Star Trek: Discovery is an upcoming adaptation being developed for CBS All Access, CBS’ new video-on-demand service. The TV program is expected to be set about 10 years before the events that transpire on the original Star Trek series, which aired back in the ’60s.
The project has already filled a handful of roles, including those of Captain Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs). Today brings news of another casting, and one that should please avid TV fans: The Office star Rainn Wilson has been tapped to portray villainous character Harry Mudd. Known for being a strange yet expert conman, the Mudd role was originally played by actor Roger C. Carmel.
For Wilson, the casting couldn’t be more perfect. The comedian/actor, who will next appear in the new Smurfs film, has been a Star Trek admirer for some time. As Entertainment Weekly points out, Wilson tweeted about Star Trek Beyond in 2015 and posed in a 2008 photoshoot in which he “channeled” the spirit of Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard character.
In the words of Wilson’s Dwight Schrute: “Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica. Star Trek.”
Star Trek: Discovery doesn’t yet have a premiere date, but it’s the first Star Trek TV series since the conclusion of Star Trek: Enterprise more than 10 years ago.