand, made Spock, the human/Vulcan hybrid, an iconic and unforgettable "Star Trek" character. Lead "Star Trek Discovery" character Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is his adopted sister, which fans only learned while the series went into development on CBS All Access in 2017.
"Star Trek Discovery" season 1 remains streaming on CBS All Access and Netflix. Season 2 has been set for a 2019 premiere.
