Before James T. Kirk captained the U.S.S. Enterprise, the iconic Starfleet vessel was captained by Christopher Pike, and before Pike, there was Robert April, the original Captain of the Enterprise. The upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will bring Robert April into live-action for the very first time. Adrian Holmes (Bel-Air, Arrow) will be playing Robert April in the series premiere of Strange New Worlds, and you can check out a couple of photos below.
Robert April and Star Trek go way back, all the way to the beginning in fact. The character was first mentioned in Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek pitch. April wouldn’t appear in the franchise until an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series, where he was presented as an older, white man, but Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers told Gizmodo that he doesn’t think there’s any controversy in the character now being portrayed as a Black man.
You know, as for the ‘controversy,’ I don’t think it’s controversial. I put this under the line of, you know, I think if [Gene] Roddenberry were doing the show today, these are choices that he would make… But I also think that… we didn’t want a world that looked like the television of the 1960s. We wanted it to look like the television of now, the world of now. I don’t even think it’s a controversial decision [to have cast Holmes]. We’re doing our version of the character, it doesn’t take away from that version for other people. I hope, in fact, it adds to it. And that’s kind of the fun of this. You know, no one complained about Sam Jackson’s appearance [in the MCU]!
The series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will find Christopher Pike in a self-imposed exile, but when one of his officers goes missing while on a secret mission for Starfleet, Admiral Robert April arrives to bring him back to service. Star Trek: Discovery established that Christopher Pike was Robert April’s first officer, so it’s no surprise that he would be the one to bring Pike back. It’s expected that April will only play a minor role in the series, at least in the beginning, but I hope we get to see more of him.
The official synopsis for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds:
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is based on the years Captain Christopher Pike manned the helm of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series will feature fan favorites from season two of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Science Officer Spock. The series will follow Captain Pike, Science Officer Spock and Number One in the years before Captain Kirk boarded the U.S.S. Enterprise, as they explore new worlds around the galaxy.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will debut on Paramount+ on May 5th, and you can check out a review of the series from our own Alex Maidy right here.