Star Trek: Discovery Executives Say the Show was Always Going to be About Women of Color

The Star Trek franchise might have always taken steps towards representation and diversity, however, Star Trek: Discovery has been the first series in the franchise to put its focus on a woman of color.

Not only is Discovery lead by Sonequa Martin-Green, but the series also features Michelle Yeoh in a prominent role where she plays Captain Philippa Georgiou.

Speaking in an interview with Vanity Fair, the executive vice president of original content at CBS All Access, Julie McNamara, discusses why Discovery focuses on women of color. According to the CBS All Access executive, representation has always been an important part of the network.

"We certainly feel that it's important to reflect the culture on our service," she said. "And that's not just altruistic, although it is a good and important thing. It's also good business. You really want to reach people in a way that feels specific in terms of characters and storytelling."

The series co-creator, Alex Kurtzman, also talks about diversity, saying that having a woman of color in the lead role for Discovery was always one of the first priorities for the series.

The Discovery co-creator wasn't interested in having another male captain. When CBS asked Kurtzman to consider working on another Star Trek series his first instinct was "it's got to be a woman and it's got to be a woman of color."

The Star Trek series has been enjoying great reviews from critics. The second season has been praised for cleaning up the problematic storylines of the franchise in the past while taking the franchise to new directions.

Star Trek: Discovery's first and second season are available for streaming on CBS All Access.

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