Dec 02, 2016 05:29 AM EST By Noi Ramirez, UniversityHerald Reporter

"Star Trek" gets a new branch in "Star Trek: Discovery." The deck of the new starship is confirmed to have three actors on board, and news of a gay character will be introduced for the first time in the history of the franchise.

The new CBS series, "Star Trek: Discovery," confirms that actors Michelle Yeoh, Doug Jones, and Anthony Rapp will be joining the cast. Yeoh is tapped to play Captain Georgiou of the Starship Shenzou. Jones plays Starfleet Science Officer, Lt. Saru, a new alien species in the Star Trek universe, while Rapp is reportedly playing the new gay character Lt. Stamets, an "astromycologist," reportedly a fungus expert as well as doubling as Starfleet Science Officer aboard the Starship Discovery, Entertainment Weekly reported.

It is interesting to note that in the last outing of Star Trek, "Star Trek Beyond" the iconic Lt. Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) was "hinted" to be gay by portraying him with a partner and a daughter. The original Hikaru Sulu was played by none other than George Takei who is gay in real life.

The controversial stance in the movie was revealed to come so late in the character Sulu's history extending back to the original franchise. Takei was critical of the change. He felt that the original vision for the characters created by Gene Roddenberry should be respected. Though he is not averse to the inclusion of a gay character in future franchises, but he feels for the original should be left as Roddenberry has envisioned them.

According to executive producer Bryan Fuller that it was important for him to have a gay character in "Star Trek: Discovery." Fuller, who is gay, noted that working on "Star Trek: Voyager," he received a ton of hate mail when rumors went out that a character might come out gay. From then on, he decided that if ever he gets to do another Star Trek show, he would make sure there would be a gay character. He says, "We've come a long way since then."

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