Whether it’s the pioneering spirit that inspires humans to go boldly where no one has gone before, not to mention the intoxicating sense of discovery that follows, or the multi-species cast at its heart, Star Trek has a long history of breaking boundaries with its progressive characters and multifaceted stories, and that’s a legacy CBS had hoped to honor with Star Trek: Discovery.
Premiering back in September, season 1 was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag. There were moments of genius and a ton of thrilling action, as well as some interesting looks at traditional material along with a few juicy plot twists, but it didn’t quite manage to achieve the mainstream TV re-invention of the franchise that the producers were no doubt aiming for.
One of the most controversial decisions the show made was in regards to the appearance of the Klingons. Though the alien species has undergone many different redesigns throughout their history on screen, a lot of fans didn’t take to Discovery‘s version of them. Which is why it’s nice to hear that when the show returns, they’ll have a whole new look.
During a panel at Star Trek Las Vegas, makeup designer Glenn Hetrick teased the following:
“As we move into season 2, it has been a while since we have been with our characters. It has been a while since we have seen our Klingon friends. So, everything keeps evolving. The story has evolved. And I can guarantee you this, you are going to be blown away that they have a completely new look, yet again, going into season two.”
Continuing on, Hetrick revealed that we’ll also be seeing different houses as the show continues to “explore and unpack” the Klingon culture.
“In season two, you are going to see much different designs. You are going to see different houses you haven’t seen before. One of the most important things to us was that at this point in canon, as we head towards the current version of unification, the houses really each grow up on different planets.
It is an Empire, it is not just Qo’noS…We have seen six of the great houses in close up in season one. As we move forward into the next season, I promise that we will continue exploring and unpacking and unfolding that infinitely interesting story of what the Klingon culture looks like on a wider level.”
Finally, the makeup designer noted that the reason T’Kuvma’s followers looked so unique was due to their religious convictions.
“If you really think about season one, and the Klingon storyline, we had this incredibly ritualistic season with them,” he said. “It was really about unification, and igniting the beacon, the Light of Kahless, and bringing him back…so we integrated that very much and thought a lot about that.”
As for when we’ll actually get to see these redesigned Klingons, that we don’t know. After all, the Comic-Con trailer for season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery didn’t give us a glimpse of them at all, so it’s likely that CBS will wait until a little closer to the January premiere before revealing what they’ve got up their sleeve.