Deadline has revealed new Star Trek Discovery details from showrunner Bryan Fuller. Speaking to a panel at the Television Critics Association event, Fuller confirmed a popular theory about when the series will take place, and revealed a few additional casting details.

New Star Trek: Discovery Details

First, Fuller revealed that production starts on the series in two months and that the first season will be 13 episodes.

He also confirmed a popular theory that’s been circulating recently, about the time period the series is set in. “It’s set 10 years before Kirk, and will bridge the gap between Enterprise and the original series. We’re most closer to Kirk’s mission and get to play with that iconography.” Fuller also said that the series will be exploring events that have been mentioned in other Trek series, but that were never fully explored. He also confirmed that the incident at the center of the series is not the Romulan War, as previously speculated.

Next, he revealed the very interesting news that the lead female character in the series isn’t a captain. Instead, that character will be a Lt. Commander. When asked about the shift, Fuller said that it was time for a change, as we’ve seen 6 series now primarily from the perspective of a captain. Fuller also revealed that there will most likely be seven primary characters. According to THR, among those characters will be a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser, and a British male doctor.

Fuller also confirmed that the cast will be diverse, noting the original series casting a Russian man and black woman in primary roles. “We’re absolutely about continuing that tradition. It’s about who’s the best actor, what can we say about diversity in every role. We’ll have more aliens than you have on a Star Trek cast.” As a part of the diverse cast, Fuller also confirmed that they will have a gay character, saying “Absolutely, we’re having a gay character. Alex Kurtzman, the straight man in the team, was telling me we would need a gay character.”

Finally, he also reiterated again that the series wouldn’t be episodic, but instead would be more like a novel. “We will have episodes that stand alone, but are also part of a bigger story.” Also, the series may boldly go farther and darker than one would expect, based on this comment from Fuller “We are not subject to broadcast standards & practices. Neither was Hannibal, and we got away with murder.”

The debut episode of the Star Trek Discovery series will air on CBS in January 2017, before the series moves to a permanent home on CBS All Access.

Featured Image: CBS