In season 2, “Star Trek: Discovery” is prepared to boldly go … exactly where the TV and film franchise has gone plenty of times before.
“Humor is a defining trait of ‘Star Trek.’ I think people wanted more of that than we gave them in Season 1,” says executive producer Alex Kurtzman. “We have more time to explore moments of levity.”
In last year’s run, the ship’s crew confronted a staggering sequence of challenges. There was a war with the Klingon race. Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) was banished after committing treason. On top of that, Mirror Universe denizens Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) took on the identities of their dead counterparts in the Prime Universe.
“In those circumstances, any humor is going to be more like gallows humor,” Kurtzman tells The Post. “It didn’t necessarily feel appropriate.”
One key returning player who will keep things lively is Ensign Sylvia Tilly, played by Brooklyn-based actress Mary Wiseman. Newly promoted Tilly confesses to feeling “drunk on power” as she settles into Starfleet command training.
“She talks too much and is still learning how to have more professional decorum,” says Wiseman, who adds, “That innocence, the desire to do good — in so many ways she really incorporates Starfleet principles.”
Kurtzman stresses that the show will honor its humanistic roots. “The philosophical themes that have defined ‘Star Trek’ are much more present this year,” he says. The franchise’s peace-keeping lessons come in handy as the crew tries to decipher mysterious signals from space and encounters an otherworldly presence dubbed the “red angel,” both of which could spell trouble for humanity.
The series will also reintroduce some familiar faces, including Spock (Ethan Peck), played in the original series by Leonard Nimoy and in the last three feature films by Zachary Quinto.
“Audiences will recognize the Spock that they know and will see and feel something different that sheds new light on the character,” Kurtzman says. “He is still trying to figure out how to become the Spock that we met in the original series; he’s not there yet.”
Spock’s status as Burnham’s estranged foster brother also looms large. “Spock has never mentioned his past with Michael Burnham and that requires quite an explanation,” Kurtzman says. “It takes the arc of the 14-episode season to really understand why.”
Additionally, there will be plenty of nods to the original “Trek,” including the whoosh sound of the Enterprise doors and the classic gold, blue and red uniforms worn by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and crew. And in a transporter room scene in the premiere, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” fans should watch for an Easter egg about Geordi La Forge, the blind officer played by LeVar Burton.
Also helping to synchronize “Discovery” with the show’s canon is Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Spock’s commander in a two-part episode of the original NBC series.
Mount is still “geeking out” about being on set. “I’d look around and be standing in the middle of this iconic tableau that I feel like I should be watching from the other side of the screen,” he says.
One feature he never quite got used to: his form-fitting gold uniform.
“I wasn’t in pain, but I’m a 45-year-old man in a skintight uniform for nine months, shooting 70-hour weeks,” he says, laughing. “You eat a Cheeto and it pops out into the uniform.”
Star Trek: Discovery” Season premiere 8:30 p.m. Thursday on CBS All Access