STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Casts Ethan Peck as Spock

May he live long and prosper.

Deadline is reporting that the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery has cast Ethan Peck as legendary character Spock.  Peck will be the third actor to portray the character as an adult, after Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

Spock's appearance on the series was teased last month in the first trailer for the show's second season.  In the trailer, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) talks with Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).  "We have someone in common," he tells her.

"My foster brother," replies Burnham as we see a blue Science uniform similar to Pike's.  "Mr. Spock."

"He took leave," says Pike.  "It's as if he'd run into a question he couldn't answer."

Later, Burnham tells Commander Saru, "Spock is linked to these signals...and he needs help."

Peck, 32, is the grandson of legendary actor Gregory Peck and has appeared in the films The Curse of Sleeping Beauty, Eden, Nothing to Fear, In Time, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Passport to Paris.  He's also appeared in episodes of the TV series Madam Secretary, Gossip Girl, 10 Things I Hate About You, That '70s Show, and The Drew Carey Show.

Discovery executive producer Alex Kurtzman said, "Through 52 years of television and film, a parallel universe and a mirror universe, Mr. Spock remains the only member of the original bridge crew to span every era of Star Trek.  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."

Kurtzman added, "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."

Created in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry, Spock first appeared in the original Star Trek pilot episode "The Cage."  Born to the Vulcan Sarek and the human Amanda Grayson, Spock had a troubled childhood due to his mixed heritage.  On his homeworld, he was repeatedly bullied and tormented by full-blooded Vulcan children, who wished to incite the emotions of his human nature.  For a time, he grew up alongside his older half-brother Sybok, until the older brother was cast out for rejecting logic.  After Sarek and Amanda fostered a human child, Michael Burnham, Spock was betrothed to T'Pring, in accordance with traditional Vulcan marriage procedure.

After Burnham's graduation from the Vulcan Science Academy, Sarek was forced to choose between Burnham and Spock on who should join a Vulcan Expeditionary Group.  Sarek chose Spock over Burnham, but he came to regret this decision, because Spock joined Starfleet instead.  Sarek had given Spock his first lessons in computers and had set him on a path of science, so Spock's preference to pursue a scientific career in Starfleet caused a rift between him and his father that kept them from speaking to each other for eighteen years.

Spock was commissioned as a Starfleet officer in 2250 assigned to the USS Enterprise four years later.  As a science officer under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, Spock was wounded in the leg when Pike's landing party was attacked on Rigel VII in 2254.  As the ship proceeded to the Vega colony for medical care, a radio wave distress call forced Pike to divert the ship to Talos IV.  Still limping, Spock joined a landing party that transported to the barren surface of the planet, where Talosians captured Pike.  He was the first of the ship's crew to realize that the Talosians had powerful illusory abilities.  Spock's final report, along with Pike's, recommended a ban on visitation to the planet.  After Pike's promotion to fleet captain, James T. Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise in 2265, with Spock as his First Officer until the completion of the Enterprise's five-year mission of exploration.

Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access for Season 2 in Early 2019.