Sci Fi TV Top 5: Covering the top sci fi and fantasy TV stories of interest from the past week. You can keep up with the sci fi and fantasy TV news headlines throughout the week at r/SciFiTV on Twitter and on Reddit.
1. Star Trek Heads to Strange New Worlds
CBS All Access has given the greenlight to the prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds which will feature Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, and Ethan Peck as Spock. Series creator and executive producer Akiva Goldsman had this to say about the show:
We’re going to try to harken back to some classical Trek values, to be optimistic, and to be more episodic. Obviously, we will take advantage of the serialized nature of character and story building. But I think our plots will be more closed-ended than you’ve seen in either Discovery or Picard.
Mount, Romijn, and Peck previously portrayed these characters in Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. The trio was the command team of the U.S.S. Enterprise prior to William T. Kirk taking the captain’s chair and they were originally introduced in the Star Trek pilot episode “The Cage”. With production only just now ramping up in the entertainment industry, it will likely be mid-to-late 2021 before this series will have its debut.
2. Ahsoka Project in the Works at Disney+
From the rumor mill, Disney+ is working on a project featuring Ahsoka Tano that could be a stand-alone series. Ahsoka was first introduced in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series as the Padawan to Anakin Skywalker. The character will make her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian, and could then move on to her own series. Allegedly it will take place after the events of the animated series Star Wars Rebels and will include the characters Hera, Zeb, and the Ghost’s droid Chopper. The new series will carry on some of the storylines from that show which Ahsoka appeared in as a recurring character. This is still a developing story, so stay tuned for further updates.
3. Ruby Rose Is Exiting from Batwoman
Ruby Rose, who stars in the lead role of Batwoman on The CW, will be hanging up her cowl after one season and departing from the series. Word is that the actress was unhappy in the role and did not like the long hours required of being a television series lead. A mutual decision was agreed upon between her and the producers of the show, allowing her to depart from the series. Batwoman was renewed for a second season in January and the network and studio currently plans to recast the role for the show’s second year.
4. Renewal and Cancellation Announcements: Motherland Fort Salem Renewed by Freeform, Emergence Cancelled by ABC
Freeform has renewed its freshman supernatural drama Motherland Fort Salem for a second season. That show’s same-day ratings were low in its first year, but it likely made up some slack in digital viewing, plus it has a dedicated fanbase that is active on the social networks. There has been no word yet on Siren which is airing its third season on Freeform this Spring. Over on sibling network ABC, the sci fi drama Emergence has been cancelled after one season. That is one of the network’s lowest-rated shows and the cancellation seemed likely, though lack of finished pilots due to the shutdowns gave it a slight chance of surviving to a second season. But ABC ultimately decided not to bring the show back for a sophomore year.
5. Casting News: Timothy Olyphant, Katee Sackhoff will Join The Mandalorian Season 2
Timothy Olyphant has been cast in the upcoming season of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. Word is that the character will be wearing Boba Fett’s armor, and SlashFilm.com speculates that Olyphant will be playing Cobb Vanth who acquired the armor from the Jawas. In addition, genre icon Katee Sackhoff will be joining the series and will play the live-action version of the character Bo-Katan Kryze whom she provided the voice for in the animated shows Star Wars: The Clone Wars and later Star Wars Rebels. Season 2 of The Mandalorian, which was not significantly impacted by the production shutdowns, is scheduled to arrive on Disney+ later this year.
THE SCHED: Premiers for Space Force and Agents of SHIELD Season 7
The last week of May brings two more premiers right before Summer begins. Netflix’s sci fi comedy Space Force, starring Steven Carrell, has its debut on Friday with all episodes available for viewing that day. On Wednesday, the seventh and final season of Agents of SHIELD kicks off on ABC at 10 PM EST. More shows are on the way in Summer, though less than usual due to the production shutdowns. You can see the preliminary schedule for the coming months at this link.
More from CancelledSciFi.com
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