We've known for a few months now that everyone's favorite Vulcan, Mr. Spock, would be showing up on Season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery. Now, we finally know who'll be playing the iconic character. It was announced today that Ethan Peck would be taking on the role in the upcoming season of the sci-fi hit. Peck will, of course, be the third actor to take on the part of the half Vulcan science officer who works aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, and Discovery's executive producer, Alex Kurtzman had lots of great things to say about him.
The great Leonard Nimoy, then the brilliant Zachary Quinto, brought incomparable humanity to a character forever torn between logic and emotion. We searched for months for an actor who would, like them, bring his own interpretation to the role. An actor who would, like them, effortlessly embody Spock's greatest qualities, beyond obvious logic: empathy, intuition, compassion, confusion, and yearning. Ethan Peck walked into the room inhabiting all of these qualities, aware of his daunting responsibility to Leonard, Zack, and the fans, and ready to confront the challenge in the service of protecting and expanding on Spock's legacy. In that spirit, we're thrilled to welcome him to the family.
As could be expected, Alex Kurtzman and those behind Star Trek: Discovery knew they had a massive job ahead of them when they decided to bring Spock onto the show. But, it's pretty clear from his words about Ethan Peck, that they believe they found the perfect person; someone who's completely up to the task of filling the shoes first put on by Leonard Nimoy and who can make the part his own while still respecting the great legacy that came before him. Also, just look at the guy! Does he have the right look for Spock, or what?
If you haven't heard of Ethan Peck, you're probably not alone, even though he's been kicking around our TV screens since he got his first gig on a show called Charlie Grace in 1995. So, where might you have seen our new Spock before? Well, his first major part was playing a young Kelso on That '70s Show in two episodes from 2000 and 2002. He's also been on The Drew Carey Show, The O'Keefes, the 10 Things I Hate About You series which ran from 2009-2010, Gossip Girl and (much more recently) Madam Secretary along with many other shows and the 2010 movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice. According to his IMDB page, Peck has five projects, in addition to Discovery, in some state of production at the moment.
It's probably for the best that Ethan Peck isn't a giant TV star already. While Zachary Quinto was able to easily put his own stamp on Spock for the rebooted Star Trek movies, it seems like that might be an even tougher task as a well-known actor on a weekly series.
When we first found out that Star Trek: Discovery would star the, previously unheard of, adopted sister of Spock, long-time fans were deeply skeptical, curious and also intensely interested to see if the newest entry in television's Trek franchise would actually dare to show the famous Vulcan on screen. The Season 1 finale of Discovery revealed a meeting with the Enterprise, meaning that the series spending some time with Spock was almost a given. Sure enough, the show found a new Captain Pike to helm that ship, and now we have our new Spock.
There's no word right now on how many episodes Ethan Peck will appear in as Spock or what episode he'll make his debut in of the new season, but we can all see how he does in the classic role when Star Trek: Discovery debuts Season 2 in early 2019 on CBS All Access. For more on what you can watch in the meantime, check out our summer and 2018 fall premiere guide.
