This morning CBS finally ‘officially’ confirmed Sonequa Martin-Green as a member of the cast of Star Trek: Discovery. Her casting as the lead in the series hasn’t exactly been a secret as it was reported by numerous outlets and industry trades in mid-December. It appears that unlike with the many other official Discovery cast announcements, Martin-Green’s was held back. Presumably this delay was to wait until after AMC broadcast the seventh season finale of The Walking Dead, which aired last night.

Michael is her name

One thing that those December reports did get wrong was the character’s name being “Rainsford.” This morning’s official announcement and social media posts revealed her character’s name is actually “Michael Burnham.”

From walkers to Klingons – #StarTrekDiscovery is pleased to officially welcome @SonequaMG as First Officer Michael Burnham. pic.twitter.com/dpQBH5ePZj — Star Trek: Discovery (@startrekcbs) April 3, 2017

The TrekMovie staff would like to point out that Michael is a female first name, and we have confirmed with CBS that Michael Burnham is, and always has been, the name of Martin-Green’s character. Further, Discovery writer Bo Yeon Kim confirmed the the name of Martin-Green’s character on Twitter.

Yes, her name is Michael. And yes, she is our Number One! Welcome (officially) @SonequaMG! #StarTrekDiscovery https://t.co/jBOmM5wS7i — Bo Yeon Kim (@extspace) April 3, 2017

Today’s announcement did not confirm Burnham’s rank, just that she held the position of first officer. Last August former showrunner Bryan Fuller revealed that the series lead would hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander (with caveats) and be referred to as “Number One.” Although, it is possible character’s rank could have changed since Fuller’s departure.

UPDATE: Andrew Lincoln Wants In



After the official confirmation this morning, Variety reported that Sonequa’s Walking Dead co-star Andrew Lincoln wants to follow her to the 23rd century for a cameo. The actor is quoted saying:

“She’s an incredible personality with incredible grace and strength and tenacity,” Lincoln told Variety. “She’s a very impressive woman. She will be leading that starship with the same class and fortitude. That is going to be one happy spaceship. I’d love to beam myself up at some point in some kind of Greg Nicotero special effects makeup.” When pressed if he would actually don some alien makeup and appear on the show, Lincoln said with a laugh, “No spoilers.”

Speaking of The Walking Dead, Sonequa was a guest last night on AMC’s companion show Taking Dead, where she gave Star Trek a shout out and flashed the Vulcan salute.

ICYMI: Sonequa and the Discovery group photo

While CBS is just getting around to acknowledging it, Martin-Green has been working on Discovery for quite some time. She was even spotted in Toronto among her Discovery cast mates. A couple of weeks ago Chris Obi (T’Kuvma) posted a photo to his Instagram account of some of the Discovery cast out to dinner celebrating the birthday of James Frain (Sarek).

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news at TrekMovie.com.