Movies - TV
Why Strange New Worlds Reversed Star Trek: Discovery’s Klingon Redesign
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
One of the more startling elements of “Star Trek: Discovery” was the redesign of the Klingons. They were given larger, elongated heads and were stripped of their hair.
The Klingons’ eyes were also given catlike slits, and their noses bore secondary pairs of nostrils. Their skin was jet black, deep purple, or pale like cream.
This new look was a surprising change from the way Klingons appeared from 1979 to 2005, when they had brown skin, long hair, pirate-like facial hair, and pronounced cranial ridges.
The Klingons are now on “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” but their design has been reversed: They are once again the lusty, head-ridged pirates of the “Next Generation” era.
Showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers talked to Inverse about why they decided to undo the Klingons’ makeover from “Discovery” and revert back to their classic look.
Goldsman said, “It's really important that it's not a ‘Discovery’ sequel [...] If you don't know about that stuff, it's a cool TV show that lives on its own.”
He added, “‘Star Trek’ is not the MCU [...] [albeit] events of Discovery are referenced. ‘Strange New Worlds' isn't worried about its roots, especially when it comes to Klingons.”
Myers offered, “In almost every show, there has been a change in the way the Klingons look. [...] This was our chance [...] to do something that felt like its own.”