One of Bryan Fuller's first television writing jobs was on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and he went on to serve as an executive producer on Star Trek: Voyager. In 2016, Fuller was announced as the showrunner for a new Star Trek series that would later become Star Trek: Discovery. However, Fuller was let go early in production, partly to focus on his other series, American Gods. Fuller recently sat down with Star Trek: Enterprise stars Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer on their podcast, The D-Con Chamber, to discuss his scrapped Star Trek: Discovery plans.
Star Trek: Discovery's Original Showrunner Wanted To Cast Hannibal's Actors
We Could've Had Gillian Anderson As A Starship Captain & Lawrence Fishburne As A Klingon?!
The potential cast of Star Trek: Discovery is one of the most significant pieces of information Bryan Fuller has revealed about his plans for the show. Not only did Fuller cast Michelle Yeoh as Phillipa Georgiou and push for Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham, but he also had plans to cast several of his Hannibal actors in Star Trek: Discovery, Gillian Anderson was reportedly in talks to play an unknown Starfleet captain. Best known for portraying Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files, Anderson appeared in Hannibal as Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier, Hannibal's psychotherapist.
Bryan Fuller had Richard Armitage in mind to portray Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek, a role that eventually went to James Frain. In Hannibal season 3, Armitage played Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy. Lawrence Fishburne starred as Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI Behavioral Sciences division in Hannibal, and Fuller was considering him for an unknown Klingon role in Star Trek: Discovery. Finally, Fuller also wanted Hugh Dancy, who starred as Hannibal's Will Graham, to join Discovery's cast in an unknown role.
Why Bryan Fuller's Original Star Trek: Discovery Vision Would Have Been Amazing
Fuller's Discovery Would've Had A Stellar Cast
Even ten years after the show ended, many fans are still hoping for a fourth season of Hannibal, but it would have been fun to see at least some of the actors reunite in Star Trek. Based on Bryan Fuller's casting choices alone, his vision for Star Trek: Discovery sounds like it would have been amazing. Fuller not only grew up watching Star Trek: The Original Series but also worked on two different Trek shows. By all accounts, Fuller appears to know his stuff when it comes to Star Trek, and he might have made a version of Discovery that appealed more to classic Trek fans.
In his D-Con Chamber interview, Bryan Fuller mentions that he "rejected" Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon designs, but the show used them anyway after Fuller's departure. Discovery's new look for the Klingons was resoundingly rejected by Trek fans, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds later went back to the TNG-era Klingon design. Fuller also had a hand in casting Anthony Rapp (although he was originally an Andorian doctor) and Wilson Cruz, both of whom consistently delivered strong performances on Discovery. It's impossible to say what Discovery would've looked like if Fuller hadn't left, and it's a shame we'll never know for sure.
Could Bryan Fuller Still Get A Chance To Make His Star Trek Story?
It Seems Unlikely, But Anything Is Possible With Star Trek
All of this suggests that Bryan Fuller's original concept for Star Trek: Discovery was quite different from the final product. This raises the question of whether audiences will ever get to see the story Fuller originally set out to make. While it may seem doubtful, Fuller has regularly expressed his love and enthusiasm for the franchise, and he clearly has ideas about the Star Trek stories he wants to tell. Creative differences between Fuller and CBS also contributed to his departure, as Fuller wanted more creative freedom.
Bryan Fuller originally envisioned his Star Trek show as an anthology series that would tackle a different era of Trek each season (in the vein of American Horror Story). This sounds like such a cool idea, and there's definitely room in the Star Trek franchise for an anthology series like this. With the conclusion of Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Lower Decks, it's possible Paramount+ could be looking for new Trek projects soon. However, the franchise's first made-for-streaming film, Star Trek: Section 31, has received mostly negative reviews, and it remains to be seen how Star Trek: Starfleet Academy will perform.
It might be time for Paramount to give someone like Bryan Fuller free reign to tell their Star Trek story.
Paramount does not have a great track record when it comes to making the content that Star Trek fans want, so it might be time for them to give someone like Bryan Fuller free reign to tell their Star Trek story. Fuller's Hannibal not only had an amazing cast of characters but was also incredibly compelling and visually stunning. All of this suggests that Bryan Fuller's Star Trek: Discovery could have been great, and here's hoping we get to see some version of it in the future.
