WATCH: ‘Star Trek Discovery’ shows Spock in season 2 trailer

Ahead of the January launch of “Star Trek Discovery” season two, a new trailer brings us up to speed with some of the curveballs that await crew and audience during 2019’s second run.

The USS Discovery is bound for more adventures courtesy of a returning cast peppered with a few new faces.

Captain Christopher Pike was introduced in a July preview, and it is another more famous legacy character who gets his first look here.

Spock, played by “10 Things I Hate About You” co-star Ethan Peck, now appears key to the season two storyline, as is an apparently reanimated Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh).

The mixture of drama and explosive spectacle that punctuated that first trailer returns along with season 1 alumni Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), Saru (Doug Jones), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) and Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman).

It also does away with the first trailer’s rock soundtrack, replacing it with a more theatrical backdrop, and shows a flash of Klingon combat action.

As well as balancing established fan expectations with overtures to new audiences, season two has a number of established competitors to deal with upon its return.

Seth MacFarlane’s spacefaring, “Star Trek”-spoofing comedy series “The Orville” debuted in 2017, just a fortnight before “Star Trek Discovery”, and won itself a vocal community of fans despite (or because of) its different approach and poor initial critical reception.

Then there’s the widely acclaimed hard sci-fi drama “The Expanse” building on a 2011 novel series, and which is now three seasons in. Now part of the Amazon empire, news on season four is yet to be announced.

Bridging the gap between “Star Trek: Discovery” seasons one and two is the four-episode “Short Treks” miniseries, each a side-story for a main, supporting or new character; the first was broadcast in the United States and Canada last week, with the remainder due monthly until season two starts on January 27, 2019.

CBS All Access carries the show in the U.S., Space and CraveTV in Canada, and Netflix internationally. JB

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