9 Reasons To Be Hyped For Star Trek Discovery

Discovery may have Spock's dad and a few other familiar faces, but that doesn't mean it's a direct prequel to The Original Series. It exists earlier in that same timeline, yes, but this will not be the story of the Enterprise crew gradually coming together. This will not be Star Trek's answer to the Star Wars prequels.

This is a huge relief, since the story of Kirk meeting Spock for the first time was only told on the big screen a few years ago. And it's a reason to be excited, too: there's a blank slate here, where new characters can do important things, people can die, new planets can be explored and new villains vanquished without any fears of disturbing the canon.

The only thing Discovery can't do is bring in baddies that Kirk or Picard made first contact with in their own adventures. The Klingons are up for grabs, but the Romulans and the Borg are off the table completely - it's already been established that their first encounters with Starfleet happen after Discovery's slot in the timeline.

Other than that, the writers have rather a lot of freedom here. Here's hoping they use it wisely.