Discovery Klingon talk at Star Trek Las Vegas

Today at the Star Trek Las Vagas convention there was a run of Discovery panels, with the actor and writer panels giving much attention to the Klingons. Lots of new details were discussed; continue below for the new details.

Most excitingly they revealed a new image of the Klingon Kol, giving us our first look at a Discovery Klingon outside the House of T'Kuvma - Kol has a distinctly different look, with a costume much more like those we've seen before in Star Trek.

Actor Kenneth Mitchell spoke about that look, noting how the series will be exploring multiple Klingon houses:

The images that you have seen so far are from one house. Today, you just saw the first image of me. So even in the costumes/wardrobe, you're seeing it starting to venture towards more traditional Klingons -- leather, different set of armor. The series will explore 24 houses of Klingon. You're going to start to explore further Klingons and each of those houses have a different set of physical looks and variations and ideologies.

He also spoke about the arduous process of being transformed into a Klingon, and learning the language:

That takes 3.5 hours to get into make-up. First Doug Jones comes in and gives me a hug. I also constantly running my lines. Over and over again. As you know, it's incredibly challenging and complex language. It's complicated for a reason. So it feels alien like. It takes a lot of muscle memory to memorize every separate syllable. My kids and my family think I'm crazy. But at the end of the day, it is all worth it. It is such an amazing texture to the show and a real asset to helping the audience learn more about the Klingon culture.

For more from the actors panel, StarTrek.com has a full transcript (UPDATE: and now a video too).

The writers on the writers panel also had some thoughts on the Klingons. Discussing how the series is letting them explore new ground with the species, Kirsten Beyer noted:

It's been super fun to take a species that feels well-established and to imagine what a certain period in their history may have produced. It has given us all kind of new ways to talk about and experience Klingons.

While Akiva Goldsman discussed how prominently the Klingons feature in the series, and how that enables a certain balance in looking at the events the show depicts:

The show is often told from both points of view. It is certainly about the Federation but there are significant sections of the narrative that are purely from the Klingon point of view in Klingon. It's a real piece of the show. It will allow the audience to participate in who is right and who is wrong.

Also singled out for some love was Saru, with Ted Sullivan noting there is a very Star Treky Saru episode in the run:

Kirsten wrote, basically, a Saru episode. It will feel the most traditional of Star Trek.

Beyer is clearly enamoured, as she had much praise for Doug Jones' character:

He's the first of his kind. What I find compelling about Saru is what Doug (Jones) has brought to it. Doug has so brought to life this person with this incredible brilliance but also this warmth and compassion and sense of humor and dry wit making the evolution of this character fun to watch.

Once again, you can read a full transcript of the panel on StarTrek.com (UPDATE: and a video is available as well).

Star Trek: Discovery is due to start this September, and it will be distributed almost everywhere in the world on Netflix, except for the US where is will be available on CBS All Access, and Canada where it will be on Bell Media channels and services. To keep track of all the latest details from the new show, visit my Star Trek: Discovery guide page.