‘Star Trek Discovery’ Finds Its Spock In ’10 Things I Hate About You’ Alum

CBS All Access’ ever expanding Trekverse just got a little brighter by settling on who will portray one of its biggest and most iconic stars.

Picking up on the half Vulcan and half human role portrayed by the late Leonard Nimoy in the original series and Zachary Quinto in the most recent big screen reboot, Ethan Peck will play Spock in Season 2 of Star Trek Discovery. In the Discovery narrative, which takes place about a decade before the adventures of the original Trek TV series, U.S.S. Enterprise Science Officer Spock is the foster brother of lead Sonequa Martin-Green’s “Michael Burnham” character.

“Through 52 years of television and film, a parallel universe and a mirror universe, Mr. Spock remains the only member of the original bridge crew to span every era of Star Trek,” said Discovery executive producer and burgeoning Trekverse point man Alex Kurtzman today of the return of the highly logical character. “The great Leonard Nimoy, then the brilliant Zachary Quinto, brought incomparable humanity to a character forever torn between logic and emotion,” Kurtzman added of Spock, whose return he revealed at Comic-Con last month. “We searched for months for an actor who would, like them, bring his own interpretation to the role. An actor who would, like them, effortlessly embody Spock’s greatest qualities, beyond obvious logic: empathy, intuition, compassion, confusion, and yearning.”

“Ethan Peck walked into the room inhabiting all of these qualities, aware of his daunting responsibility to Leonard, Zack, and the fans, and ready to confront the challenge in the service of protecting and expanding on Spock’s legacy,” Kurtzman declared of the casting of the 10 Things I Hate About You actor in the legendary role. “In that spirit, we’re thrilled to welcome him to the family.”

Of course, when it comes to family, Peck has pretty royal Hollywood ties personally too as the grandson of Gregory Peck.

With the announcement in Vegas earlier this month that Star Trek: Next Generation’s Patrick Stewart will be starring in a series featuring his U.S.S. Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard, today’s Spock news is the second marquee character from the Gene Roddenberry created franchise’s past to loop into the ever growing All Access Trekverse.

If you are wondering how Spock may be introduced in the January 2019 debuting Season 2 of Discovery beside through family ties, there may have been a clue in the finale of Season 1. The February 11 ‘Will You Take My Hand” episode found Burnham and a crew answering the distress call of a fellow Federation ship that turned out to be the Enterprise.

Make the leap to warp speed with that.