Two panels that were very popular at Star Trek Las Vegas featured Star Trek: Discovery season two stars Anson Mount (Pike) and Ethan Peck (Spock). Both talked about their time on Discovery and their upcoming episodes of Short Treks. Anson Mount also discussed the idea of returning to lead a new show set on Pike’s Enterprise.

Anson Mount would love to do a Pike series

During his time on stage at Star Trek Las Vegas, the moderator discussed how many fans have been calling for Anson Mount to return to the role of Pike for a new series set on the USS Enterprise. At first the actor teased the audience, saying “I do have an announcement to make. There is coffee available towards the back of the hall.” But then he got serious, talking about the fan feedback:

Look, I have never had a response to anything I have ever done like this. It’s overwhelming. I didn’t expect it. I’m not sure it’s entirely deserved…The writers may have had something to do with it. First of all, thank you. It feels great to be appreciated for what you do, particularly with this fanbase, this family.

As for the idea of doing a show set on the Enterprise with Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Mount indicated he was up for it:

Obviously, it’s something I would love to do. It was never on my bucket list because I never thought it is something that could be on my bucket list. It would be wonderful. I love the franchise. I love these people.

The veteran actor added some context, making it clear his willingness to do the show is just one of the factors needed to make it happen:

We will see. There are a lot of things going on at that network right now, and within the franchise. And these decisions have to deal with many, many things that float above my pay grade or even outside my realm of knowledge. I am about up-to-date as you guys.

Later in the program during the Q&A, when a fan asked if he was prepared “to work for seven seasons” on a possible Star Trek show, Mount replied:

From your mouth to CBS’ ears.

We do know that CBS’ ears have heard the call for a Pike series. Two weeks ago at SDCC, executive producer Alex Kurtzman actually brought up the notion, asking if the Hall H fans would like to see such a show, and adding with a smile, “We’ll think about it.”

Mount and Peck preview their Short Treks

While we wait to find out if Pike’s Enterprise will get its own show, we do know it will be featured in three of the six upcoming episodes of Star Trek: Short Treks. Anson Mount says he jumped at the chance to return when asked by Kurtzman to do “some Enterprise stories.” He also said he enjoyed how they can experiment a bit with tone, compared to Star Trek: Discovery:

That’s one of the things I liked about Pike and the show in general. Adventure and also – as I discovered in westerns – it is easy to get too deliberate sometimes, and you got to play the back floor sometimes. I think you are really going to enjoy them. It’s great material, I can say that.

During his separate panel (where he appeared with James Frain), Ethan Peck also talked about how he was thrilled for a chance to return to the role of Spock:

It was amazing. When I put down the ears, I wasn’t sure I would ever pick them up again. It was such a joy to go back and revisit that character. The second time around, I wasn’t riddled with terror, because I had already done it. I felt so much more freedom in myself as an actor and that was wonderful and more comfortable.

Trying to avoid spoilers, Peck did give a bit of info on his return in Short Treks:

I can’t wait to see them, and I can’t wait for you to see them, because it is going to explore some very cool relationships that I think you will be excited about.

Excitement and magic of filming Discovery S2 finale

The subject of filming the explosive season two finale of Discovery was discussed during both Mount’s and Peck’s panels. Mount talked about he was able to enjoy shooting it, despite how action-packed projects can often be less exciting on set:

The general rule of thumb is: the more exciting a scene is to watch, the more grueling, tedious and boring it is to shoot, because you have to make so many tiny little pieces they are going to stitch together. That was not the case, because we were coming to the end of the season and we were all feeling like “oh, school’s about to be out,” and we were all enjoying each other’s company. And we knew it was going to be an incredible sequence. The hardest part on Star Trek is that so much of what is going on, you are not seeing. They’re telling you and sometimes giving you points to focus on, but you are having to imagine all of this stuff. I didn’t even have it all straight in my head until I saw it, and it is so great to see the CG cut in after all that work. They do such a great job of making it all blend.

During his panel, Ethan Peck talked about how he learned how his time with Spock would arc towards the finale:

I was told about what would happen at the end of the season at a dinner I had with Alex Kurtzman and a bunch of the producers. And he took me through and I remember being almost moved to tears, because this has been such an emotional and incredible journey for me. And I was still in the middle of the season and just to know that I was going to be a part of this sort of soaring narrative that ties it into canon and being a part of that, it was surreal, like living in a dream…I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.

Later, Peck effused enthusiasm talking about filming those final scenes as Spock on the Enterprise:

You see the smile on my face, it was so tremendous. I had known that Spock would end there back on the Enterprise in his science officer’s uniform, clean-shaven, clean bangs. It’s still kind of hard to articulate. It has been so surreal. I think I can spend a lifetime processing the magnitude of Star Trek and Spock. Look at the community it has created and what it means to people. It is really beautiful. I feel very, very lucky. It is a privilege to do this and be here. It was only one say we filmed with the clean-shaven look. The first day I came out on set with that look, people didn’t recognize me. It was fun to surprise everybody and meet everybody again because I had that beard the whole time. It’s hard to put into words. I had felt I had earned my way back onto the Enterprise, not just as Ethan, but as Spock. But to suddenly be him, those last moments it felt like now I am Spock. It was like I was snuck into it, very quietly, and now I was on the Enterprise in my science officer uniform. It was magic. That is hallowed ground.

More STLV to come

The TrekMovie team is in Las Vegas to bring you all the news, so check back for more updates here on the site as well as some live coverage via @TrekMovie on Twitter and Instagram. Check out all of our coverage on STLV.