Summary
- Cillian O'Sullivan will play Doctor Roger Korby in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.
- Korby first appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series, in which the tragic truth of his disappearance was revealed.
- The arrival of Korby creates an unavoidable tragedy for Nurse Chapel in future episodes of Strange New Worlds.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has cast Roger Korby, the fiancé of Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), as revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2024's Star Trek Universe panel. Strange New Worlds season 2 revealed that Chapel had won a place on a prestigious fellowship with Doctor Roger Korby. The Original Series established that Chapel and Korby's working relationship became romantic, leading to the couple getting engaged before the eminent scientist disappeared in 2261. Chapel's fellowship was set to take her away from the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 finale, until the Gorn Hegemony intervened.
Screen Rant attended the Star Trek universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con, which confirmed that Roger Korby and Nurse Chapel's love story will play out in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3. During a discussion between cast members Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck, alongside executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, and Henry Alonso, it was announced that In from the Cold's Cillian O'Sullivan will play Roger Korby in Strange New Worlds season 3. The panel also confirmed that O'Sullivan would be a recurring member of the Strange New Worlds cast.
Star Trek: TOS' Roger Korby Will Be A Recurring Character In Strange New Worlds
Nurse Chapel is about to embark on another doomed romance
Irish actor Cillian O'Sullivan will play Doctor Roger Korby in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, setting up another doomed romance for Nurse Chapel. Originally played by Michael Strong, Doctor Korby first appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 9, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" in 1966. The episode saw the USS Enterprise visit Exo III to learn more about Korby's disappearance five years earlier. TOS revealed that Korby was severely injured during his expedition to Exo III, and he replaced his ailing body with an android duplicate, to Chapel's horror.
The arrival of Roger Korby creates another unavoidable tragedy in Strange New Worlds, which will have ramifications for both Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) going forward.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has always made a virtue of its audience knowing how the story ends. For example, viewers know they can't save Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) from his tragic fate. The arrival of Roger Korby creates another unavoidable tragedy in Strange New Worlds, which will have ramifications for both Nurse Chapel and Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) going forward.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds takes place in 2259, two years before Korby's disappearance on Exo III. This means that viewers will have the time to become truly invested in Nurse Chapel and Roger Korby's love story before tragedy strikes. After season 2's short-lived and tumultuous Spock and Chapel romance, it will be interesting to see how both parties resolve their relationship ahead of Cillian O'Sullivan's arrival as Doctor Roger Korby in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.
