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Star Trek writer explains a big Gorn canon twist in Strange New Worlds

Your favorite lizard people are back. Or are they? SNW w riter Davy Perez explains all things Gorn.

The Gorn are back! In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 4, “Memento Mori,” Starfleet begins believing the myth of the Gorn is real, and the species of lizard aliens who fought Captain Kirk in The Original Series suddenly just got a lot more fleshed-out in Star Trek canon. Yet, Strange New Worlds also created several new mysteries and continuity twists about the Gorn.

Inverse caught up with Episode 4 co-writer Davy Perez to get all the scaly details about the Gorn and why he and (Episode 4’s other co-writer) Beau DeMayo made a very specific decision on whether to show the lizard aliens onscreen. Spoilers ahead.

The mystery of the Gorn

Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Spock (Ethan Peck) try to outwit the Gorn spaceships.

Other than the famous appearance of a Gorn captain in The Original Series episode “Arena,” the only other times we see Gorns in Trek canon are in:

• The Animated Series episode “The Time Trap” (1973)
• Lower Decks episode “Veritas” (2020)
• Enterprise episode “In a Mirror, Darkly Part II” (2005)
• Discovery season 1 as a skeleton kept by Captain Lorca (2017)

Because the Enterprise Gorn is from the Mirror Universe , and the other non- TOS appearances are either animated or skeletal, actual flesh-and-blood Gorn sightings in the Prime Universe of Trek canon are extremely rare.

“We discussed this quite a bit, how to honor the idea that people either haven't seen [the Gorn] and in some cases might not even believe they exist,” writer Davy Perez tells Inverse. “ There is a lot we still don’t know about the Gorn. What was fun for me was using parts from ‘Arena’ we do know to inform some of their behavior.”

Perez points out that in “Arena,” Kirk is told by the Metrons that the creature he fights is a Gorn, which gave the writers “room to play” while making sure the moment for Kirk still made sense.

“Our goal is never to undo people’s experience with The Original Series, ” Perez explains. “But if we can manage it, perhaps to give us an interesting perspective to consider that lines up with the original stories.”

Why Strange New Worlds didn’t show the Gorn

La’an (Christina Chong) and Ortegas (Melissa Navia) in a tense moment on the bridge of the Enterprise .

Because Kirk had never seen a Gorn before “Arena,” some fans might be worried that Strange New Worlds flies very close to violating canon in “Memento Mori.” How can the Enterprise encounter the Gorn in roughly 2259 if Kirk doesn’t see the Gorn for the first time until 2267?

The answer is simple: At no point in this episode do we ever see a Gorn. And Perez reveals this decision was crucial.

“I think there were some early ideas floating around where we might have caught a glimpse of one,” Perez says. “But there was always the idea that we should hear about them and begin to dread the Gorn without ever actually seeing them. Once we decided not to see them at all, the episode sprang to life.”

Because “Memento Mori” doesn’t feature Pike wrestling with a guy in a lizard suit, it doesn’t reference “Arena” all that much. Instead, the structure of “Memento Mori” refers to a different Original Series episode, “Balance of Terror,” in which the Enterprise plays cat-and-mouse with a Romulan ship.

“It was 100 percent an inspiration,” Perez says. “I did a deep dive on submarine movies when I was researching this episode. I wanted to emulate that same feeling as ‘Balance of Terror.’ We put the focus on our crew working together and dealing with their respective problems all over the ship.”

Strange New Worlds ’ “Easter egg basket”

Although Pike, Spock, and most of Starfleet have never seen a Gorn, Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) very much has. As revealed in this episode, La’an’s family was murdered by the Gorn when she was a small child on a Federation colony ship, the S.S. Puget Sound . As La’an says in the episode, “plenty of people have seen the Gorn,” they just don’t live to tell the tale.

In this way, La’an has hidden canon knowledge about the Gorn that even Spock and Kirk won’t have until after the events of “Arena” in The Original Series . Notably, this is also the second bit of classic Trek canon that La’an has access to because of her unique background. In “Ghosts of Illyria,” we learn she’s the descendent of the villainous Khan Noonien Singh from TOS and The Wrath of Khan . So, in the ‘60s show, the crew doesn’t know much about the Gorn and has spotty knowledge of Khan, but in Strange New Worlds , La’an has secret knowledge of both.

“I haven’t thought her that way, but I can see how she is sort of the ‘Easter Egg basket’ for our show,” Perez says with a laugh. “She’s an outsider and new character, and she also gets to be an audience surrogate. A lot of La’an’s back story is going to be new information to existing fans as well. That’s what is fun about playing in this era [of Star Trek canon]. There are a lot of stories and ideas that have been touched on in the past but still have lots of potential to explore.”

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) refuses to murder the Gorn Captain in “Arena.”

Perez also notes that La’an’s feelings about the Gorn are intended to reference Kirk’s actions in “Arena,” albeit in a roundabout way. In “Memento Mori,” La’an says, “The Federation teaches that if we can find a way to empathize with an enemy, they can one day become our friends. They’re wrong . Some things in this universe are just plain evil.”

And yet, in “Arena,” Kirk famously refuses to murder a Gorn, proving to the Metrons that human beings are capable of incredible empathy. It’s a classic Trek moment that gets an interesting twist in Strange New Worlds .

“It’s a nice bookend thematically with ‘Arena,’” Perez explains. “La’an says this because of her history with the Gorn. We’re a long way from that lesson right now.”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

This article was originally published on May 26, 2022

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And the Children Shall Lead

• Episode aired Oct 11, 1968

The Enterprise reaches a Federation colony where the adults have all killed themselves but the children play without care. The Enterprise reaches a Federation colony where the adults have all killed themselves but the children play without care. The Enterprise reaches a Federation colony where the adults have all killed themselves but the children play without care.

• Marvin J. Chomsky
• Gene Roddenberry
• Edward J. Lakso
• Arthur H. Singer
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 42 User reviews
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• Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk

• Mister Spock

• Tommy Starnes
• (as Craig Hundley)
• Professor Starnes

• Nurse Chapel

• (as Caesar Belli)

• 1st Technician
• (as Lou Elias)
• Ensign Freeman
• (uncredited)
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Did you know

• Trivia Leonard Nimoy explained that when he complained about the script to Fred Freiberger , Freiberger said, "This script is going to be what 'Miri' should have been". Nimoy objected, calling Miri (1966) a beautiful, well-acted story, and felt that Freiberger's comments were as much as saying, "'Miri' was a piece of trash".
• Goofs The transporter was used to send a security detail down to the planet. The red shirt controlling the transporter was not under the control of the children, so he would have noticed that the Enterprise was not in orbit before beaming the two security red shirts in to outer space.

Captain James T. Kirk : Captain's log, supplementary. We have buried the members of the Starnes exploration party. Everyone has been deeply affected by what has happened here - with some important exceptions.

• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
• Connections Featured in Cinematic Excrement: Spock's Brain (2014)
• Soundtracks Theme Music credited to Alexander Courage Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

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• Jan 13, 2007
• October 11, 1968 (United States)
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• Runtime 51 minutes

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

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A Gorgon was an entity from Greek mythology , a woman capable of turning people to stone .

• 1 History and specifics
• 2.1 References
• 2.2 External links

History and specifics [ ]

According to legend, Gorgons had snakes for hair. ( NF novel : Requiem )

In mythology, Perseus cut off one of the Gorgon's heads and kept it bagged. ( DS9 novel : The Never Ending Sacrifice )

Relief sculptures of Gorgans adorned the walls of the building where Shathrissia zh'Cheen 's Sending was held in 2376 . ( DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novella : Andor: Paradigm )

The black hole Gorgon's Demise was named after the mythical being. ( ST video game : Infinite )

Appendices [ ]

References [ ].

• NF novel : Requiem
• DS9 - Worlds of Deep Space Nine novella : Andor: Paradigm
• DS9 novel : The Never Ending Sacrifice

External links [ ]

• Gorgon article at Wikipedia , the free encyclopedia.
• Gorgon article at Fandom's Myths and Folklore Wiki .

A Short History Of The Gorn In The Star Trek Universe

This episode contains minor  spoilers ahead for episode 4 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

Canon is a funny thing in the world of "Star Trek." The franchise, which has churned out 12 criss-crossing series (and just as many movies) in its 56-year history, has to tread carefully where continuity is concerned. If first contact with an alien species is said to occur in one series, it's difficult to feature them in others that occur earlier — tempting as the concept might be. It's a rule that's made certain "Trek" villains, like the Gorn, off-limits for certain eras. Since the Gorn "officially" made first contact with Starfleet in "The Original Series," they can't "officially" appear in any prequels. But as we've seen with shows like "Enterprise," " Star Trek: Discovery ," and now " Strange New Worlds ," it's still possible to make use of the classic villains without disturbing the canon.

The Gorn identity

The Gorn first appeared in the original series episode "Arena," and even then their mystique was a huge part of their appeal. Kirk, Spock and McCoy run into the Gorn on a Federation outpost on Cestus III — and the aliens ruthlessly attack before the bridge crew even catches a glimpse of them. The Gorn had even lured the Enterprise to Cestus III with a fabricated invitation; by the time Kirk and Spock realize that they've been deceived, the colony on Cestus had already been destroyed.

Kirk later sets off to avenge the colony's untimely destruction, pursuing the Gorn ship into unknown space. There, both the Enterprise and the Gorn are apprehended by a highly-advanced alien species called the Metrons. This third party has absolutely no taste for violence, but they recognize that both humans and Gorn share a primitive inclination for it. Their solution is to drop Kirk onto a nearby planet with the captain of the Gorn ship, and allow them to sort out their issues the old-fashioned way: A fight to the death.

It's on this planet that Kirk gets a good look at the Gorn for the very first time. They're essentially just giant, sentient lizards, but even without their formidable technology, the Gorn captain possesses a brute strength that nearly kills Kirk. Fortunately, Kirk still does have his wits — as well as a trove of raw minerals, which he uses to fashion a cannon that takes the Gorn out of commission. Kirk eventually decides to spare the captain's life, with the hopes that the Federation can one day appeal to this alien race — but it'd be some time before the Gorn were used in the Prime timeline once more.

Mirror, mirror

Since the Gorn were so rarely seen in Federation space, they were reduced to legend in other stories that followed the original series. The species is mentioned on and off throughout the franchise, and even appear briefly in the animated series " Star Trek: Lower Decks ," but their second most prominent role in the "Trek" canon actually takes place in the Mirror universe.

The Mirror universe is essentially an alternate reality where everyone is evil ( and/or horny ) all the time, so there's not technically a need for an alien species that most consider inherently evil. However, introducing the Gorn to an alternate timeline was the perfect way for original series prequels like " Enterprise " to reimagine first contact with the species. "Enterprise" takes place approximately 100 years before the events of the original series, and follows the crew of the very first U.S.S. Enterprise, captained by Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula). But in the Mirror dimension — as explored in the fourth season arc " In a Mirror Darkly " — Archer is the mutinous first officer of the I.S.S. Enterprise. In a dizzying turn of events, Archer gets his hands on a Federation ship from the Prime timeline: The U.S.S. Defiant.

Archer intends to use this advanced ship to quell the rebellion against the Terran Empire, but he has to contend with a few stowaways before bringing his plans to fruition, namely a murderous Gorn named Slar. Fittingly, Archer is forced into a little hand to hand combat with the Gorn, just like Kirk — but he also has the resources of his super-advanced ship at his disposal, and he uses them well. Since this is the Mirror dimension, the mercy that Kirk extended to his Gorn adversary is nowhere to be found. Archer kills Slar without thinking twice, making for another short-lived appearance for the species.

The menagerie

The Mirror universe would become a clever loophole for "Trek" writers to explore — or at least reference — the Gorn in prequels to the original series. "Discovery" made use of this same conceit in its first season. The first captain of the titular vessel, Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs), displayed a Gorn skeleton one of his many offices ... but seeing as Lorca was actually from the Mirror universe , that Easter egg doesn't necessarily have to be explained. Plus, the Gorn in question wasn't exactly alive, so it couldn't really count as first contact.

In truth, the mere presence of a Gorn, however brief, is usually enough to excite longtime fans of the "Trek" franchise. They're an utterly classic villain, as much for their mystique as for their capacity for cruelty. It's the latter that makes the Gorn so interesting to writer and producer Akiva Goldsman, who's been helping to shape the world of "Trek" in recent years on shows like "Picard" and "Strange New Worlds." 

"I have this long-standing love for the Gorn," Goldsman told /Film . Though "Trek" series have always "generated empathy" for alien species, Goldsman has always "yearned a little bit" for a truly evil adversary. "It's been a while since we've had that, and the Gorn sort of presented themselves as such."

Children of the Gorn

Obsessed as Goldsman may be with the Gorn, it's taken a while for the showrunner to bring them back to "Trek" in a larger capacity. That opportunity finally presented itself in "Strange New Worlds," primarily through Enterprise security officer La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). Though the Federation can't physically meet the Gorn before the events of the original series, La'an has some firsthand experience with the species: Her entire family was once captured and imprisoned by the Gorn, and she was the sole survivor of the tragedy.

"Strange New Worlds" treats La'an's account as a report of "unconfirmed" first contact, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. It's a brilliant way to capitalize on the potential of the Gorn, especially since it doesn't really break canon. After the Enterprise's run-in with a Gorn ship in the latest episode, titled "Momento Mori," it's clear that there's tons of potential for the Gorn as a seriously-formidable adversary moving forward. It's just a question of how far the "Strange New Worlds" team can push the limits of canon. But if the popularity of the Gorn is any indication, there's certainly an appetite for more of the alien species moving forward.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is currently streaming on Paramount+.

Inside the ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Season Finale: Evil Gorn! Shocking Ending! And Introducing [SPOILER]!

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments for the Season 2 finale of “ Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

The second season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” took a large number of big swings: Spock (Ethan Peck) becoming human for a time; an alternate universe James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) romancing La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) in 21st century Toronto; the crossover episode with the animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks”; and the musical episode featuring a Klingon boy band group. 

Popular on Variety

Written by executive producer Henry Alonso Myers, “Hegemony” plays like an action-packed thriller — which is partly why Myers and his fellow showrunner Akiva Goldsman decided to end the episode on a surprise cliffhanger. And yet, somehow, they also managed to include the introduction of one of the most beloved “Star Trek” characters: engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott. 

Myers and Goldsman talked with Variety about how they decided to bring Scotty onto “Strange New Worlds,” why the Gorn have become the Big Bad of the series and where they see the show heading for Season 3.

Henry, you and I talked last year about how the Gorn had become the central antagonistic aliens for Season 1. Did you always plan to revisit them for the Season 2 finale?

Henry Alonso Myers: We always knew we were going revisit them — the finale is just where it ended up. We were trying to do something really big and seeing the adult Gorn was a thing we knew would take time. It takes a lot of design; one of the reasons it came later in the season was we knew that we’d have a lot of work to do. It just sort of worked out as a finale.

The Gorn are a powerful threat on this show, but they’ve never been much of a factor in any iterations of “Trek” that come later in the timeline. Some of that, of course, is because as they were conceived on “TOS,” the Gorn were a little silly looking — it was just a man in a rubber suit.

Myers: It was hard to do it well. It was hard to do respectfully.

Do you intend to resolve that tension in “Strange New Worlds,” to explain why as the timeline evolves, the Gorn as a threat seem to have diminished?

Myers: Well, this is one I would like to punt to Akiva, but only because a lot of what the Gorn became for the show was a vision that he had — this was something that had not really been explored that we had an opportunity to make in a way that had never been done. 

Akiva Goldsman: The Gorn, for me, were not intentionally comedic — they were just executed about as well as they could be executed at that point in the run of the show at that time. Like, it was just a bad suit — and let’s not even talk about the Metrons. But I looked at the intention, which is: scary, scary, scary, Other, Other, Other. One thing that we always do in “Star Trek” is we empathize — that’s in large part the purpose of our show. We’re kind of an empathy generator. It’s a carnival mirror on modern society. 

But in our desire to express compassion first, which I think is the right desire, sometimes we forget that real monsters exist. I thought it was important for there to be real monsters in our galaxy. That doesn’t mean that 10 years, two seasons from now, we won’t be having a nice chat with the Gorn. But right now in Seasons 1 and 2 and 3, they’re the monsters. By the way, many of the other “Star Trek” antagonists began as alien, as Other — forgive the use of “alien” — but we learned to connect with them. Not so the Gorn. The Gorn are not understandable to us in this way, not relatable to us in this way. Part of our galaxy is be good, be kind, be empathetic, and also understand that evil exists, because seeing with compassion does mean you should be blind to horror. The Gorn are monsters.

How did you decide to introduce Scotty in the finale?

By introducing Scotty, you’re inevitably raising the possibility that the show will also be introducing other characters from the “TOS” era, like Bones or Sulu. Should fans expect that to happen as the show progresses?

Goldsman: The longer we stay on the air — do we still say that? — the longer we stream, the longer we do whatever it is we do to let people watch us, the more likely it becomes. Given our druthers — because Henry and I are both greedy and gluttons for punishment — we’d go right into the TOS era and see what happens. So, if we’re around long enough, sure.

Myers: The one thing I will say is — I try to respect everyone’s approach to this. But we’re not telling the story of who they are [in the future], we’re telling the story of who they are now. They don’t know who they’re going to be. That is the unique opportunity of our show that allows us to tell these stories in ways that they haven’t been told before. That’s the fun of it for us. If we meet other people, they will surprise you. That’s all I’ll say.

This season took some major risks. What other boundaries are you considering pushing for Season 3?

Goldsman: We’re going to keep going. We genre hop. So where we haven’t been, we will try to go. Henry’s watchwords for Season 2 were, “Let’s do Season 1, just bigger and better.” That’s become the truth of Season 3. We’re always doing the thing that we do best, which is secretly just a lot of relationship stories in space. We’ll keep unfolding those hopefully in ways that are different, in the same way that the tones of our episodes will be different. But yeah, ambition will taper off only when we can’t figure out a thing to do we haven’t done before.

Myers: The joy of doing the show — Akiva and I spent a lot of time on this — is trying to come up with something really great and cool and different for our actors. The more challenging stuff you bring them, the harder they will work. We want to bring them great material so that they will continue to do incredible things.

Season 3 for “Strange New Worlds” was announced in March , well after production on Season 2 had ended. How confident were you that you’re going to be able to resolve this cliffhanger?

Myers: The best way to approach this is with a deep sense of confidence. We were very upfront with all of our folks internally about what we were doing. They were very supportive of it. We wanted it to be a surprise. I remember how the [“Star Trek: The Next Generation” cliffhanger episode] “The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1″ made me feel. That was what we wanted to revisit for the audience, to really surprise them. 

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

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The history of ‘Star Trek’s’ Gorn, from styrofoam rocks to big green xenomorphs

The Gorn. Since debuting in the 1967 Star Trek episode “The Arena,” they’ve been called a lot of things. “Weird.” “Iconic.” “Weirdly iconic.” Thanks to their striking combination of Ferrigno-green slabs of thigh beef and Spirit Halloween-level facial features, the Gorn have taken up a special place in the hearts of Trekkies, representing a threat whose level of seriousness lay somewhere between tribbles and that Riker clone who disguised himself by wearing fake sideburns.

Like Daleks, Cruella De Vil, or any fictional monster with the staying power to stick around for six decades, the Gorn have gone through a fair few reimaginings. Here’s a quick rundown of every take on the Trek villains.

Part One: The Gorn Identity

Star Trek had only been a thing for four months when the Gorn made their first appearance. Episode 19 of the original series aired in January of 1967, spinning a yarn about a Federation outpost on an exotic world getting pretty well smooshed.

The smooshers, who follow up their smooshing by luring Kirk and company into a smoosh trap, are an unknown alien species — cold-blooded reptilians, according to sensor readings, but difficult to get a bead on. After a quick exchange of explosives, the aggressors and the Starfleet personnel make their way back to their respective ships, and a high-warp chase ensues.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, the Enterprise and the alien ship wind up driving through sort of a galactic speed trap. They’re forcibly pulled over by powerful space narcs called Metrons, who don’t cotton to gunplay and irresponsible starship maneuvers in their neck of the woods. The Metrons’ dim view of violence leads them to decide that Kirk and the captain of the alien vessel should get transported to a quiet spot where they can kill each other with primitive weapons. It’s kind of like when you were a kid and you’d fight with your brother, so your parents would give you both all of the ingredients to make gunpowder and then watch you shoot each other with cannons. 

Materializing on the planet, Kirk and the audience get their first look at the Gorn. The tricorder readings from earlier got a few things right: The creature in front of Kirk is definitely reptilian. What they couldn’t have predicted, though, was just how much the alien captain would look like what would happen if Vince McMahon encouraged a Sleestak to start taking some injections to further his career.

The fight is one for the ages. The music is classic. The rocks are uncharacteristically bouncy. Kirk is faster than his sluggish opponent, but the Gorn captain is incredibly strong — not as strong as Khan from the second movie about Khan , but at least as strong as Khan from the first movie about Khan. On a related note, Star Trek is kind of a mess. That’ll be relevant in a minute.

When the Gorn captain finally communicates with Kirk, he’s high-octane arch. He offers to kill Kirk quickly if he stops moving around so much, then lets him know that the outpost he and his crew smooshed earlier was on a planet that the Gorn had called dibs on. This leads to Federation officers, perhaps for the first time, considering that maybe they can’t just park their stuff in people’s yards without asking. 

Kirk wins the fight, pulls a classic hero move, and announces that he won’t kill a helpless super-strong lizard man with a taste for annihilation. Everyone goes their separate ways. Spock and Uhura don’t mention anything about having hung out around Gorn before, inadvertently dropping nerds in the future into a never-ending echo chamber filled with continuity errors, but again, we’ll get to that in a minute.

Part Two: Here today, Gorn tomorrow

It’s uncharacteristic for a species with such an iconic debut to go missing for long stretches of time, but the Gorn didn’t show up again through the rest of the original series. Aside from a cameo in Star Trek: The Animated Series and a deleted scene from Nemesis, the species fully ducks out of the franchise for just shy of 40 years.

The next time we see the Gorn is a full four series later in a 2005 episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. “In a Mirror, Darkly, Pt II” introduces a fresh take on the Gorn — an ambitious new look, fueled by optimism and creativity and maybe a little bit too much faith in how far CGI could get you on a television budget the same year that Sharkboy and Lava Girl hit theaters.

This go-round, the evil counterpart to Captain Archer faces off against a Gorn in the Mirror Universe. This isn’t the sort of Gorn you remember. This guy is slinky and ceiling-crawly. The compound eyes of the creature seen in the original series are replaced by reptilian lizard peepers. This reimagining of the Gorn would look right at home in a video game cutscene made by a studio that’s been struggling for a while. Brought low by a targeted gravity beam, the defenseless lizardman gets a close look at how dark and gritty this timeline is when Archer pew-pews him full of special effects blasts. The only thing strong enough to kill CGI is CGI.

In point of fact, OG Gorn in their rubbery glory would only make one more appearance on screen, during an ad for 2013’s Star Trek: The Video Game. The commercial sees William Shatner and the Gorn he fought back in ‘67 arguing over their couch co-op sesh. 10 years later, it remains the only fondly remembered aspect of a game that made a whole generation ask, ”How big is anything supposed to be?”

Part Three: I Know Gorn When I See It

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a peculiar thing. While it mostly veers toward humanistic optimism about bright-eyed, hard-working explorers, it can’t always escape the black hole of dourness left by its Discovery parentage.

(As a quick, related side note: Captain Lorca had what sure looked like a Gorn skeleton in his office on Discovery. The producers said it was a Gorn, then realized that the Federation hadn’t made contact with the Gorn by that point in history, then walked it back and claimed that it wasn’t a Gorn at all. Discovery was a real mixed bag.)

Case in point: The even newer, even darker, even CGI-ier Gorn, alluded to and kept just offscreen for most of the first season before making their wet first appearance in the episode “All Those Who Wander.” 

The new Gorn would have been unrecognizable to a Star Trek fan in the ‘60s, and suspiciously recognizable to anyone working on the movie Alien in the ‘70s. The days of lumbering were over. The bug eyes were kaput. Now, Gorn — albeit very young ones — looked like a cross between Gremlins and those guys from Dead Like Me that stuck people’s heads in revolving doors. Folks who’d encountered them were petrified of a second run-in, a detail that’s made up about a third of La’an’s dialogue throughout the series, and with good reason. The new Gorn had a habit of sneezing acidic propagation snot on their victims, impregnating their exposed skin with exploding sacks of smaller Gorn. Gorn gestation wound up being what took out fan-favorite Chief Engineer Hemmer, who sacrificed himself to stop the bloodthirsty buns in his oven from cooking. It was a tough pill to swallow, but it went down a little easier thanks to the fact that it gave Carol Kane’s Pelia a chance to join the crew.

The Gorn made one more appearance on SNW as the antagonists in the season two finale, “Hegemony.” Fully realized, fully terrifying, and for the first time since the series premiered, seemingly capable of escaping the trap of being to Strange New Worlds what the Ferengi were to the first year or two of Next Generation, the Gorn are finally primed to take their place as a Star Trek villain worth not laughing at hysterically. 

Oh, shoot, speaking of which.

Part Four: Never Gorn-a Give You Up

Star Trek: Lower Decks is silly. It’s some of the best Star Trek in recent memory for fans of the old days who don’t mind treating a show about spaceships less than reverently, but also just hyper goofy. It’s Rick & Morty if Rick & Morty had been licensed by Paramount and the Roddenberry estate. It’s what everyone expected The Orville to be, but funnier.

So it can be easy to forget that it’s also canon. More than a wacky side project for Trek nerds, it’s a series of stories that take place in the wider Star Trek universe, the same way-too-serious place where those guys from Picard treated Borg victims like they were in a Hostel sequel, and where that lady from TNG died from melting into the floor. All of those stories are just as valid to Trek continuity as the time when the crew of the USS Cerritos was hunted by an anthropomorphic Starfleet insignia named Badgey. Either it all counts, or none of it does.

And so, there’s one last detail about the Gorn that we can pull from Star Trek lore. According to the Lower Decks episode “Veritas,” the Gorn have extravagant weddings. The brides wear white dresses, and the guests sit in uncomfortable-looking folding chairs, and the whole thing is eerily similar to the ceremony for your partner’s hayseed cousin that you got stuck at last summer, only with a flaming mouth-shaped cave instead of a bespoke apple orchard as a backdrop.

This franchise really went off the rails.

Gorn, Explained: A History of the Star Trek Aliens

The Gorn are one of the most famous aliens in Star Trek. Here is everything to know about the reptilian humanoid alien species.

Gene Roddenberry's space opera franchise Star Trek is filled with iconic aliens: Klingons, Andorians, Romulans, Betazoids, Orions, Changelings, Vulcans, and the Borg, to name a few. Many of them have been explored in great detail through various Star Trek series and films. Still, one particularly infamous and hostile species remains relatively unknown in live-action media: The Gorn . First introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series , these reptilian humanoid aliens are best remembered from the 1967 episode "The Arena." It is one of the most notable episodes in Star Trek history, mainly due to the slow and sluggish movement of the creatures' leader and its over-the-top combat with Captain Kirk, which rendered the scene unintentionally comedic.

Update August 13, 2023: This article has been updated by Mona Bassil with additional information following the season 2 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and with information from the series Star Trek: Lower Decks.

This cemented the Gorn as one of the most memorable aliens in the Trek universe. Despite that, the franchise has typically avoided bringing them back. While it makes sense for prequel series not to include them, it is odd how later Star Trek shows, like The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , and Prodigy, never featured the Gorn. One of the more recent series, however, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , which premiered on Paramount+ on May 5, 2022, has not only given an update on the Gorn but has also explored them in more detail and plans on making them an overarching threat for the series. Here is everything to know about the Gorn species.

Gorn History in the Star Trek Series

The Gorn are first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Arena". They are still a mysterious species to the Federation, and Captain Kirk is forced to do battle with the Gorn leader in a fight to the death. Kirk believes the Gorn to be a violent and savage race that eradicated an entire Starfleet colony. While he has the chance to kill their captain, he spares him after he realizes that the previous attack on a Starfleet Outpost was simply an act of self-defense and that the Gorn and humans have more in common than they realize. This marks the official first encounter the United Federation of Planets has with this species.

Related: 23 Coolest Alien Characters in the Star Trek Franchise

The Gorn would later appear in an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series , as well as on Star Trek: Enterprise , which marked the first time the creature was portrayed with GCI. In order not to mess with the continuity of the original series and the subsequent first contact with Kirk, the Gorn seen on the prequel show, Star Trek: Enterprise , is set in the Mirror Universe, an alternate universe in Star Trek where everyone is either evil or has an entirely different character.

How Strange New Worlds Redefines the Gorn

The Gorn were planned to appear in both Star Trek: Nemesis and 2009's Star Trek reboot but were scrapped for unknown reasons. In Star Trek Into Darkness , Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy makes reference to performing a C-section on a pregnant Gorn, indicating they may have encountered The Federation earlier on in this new timeline.

The next major appearance of the Gorn would be in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where they are a recurring foe. Set ten years before the events of TOS , Strange New Worlds slightly retcons the original series. Here, the alien species are a large part of the backstory for La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), who is the sole survivor of a Gorn attack when she was a child. This marks an unofficial first encounter with the species in the series.

The USS Enterprise , under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, first encounters a Gorn ship in the episode Memento Mori . The creatures are not seen, which seems to indicate that the aliens would be a recurring unseen foe throughout the series. But they reappear later in the season, in the episode "All Those Who Wander " , where various members of the Enterprise crew, including Spock, come face to face with the aliens. Unlike in the original series, these Gorn are depicted as smaller, more agile, and more animalistic. Henry Myers, the show's executive producer, told Variety , "I think audiences would have an instinctive organ transplant rejection to the classic version of the Gorn. Audiences now are sophisticated; they expect a certain level of effects work, of verisimilitude.” He was, of course, referring to the fact that the Gorn on TOS looked like giant lizards in fake rubber suits.

Related: Star Trek: How the 3 Animated Series Stack Against Each Other

The Season 2's action-packed finale, "Hegemony", it features the species decimating a human colony at the edge of Federation space, which they believe is part of their territory. They also plant a device that prevents any starship or shuttlecraft from beaming up trapped survivors, thus demonstrating superior dampening technology. While the episode begins with Captain Pike very clearly seeing the Gorn as monsters, the episode also looks to try to build the foundation for the Gorn being seen as a more advanced species in The Original Series.

Not only do the Gorn have their own fleet of ships, the young Gorn also appear not to be killing each other for dominance like it was believed they do, but instead working together. Pike comments on how there is more for them to learn about the Gorn. Audiences will likely learn more in season 3 as the finale of season 2 ended on a cliffhanger. Pike must decide between following Starfleet orders and retreating or going to save the rest of his crew who were beamed aboard the Gorn ship, including La'an Noonien-Singh.

The Gorn on Star Trek: Lower Decks

More recently, the species also appeared on the adult animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks , a refreshingly comedic take on the Star Trek franchise that pays homage to its complicated history while cleverly poking fun at its most memorable chapters and characters. In season 1's eighth episode, "Veritas", Ensign Rutherford's cybernetic implant is in need of an update. To complete the process, the device occasionally has to shut down and reboot, causing Rutherford to suddenly collapse and wake up hours later. Consequently, he crashes on a barren planet and finds himself surrounded by the Gorn, who starts biting into him. It is a double crash because he has also interrupted a wedding celebration.

Design and Characteristics

The Gorn in the original series are a bipedal and large reptilian alien species. They are capable of space travel and seem to have their own civilization. They also appear to be an apprehensive species, as even later in the timeline of Star Trek, it is unclear if they ever joined Starfleet.

The Gorn on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are similar to the variant of the species introduced in the Kelvin timeline set Star Trek video game between the 2009 Star Trek film and 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness . They are smaller, quadrupedal aliens that have a lot in common with the Xenomorphs from the Alien film franchise , including the practice of laying parasitic eggs inside a host that burst out of the victim's chest. They also no longer seem to have the sparkly eyes shown on TOS . Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds later found an explanation for this change in size. The smaller ones are the baby versions of the species, and audiences got to see Spock and Nurse Chapel fight a proper size Gorn which matched the size of the one Captain Kirk fought.

The Gorn have evolved and acquired the ability to evade Starfleet and other electromagnetic medical sensors, possibly indicating why the species has gone so long in the franchise without being seen. They grow quickly and will not hesitate to eliminate each other in order to establish dominance and strength. Strange New World also establishes that the Gorn are susceptible to the cold. It has done more to explain the Gorn than any other piece of Star Trek media since the creature first appeared, and hopefully, additional seasons will explore its culture and variants. The season 2 finale clearly hints that Trekkies will be seeing more of the Gorn as recurring villains in season 3.

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How STRANGE NEW WORLDS Transforms the Gorn, an Old STAR TREK Enemy

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

In its first season, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reinvented one of the franchise’s oldest alien adversaries, the Gorn. They gave this classic antagonistic species an upgrade by injecting some blood from two of cinema’s most deadly extraterrestrials. We’re talking about Gorn inspired by the xenomorph from the Alien franchise and the Predator. In the season two finale of Strange New Worlds , “Hegemony,” the Gorn returned. And these aliens destroyed a Federation starship, along with most of a human colony. So how did Strange New Worlds update this alien race once thought of as a silly product of its 1960s time? First, we’ll tell you all about Star Trek ‘s Gorn and why they haven’t appeared much for five decades.

Who Are the Gorn, Star Trek ‘s Race of Reptilian Aliens, and Where Have They Been?

First appearing in the original Star Trek series episode “Arena,” the Gorn Hegemony was a warlike reptilian race who decimated a Federation outpost on the planet Cestus III. When Captain Kirk chased the enemy Gorn ship deep into space, an advanced species called the Metrons forced Kirk and the Gorn captain to fight for survival on a remote world. This fight scene, with a man in a very fake-looking alien lizard suit, became the subject of parody. It was even parodied in Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey . Perhaps because of that, Star Trek has seemingly almost totally avoided the Gorn, beyond cameos and name drops across different series. The Gorn popped up briefly in CGI form on Star Trek: Enterprise in 2004 and in the 2013 Star Trek video game, for which the Gorn and William Shatner reunited for a silly promotion.

Strange New Worlds Reinvents the Gorn

But Strange New Worlds changed everything about these aliens, making the Gorn intergalactic boogymen. In the episode “Memento Mori,” we learned that La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) had some serious PTSD based on her childhood trauma of surviving a Gorn massacre. During her childhood, the Gorn attacked and captured the SS Puget Sound, a colony ship, and left its crew on a Gorn breeding planet. The survivors, including La’an, were hunted for sport or eaten alive by their newborn hatchlings. Only a young La’an Noonien-Singh survived and told her tale to Starfleet. This was the first documented encounter with the Gorn on Star Trek , although it was not considered an official first contact. As La’an says, “Many people have seen the Gorn, but few live to tell about it.”

In “Memento Mori,” the Gorn only appeared in their Star Trek space vessels. We don’t actually see them in the reptilian flesh. Their vicious ways were only spoken of by Lt. Noonien Singh. In fact, they are described and treated as the shark in Jaws . When La’an described her childhood encounter with the Gorn and their lifeless eyes, it’s almost like hearing Quint talk about the shark that killed his crewmates on the U.S.S. Indianapolis . But in Strange New Worlds season one, episode nine, “All Those Who Wander,” we truly saw the Gorn for the first time in this Star Trek series. And they owe their newest incarnation to two classic sci-fi adversaries, the Xenomorph and the Predator.

The Gorn Become Terrifying Foes in Star Trek ‘s World

When the Enterprise responded to a distress beacon from a crashed Starfleet vessel, the U.S.S. Peregrine , they found the ship in shambles on an ice world and the crew of 99 officers dead. The logs showed that they had picked up three stranded refugees, all infected with Gorn eggs. They found a human girl (shades of Newt in Aliens ) and an unknown alien in the wreckage. Despite initial scans showing nothing unusual, the Gorn eggs were hatching inside one of the aliens.

Just like in Ridley Scott’s Alien , the hatchling busted out of the victim’s body and scampered off. Two others then emerged from the body of another victim. The four hatchlings quickly became two as they killed the others and fought for dominance. The POV shots of the Gorn hatchlings looked extremely similar to the heat signature vision of the alien hunters from the Predator franchise. Their reptilian appearance was also like the Predator, although that predates the movie, as the Gorn first appeared in 1967. Like the Xenomorph from Alien, the Gorn matured at an exponential rate, but the Enterprise crew managed to kill it before it grew to full size.

But the Enterprise crew took a heavy casualty when they fought the Gorn. The Gorn hatchling spit a type of venom onto Chief Engineer Hemmer (Bruce Horack), similar to the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park. But this was more than venom. La’an revealed that this is how the Gorn lay their eggs. Hemmer took his own life before allowing the Gorn to take hold of him. In the two separate episodes of season one, they did not show a full-grown Gorn.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Two Reveals a Full-Grown Gorn

In season two’s “Hegemony,” the Gorn attack the human colony world Parnassus Beta, and decimate most of the population. Only a few survive. They also destroy the U.S.S. Cayuga . The episode shows that the Cayuga’s Captain, Marie Batel, has been infected with Gorn eggs. We finally see an adult Gorn in this episode, in a space suit no less. Unlike their Star Trek: The Original Series counterpart, this Gorn has a tail. Although Spock kills this particular Gorn, at the end of the episode, the Gorn Hegemony has the upper hand over Pike’s Enterprise , leaving us with a massive cliffhanger ending.

Of course, this sets up certain continuity issues. Technically “Arena,” the episode where Captain Kirk fights the Gorn in The Original Series , takes place about eight years after Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Spock and Uhura don’t seem to know anything about the Gorn in The Original Series , which doesn’t make much sense. You’d think with their experiences in these Strange New Worlds episodes, they would have a few thoughts about this particular enemy. But it’ll be interesting to see how Strange New Worlds deals with this all of this, as we are no doubt going to see the Gorn continue to be a significant threat to Pike and his crew as the show continues to unfold.

Originally published on July 1, 2022.

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Star trek: strange new worlds' gorn explained by legacy effects co-founder.

J. Alan Scott, co-founder of Legacy Effects, talks about the process of creating the Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's finale.

• Legacy Effects, the VFX house behind Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian, designed the Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1 and returned for the season 2 finale.
• Co-founder J. Alan Scott discusses how the season 2 finale features the USS Enterprise crew fighting different generations of Gorn, including an adult Gorn in a zero-gravity fight with Lt. Spock and Nurse Christine Chapel.
• The Gorn's ability to speak and communicate has not yet been decided, but the show aims to continue revealing and exploring more about the Gorn in future seasons.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2's Finale, "Hegemony" The Gorn return in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's finale, and they're deadlier than ever thanks to the visual effects work of J. Alan Scott and the team at Legacy Effects.

Legacy Effects, the famed VFX house that has created numerous props and visual effects, such as Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian, came aboard to design the Gorn in Strange New Worlds season 1. The season 2 finale of Strange New Worlds ups the ante with the crew of the USS Enterprise fighting different generations of the man-eating Gorn, from hatchlings to younglings, to the reveal of an adult Gorn who has a zero gravity fight with Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) in outer space.

Related: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Ending & Cliffhanger Explained

Screen Rant had the pleasure of chatting with Legacy Effects' Co-Founder and Owner J. Alan Scott about bringing the Gorn to life in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , whether the alien reptiles will speak, and how they executed the zero gravity Spock vs. Gorn fight in Strange New Worlds ' season 2 finale.

J. Alan Scott Of Legacy Effects Talks Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Screen Rant: Hey Alan, I take it you're responsible for all of my Gorn nightmares? Should I send my therapy bills to you?

J. Alan Scott: No. (laughs) I leave that to the executives, I just execute the vision.

I looked up the amazing work Legacy Effects has done. The list of shows and movies you've worked on is incredible. Besides the Gorn, can we discuss some of your past Star Trek work?

J. Alan Scott: We started doing a little bit work on Discovery with props. We made a couple little creatures for them. And the conversations just continued. And then, we actually were called when the Klingons were going to be redesigned. And it was a very exciting and daunting offer. But with our timeline, and what we were able to, we couldn't take it on at the time in the timeline that they had. I didn't think we can do it justice, so we had to pass on that opportunity. We continued the conversation. And then we came on with Strange New Worlds. I love the serialized version of Strange New Worlds. I love that it's not necessarily a monster of the week, but I love the continuing characters. I also love the the idea that there's something new every week that you're gonna see. It's what everybody loved about The Original Series. The overarching stories and characters that you get to grow with them. It's cool. That's part of the fun about what we're doing. Yeah, it's stressful at times, because you're not exactly sure what you're doing, you know, a month before you're doing it. But that's kind of why we do what we do.

When you found out the plan for the finale of Strange New Worlds season 2, and it was an adult Gorn fighting Spock in space in zero gravity, what was your reaction?

J. Alan Scott: My reaction was like, "Why didn't we talk about this earlier?" And then, "Can we start now?" It's very, very daunting doing creature work, especially to the caliber of what the expectations are with the Gorn and being respectful to that franchise, and that character from The Original Series added on top. Now we've got to design a suit around it that hints at what's inside, but doesn't reveal what's inside. And, and then on top of that, all the technical parts of dealing remotely from 3000 miles away, and finding an actor or performer that can be in the suit. We had already designed kind of where it was going and how it was going to be executed. But then the mechanics of, gotta get the guy, we gotta start now, because there's a lot of testing that needs to happen. And then we're going to put him on wires, and it's going to be in zero G the entire time. So it's none of the things that we've done before, built on things that we had done similar, but all combined into one big sequence. We've got to take an actor that I'm not gonna be able to see, or maybe once because of COVID, and then build a suit, and hope it all works, that we want to take it up [to Toronto] mere days before we're supposed to shoot it. And then, that's our first experience with the Strange New Worlds stunt team, to get them to put on the wires and let Warren experience this incredibly sophisticated and heavy suit than what we had when we worked with him before. And then, add in all the wire work on top of it, and then to be able to perform with all of those unknowns. So very challenging, but I'm very happy with the way that it all laid out. You always go back and wish you had more time. Or, "I wish I had done that differently." But that's just our life. You've got this moment in time, and you've got this much money, and this is the crew that's available. And then these are all the particular scenarios, but you just take every minute that you can and put as much energy into it as you can. I say there's always time to improve, and until they say "wrap," we're not done. We are continually changing and improving things as we start to experience what the expectations are on set. So it's daunting, but it's so exciting. Every step of the way, I love the problem solving of it. That's what I thrive on: getting the script pages, getting their descriptions, and then starting to try and realize the vision of the writers and the directors, the creative team, and what they've seen in their heads. And it's our job to try and bring that to reality. That's the best part of the job.

There were such cool close-ups in the fight with Spock of the Gorn helmet and the Gorn's face. In The Original Series , the Gorn Captain speaks to Kirk. Are the Gorn's mouths designed to speak in Strange New Worlds ? Would they be able to communicate at some point?

J. Alan Scott: We've discussed that and we're ready to do either, but as far as I know, that decision hasn't been made yet. But that's part of it. As we design the creature, you ask those questions right away. Is this going to be subtitles? Is this gonna be a language they don't understand? Is it going to be guttural clicks? Or do we have to form words when it comes to the design? I actually don't have that answer yet. We haven't had to do it yet. The Gorn reveals have been slow and incremental and exciting in that way. So, it's capable [of speaking]. It's got lips. We made sure that it wasn't just a T-Rex or a raptor. That's the lips couldn't close. But we don't know yet if it's going to be speaking English, or if there's going to be a translator. I love that because if it's that alien, why would you already understand it no matter what your technology? And figuring out the structure of language, at a certain point was like, you don't know its intent or what it's saying. And I think that adds to the mystery and the scariness of it.

I rewatched "Arena" the other day, and I always assumed it was the Metron that was using their powers or magic, and was translating. I didn't think the Gorn could speak English. I just thought it was Metron that allowed communication to happen.

J. Alan Scott: Right, yeah. And I think even if it's a translator that they've provided so that there's something for the two contestants, it's [a plot device] more for the audience. But I love the idea of you are dropped into the moment. With the Enterprise, or Spock, or whoever's experiences, they don't have the luxury of all this canon and backstory. I love it when the audience is dropped in with the same thing, and they have to figure it out at the same time as the cast members. You don't get to throw in all your back knowledge into it. It's fun because that's what we love about it. We love being immersed in the franchise. But at the same time, from a storytelling point, when the audience is on the same page, they're figuring it out at the same time as the characters.

Strange New Worlds season 2 ended with a cliffhanger , and so, the Gorn are obviously back at least for season 3's first episode. Without spoiling, are their plans to up the ante even further with the Gorn from what we've seen so far?

J. Alan Scott: That's always been the plan. That's always been incremental. When we started with season 1, we designed the Gorn life cycle, and then we put aside the second half, and we focused on the hatchlngs and the younglings. But we had to do the whole thing to focus on the first part. And so, we haven't revealed everything yet. So that is the intent, to continue to reveal and explore the Gorn and what they are like. I'm excited to see what they look like. How do they pilot ships? How do they hold weapons? How do they communicate with each other? What does the bridge look like? What does the interior of their ships look like? We've only seen the outside. We started designing some of the EV suit before season 1 aired. And then we're like, "Oh, wait, they're showing up in ships? Oh, can I see that?" So they sent us the designs and some of the rough sequences. And we were like, "Oh, we need that. We need to use that technology. That informs their E suit technology, which would inform, eventually, their weaponry and other things." So we did designs after we saw their ships' movements and the way they tumble and roll. We designed an EV suit that was very similar. Because it's a common language. This is what their technology does. This is how they move and maneuver and fight. So why wouldn't their EV suit? It's just a smaller version of their ships. As Spock experiences and sees it, the audience goes, "Oh my God, there it is. That's the Gorn." It was a cool idea. And that's the fun part of figuring out the storytelling of it. Because that's ultimately what matters the most. The audience and Spock realize together that this is a creature, and it can't survive in space. So it's going to have to have a technology that would give it an Extra Vehicular ability to move around just like we do.

About Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew of the USS Enterprise in the 23rd century as they explore new worlds and carry out missions throughout the galaxy during the decade before Star Trek: The Original Series.

Check out our other Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 interviews here:

• Roberto Campanella
• Dermott Downs
• Paul Wesley
• Benji Bakshi
• Melissa Navia
• Christina Chong
• Valerie Weiss
• Yetide Badaki
• Anson Mount & Rebecca Romijn
• Ethan Peck & Paul Wesley

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 is streaming on Paramount+.

A Star Trek Origin Movie Is Coming in 2025 From 'Andor' and 'Doctor Who' Director Toby Haynes

'Star Trek' (2009) director J.J. Abrams is attached to produce.

The Big Picture

• A new Star Trek prequel film, an "origin story", is in development, at Paramount.
• The Star Trek history before Kirk's missions on the Enterprise is largely unwritten, leaving room for creativity with the new film.
• Director Toby Haynes, known for Andor , is working on the film alongside writer Seth Grahame-Smith; a 2025 release window was announced at CinemaCon.

Star Trek may finally be coming back to the big screen. A prequel to the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot of the franchise is in the works from director Toby Haynes . The news comes from Paramount's presentation at CinemaCon today, as reported by Collider's Steve Weintraub and Britta DeVore . With Haynes, who recently helmed six episodes of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor , at the rudder, the film will be written by Seth Grahame-Smith .

So far, other details on the new film are scarce, but it will reportedly be an "origin story", taking place decades before the 2009 Star Trek film, which took place in 2255. That likely means that it will not feature the cast from the 2009 reboot, which has so far been difficult for Paramount to wrangle together for a fourth film, despite numerous attempts to do so . That doesn't necessarily mean that a fourth movie isn't happening: back in March, Paramount hired The Flight Attendant scribe Steve Yockey to pen a new script for the film. For their part, the cast is game as well, with Zoe Saldaña recently stating her willingness to return for a fourth mission on the USS Enterprise .

What Happened Decades Before Kirk's First Missions on the Enterprise?

The history of the Star Trek universe prior to the celebrated voyages of the Enterprise is largely unwritten. The first starship Enterprise 's adventures in the 22nd century were chronicled on the UPN prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise . That series ended with the founding of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, which leaves almost a century of mostly unexplored history between that and the history now being charted on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (and the first two seasons of mothership show Star Trek: Discovery ).

At some point, the nascent Federation faces a devastating war against the Romulan Star Empire , while also engaged in a Cold War with the Klingons. The USS Enterprise will eventually be launched in the 23rd century, under the captaincy of Robert April, who has been briefly glimpsed on Star Trek: The Animated Series and Strange New Worlds , before being handed off to Christopher Pike . Apart from that, however, Haynes and Graeme-Smith have a near-blank canvas upon which to make their mark.

In addition to Andor , Haynes has also helmed episodes of Doctor Who , Sherlock , and Black Mirror ; his work on the latter series includes the episode " USS Callister ," a loving pastiche of Star Trek . Graeme-Smith wrote the novels Pride & Prejudice & Zombies and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter ; he worked on the story for the upcoming horror comedy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice .

A new Star Trek prequel film is in development; no date has yet been set beyond a 2025 release window . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

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Gorkon was the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council in 2293 . In this capacity, he notably pursued peaceful relations between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets . However, he was assassinated just prior to the start of the Khitomer Conference . Only a full explanation of a conspiracy behind his death allowed for successful negotiation of the Khitomer Accords , which eventually normalized relations between the two governments after years of hostility.

• 1 Biographical record
• 2.1.1 Identifying performers
• 2.1.2 Conception
• 2.1.3 Casting and physical presence
• 2.1.4 After-effects
• 2.2 Apocrypha
• 2.3 External links

Biographical record [ ]

In 2293, the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis forced the Klingon Empire to reassess its position towards the United Federation of Planets, as the Empire simply could no longer afford to maintain its massive military budget and deal with the devastating effects of the explosion on its economy. Gorkon approached the Federation via Captain Spock and opened negotiations that would see the military outposts on both sides of the Klingon Neutral Zone dismantled and a new alliance forged between the two cold war enemies.

Gorkon's peace initiatives were met with open arms by the Federation Council , but there were those on both sides who objected. A plot was forged between individuals associated with the Federation, the Romulan Star Empire , and even General Chang , Gorkon's own chief of staff . Gorkon traveled to rendezvous with the USS Enterprise -A aboard his flagship , Kronos One . He and a team of officers from Kronos One attended a formal dinner aboard the Enterprise with Captain Kirk and his crew. While there, Gorkon made a toast to the future – which he termed "the undiscovered country" – and expressed his hope that there would be peace between the Empire and the Federation.

Gorkon succumbs to his wounds

Gorkon was back aboard Kronos One when, later that evening, the vessel was disabled by two photon torpedoes . They were fired by an experimental Bird-of-Prey which was under the command of General Chang and had the unique ability to fire while cloaked . As Kronos One drifted out-of-control, two mysterious assassins from the Enterprise beamed aboard, their faces hidden by helmets they wore. The fact that Kronos One was crippled by a lack of artificial gravity made it easy for the intruders, equipped with gravity boots , to systematically kill Klingons en route to the Chancellor. Indeed, they were able to easily injure a floating and defenseless Gorkon with a phaser shot to the chest, mortally wounding him.

After Kronos One had restored power, Captain Kirk and Doctor Leonard McCoy beamed aboard to provide medical assistance. McCoy attempted to resuscitate Gorkon and was able to briefly bring him back to consciousness. With his dying breath, Gorkon motioned for Kirk to approach him, pleading, " Don't let it end this way, Captain. " ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Kirk and McCoy were arrested for Gorkon's death and returned to Qo'noS . ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country ; VOY : " Flashback ")

In the wake of his death , Gorkon's daughter , Azetbur , was elevated to the position of Chancellor. She continued to champion her father's ideals of peace , even in the face of resistance from her own advisors . The conspiracy was eventually uncovered by the crew of the Enterprise , enabling the continuation of the peace talks.

During his lifetime, Gorkon owned a bone cane and the Klingon Chain of Office . The latter item was inherited by Azetbur when she succeeded him as Chancellor. ( Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country )

Gorkon's legacy would later be honored by the Federation through the naming of the starship USS Gorkon . ( TNG : " Descent ") and the Type 14 shuttlecraft Gorkon . ( PIC : " Imposters ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ], identifying performers [ ].

Gorkon was played by actor David Warner . Stuntman Greg Gault filled in for Warner during the stunt scene and several second unit and insert shoots. ( Star Trek VI – 2nd Unit Shooting Schedule )

Conception [ ]

Gorkon's name was devised by Denny Martin Flinn . ( audio commentary , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition) DVD ) It was crafted as a blending of the surnames of Mikhail Gorbachev and Abraham Lincoln . ( [1] ; audio commentary , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2009 DVD) ) Flinn and Director Nicholas Meyer initially worried that the thinly veiled allusion to Gorbachev was too "on the nose," but they ultimately found that these concerns were uncorroborated by audience reaction. ( audio commentary , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition) DVD ) Meyer later referred to Gorkon as being "as close as Denny dared come to the name Gorbachev." ( The View from the Bridge , hardcover ed., p. 203) Gorkon's personality was also based on Gorbachev. " For sure, Gorbachev was the model, " Meyer emphasized. ("The Perils of Peacemaking", Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Blu-ray / (Special Edition) DVD ) According to Make-Up Department Head Ken Myers , the director additionally wanted Gorkon's actual motives to be somewhat vague. " He wanted there to be uncertainty about Gorkon's true intentions. Did he want peace, or was something sinister in his mind? " ( Cinefex No. 49, p. 50)

Another facet of the character that was conceived by Nick Meyer was Gorkon's assassination. ("The Perils of Peacemaking", Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Blu-ray / (Special Edition) DVD ) Speaking of himself and Denny Martin Flinn, Meyer recalled, " We had created Gorkon and then, in effect, extrapolating from what we read in the newspapers or saw on television, [we] imagined his likely fate. " ( The View from the Bridge , hardcover ed., p. 224)

In the screenplay for Star Trek VI , Gorkon was described as "tall, splendidly barbaric." The script also showed that his dying words were originally to have been asking Kirk, " Are you all right? " [2]

Casting and physical presence [ ]

It would not have been seemly for such an eminent politician as Gorkon to be clad in the military attire of an ordinary Klingon warrior. Partly due to this (and also because there was not enough Klingon uniforms already available for the entire film), Costume Designer Dodie Shepard especially designed a set of new Klingon uniforms for Gorkon and his staff. ( text commentary , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition) DVD) Gorkon's attire was allocated more money than background Klingon costumes. Shepard designed Gorkon's uniform to be quilted vertically. This was deliberately different from Chang's costume, which was quilted horizontally; the difference was an attempt to "say to the audience that the two men are different ranks," said Shepard. ( Star Trek: Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier , p. 95) One aspect of Gorkon's backstory was intended to be implied by a certain prop; his bone cane was meant to be from a form of vicious animal he had once killed. ( The Making of the Trek Films , 3rd ed., p. 128)

Gorkon actor David Warner with Nicholas Meyer

Leonard Nimoy , the actor who regularly played Spock and who served as one of Star Trek VI 's co-writers, was in agreement with Nick Meyer over the casting requirements for the part of Gorkon. Noted Meyer, " Nimoy [...] saw the logic of a name actor of talent and presence to play Gorkon. " ( The View from the Bridge , hardcover ed., p. 211) Jack Palance was Nick Meyer's original choice for the role. ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 141) However, Palance proved to be extremely costly to hire as well as slightly hesitant to accept the part. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , p. 297) Being an acquaintance of Nick Meyer, David Warner did not have to audition for the role. [3] Stated Co-Producer Steven-Charles Jaffe , " There were some people we wanted that we couldn't afford. In the long run, it may have actually worked out for the best, because I think David Warner is extraordinary in the movie, which would have been totally different from Jack Palance. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 5, p. 48; Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 141) Fellow Co-Producer Ralph Winter likewise commented, " David Warner does a great job for us [...] and he fit the role. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 5, p. 38)

It was Nick Meyer's intention that Gorkon physically resemble Abraham Lincoln. " When I started to work with David Warner on his characterization as Gorkon, " remembered Meyer, " that's when I got this Lincolnesque idea of making him look like Lincoln in some way. " ("The Perils of Peacemaking", Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Blu-ray /Special Edition) DVD) This concept was addressed by the character's makeup design. ( The Art of Star Trek , p. 264) Richard Snell – who designed and fabricated the film's Klingon, Vulcan and Romulan prosthetics – offered, " Nick told me, 'When people look at Gorkon, I want their brain cells to go, 'Abe Lincoln!' The resemblance is almost subliminal. " ( Cinefantastique , Vol. 22, No. 5, p. 34) Captain Ahab was another, less powerful influence on how Nick Meyer wanted the character to look. ( audio commentary , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition) DVD ; Cinefex No. 49, p. 50) " Incorporating those two images was really genius on his part, " enthused Ken Myers. The makeup design reflected the director's desire that Gorkon's allegiances be not immediately apparent. " From his appearance, it was impossible to tell whether he was friend or foe, " observed Myers. " Subliminally, there were aspects of both. " Due to the lengthy duration it took to apply the makeup for Azetbur , Myers was forced to hand over his other assignment, the prosthetics for Gorkon, to Margaret Bessara . ( Cinefex No. 49, p. 50)

David Warner found that playing Gorkon was fairly easy and that the combination of influences between Abraham Lincoln and Gorbachev was "the fun thing" about the role. ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 118 , p. 66) Though Warner had known next to nothing about Klingons before portraying Gorkon, another factor that attracted him to the role was the chancellor's rare Klingon benevolence. " He wasn't the evil master Klingon; he was actually trying to make peace […] So he was a good Klingon, I suppose, " Warner mused. " And, of course, he suffered because of that. " [4] Despite normally having to arrive as early as 3 a.m. to have his makeup applied (prior to a regular shooting start of 10 a.m.), Warner did not feel that the makeup had any relevance to the way he played the character. He also didn't believe that the mixture of historical figures embodied in the role affected his performance. " That didn't alter the dialogue or anything, " he said. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 153 , p. 47)

David Warner recognized that the role was not a particularly large one, stating, " I just sat there for one scene and then got killed! […] In a way he's a kind of device. Which is fine – I don't have a problem with that. It's exposition, setting it all up. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 153 , p. 47) On the other hand, Nick Meyer theorized, " If the movie had been a biography of Gorkon, you might have witnessed the evolution of his thinking, the emancipation of his mind. " ("The Perils of Peacemaking", Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Blu-ray/Special Edition) DVD)

Gorkon's ability to be forward-thinking was elemental in the portrayal of the character. " With David Warner as Gorkon, " Nick Meyer recalled, " I said, 'Picture yourself as the only man with imagination in this room. The other people are flat, boring. They don't know what's going on. They can't, you know, think around corners.' " ("The Perils of Peacemaking", Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Blu-ray/Special Edition) DVD)

After-effects [ ]

Among the costumes which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay were Warner's costume, [5] his distressed costume, [6] his gauntlets, [7] and Greg Gault's costume. [8] At least one of the Gorkon distressed costumes ended up in the possession of Star Trek collector Brett Leggett, who said of the outfit, " This is a neat piece, you know, very aesthetically, displays well. " ("Collecting Star Trek 's Movie Relics", Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Blu-ray / 2009 DVD) )

Apocrypha [ ]

In the Star Trek: Vanguard novels (set at the beginning of Kirk's five-year mission ), Gorkon is a member of the Klingon High Council . He is described as an ex-battle fleet general and an expert with a Klingon war club. It is unclear whether he suffers from the augment virus like most Klingons seen during the TOS series era.

In the Pocket DS9 Warpath and the Star Trek: Mirror Universe novel The Sorrows of Empire , it is revealed that his mirror universe counterpart ( β ) was the Regent of the Klingon Empire from 2288 until at least 2295 and that he was responsible for the formation of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance which conquered the Terran Republic, the successor state of the Terran Empire , in 2295.

Gorkon as he appears in Star Trek: Klingon Academy

In the PC video game Star Trek: Klingon Academy , Gorkon and Chang's relationship before the events of Star Trek VI is shown. In that depiction of their acquaintance, Gorkon is the chief of staff for Chancellor Lorak ( β ) and Chang is shown as trying to prevent the ascendancy of his friend, Gorkon, to the chancellorship, because of the danger Gorkon would make peace with the Federation.

The novelization of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country establishes that Gorkon expected something to happen to him during the peace mission to the Federation and so therefore used his influence with his supporters on the High Council to make sure that they would install Azetbur as his successor. It is hinted that he suspected such an attempt in the movie; when Kronos One was being "attacked" by the Enterprise , he ordered someone to find Chang, hinting that he suspected Chang of being part of this betrayal.

Gorkon of the alternate reality's mirror universe

In " Mirrored, Part 1 ", an issue of IDW Publishing 's Star Trek: Ongoing comic series , a Chancellor Gorkon from the alternate reality 's mirror universe is depicted in the aftermath of a Terran Empire victory against the Klingons. Gorkon prefers to be executed than to be enslaved, so Sulu decapitates him. This Gorkon is depicted with green skin and a helmet based on prison guards in deleted scenes from Star Trek .

The Star Trek: Legacies novels Best Defense and Purgatory's Key portray a young, then- councilor Gorkon participating in peace talks with the Federation following the Babel Conference . He is subsequently sent into an alternate dimension along with Sarek , Joanna McCoy , and others. Kirk ultimately does not meet Gorkon in this book but hopes to someday.

Gorkon in Star Trek vs. Transformers

Gorkon appears in the in the fifth and final issue of the comic crossover mini-series Star Trek vs. Transformers though he is not named in the issue itself. In keeping with the aesthetic sensibilities of the comic drawn in the style of Star Trek: The Animated Series , he was redesigned to resemble the Klingons from that show and his ridged forehead was dropped. He is shown convening with the Klingon High Council regarding the strange events on Cygnus Seven and the strange vessels crossing the Neutral Zone. As Gorkon opined that such an act signaled the start of total war with the Federation, the Decepticon Starscream blasts his way into the High Council's chamber and declares himself the new emperor of the Klingon Empire. When Gorkon balks at the Seeker's claim, he was met by a null-ray blast. Suddenly, the First City is subjected to an orbital bombardment by the other Decepticons allowing Gorkon and the other council members to fire back at Starscream with disruptors. After Decepticon leader Megatron overthrows Starscream and declares Qo'noS now belongs to the Decepticon Empire, the Autobots and the crew of the USS Enterprise arrived, along with Commander Kuri and his crew who quickly brief Gorkon on what was happening and the Chancellor then presents his soldier with a bat'leth . But the Decepticons ultimately emerged victorious against the three-way alliance when Soundwave used his audio disruptor waves. Fortunately for the Klingons, the frequency had no effect on their ears which allowed them to summon a warbird fleet and defeat the invaders. In the aftermath, Gorkon allows the Enterprise and the Autobots to go free, but on the condition that the Decepticons remain in Klingon custody.

External links [ ]

• Gorkon at StarTrek.com
• Gorkon, son of Toq at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein