2026 is the year that the Star Trek franchise turns 60, with the anniversary of The Original Series' small-screen debut coming up in September. During the beloved sci-fi saga's impressive run, the canon has been altered and expanded upon countless times. That being said, the formula for the show that started it all back in 1966 also underwent some notable reshaping before it became the project we all know and love.
Leonard Nimoy's Spock in particular was changed quite drastically in pre-production. While he's known to Trekkies as a human-Vulcan hybrid, that wasn't the original idea that Gene Roddenberry had for the Enterprise's First Officer. The Star Trek creator once planned to give Spock a different genetic background, with no Vulcan DNA. Vulcans might not have even existed. The species that Spock almost ended up being just made their on-screen debut in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and it feels like a beautiful full-circle moment.
FULL SPOILERS ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 episode 1, "Valles Marineris."
Strange New Worlds season 4's premiere just introduced Spock's original species
As die-hard Star Trek fans will already know, Roddenberry wanted Spock to be half Martian, rather than half Vulcan. He ultimately changed his mind because he was worried that humanity would soon reach Mars in the real world, and that Star Trek would quickly feel dated. The franchise didn't just U-turn on giving Spock Martian ancestry; they went a little more extreme than that. Martians weren't even introduced as a species in the Star Trek universe.
Until now, anyway. Strange New Worlds' "Valles Marineris" has overhauled the lore in this sense, revealing that there was an advanced society on Mars, 65 million years ago.
Note: Roddenberry's early Spock design actually said the character was "probably half Martian." That being said, it's generally believed that this was, at one time, the plan for Nimoy's character.
The episode's events convincingly explain why the Martians have never been mentioned before now. In short, their society was destroyed by their own attempts to fell another new (but now equally extinct) Star Trek species — the Dol'drm. While the Martians' stay as part of Star Trek was short, it's bursting at the seams with what it means for the lore. Perhaps most importantly, it finally brings one of Roddenberry's original plans to life — even if the connection to Spock is hidden in plain sight for only the Star Trek faithful to notice.
Star Trek's new Martians are almost nothing like what Roddenberry had in mind
The most obvious divergence here is that Strange New Worlds introduces the Martians as a race that had been long gone by the time of Star Trek's core settings. If Spock had been half Martian as originally intended, it stands to reason they'd have been present-day, active contributors to the interplanetary society. Furthermore, the introduction of the Dol'drm on an additional Sol System planet is completely original to "Valles Marineris," brought about as a plot device attached to the new Martians.
Looking at Martian characters like Commander Cassel (Saffron Burrows) in Strange New Worlds, we can actually compare them to some of Spock's initial design options. The most prominent is that Nimoy's character was once trialled with a "slightly reddish complexion," which isn't present in Star Trek's newly canon Martians. Spock was also once intended to feed by absorbing energy via a plate/organ in his abdomen. This was abandoned for fear of making him seem too alien. I guess we can't prove whether this is how Cassel and company take on nutrients, but I doubt it is.
I think my favorite design choice for the Martians is the tapered, Vulcan-inspired ears. This is one thing that survived the various drafts of Spock before The Original Series was shot, and it's nice to see Strange New Worlds keeping a version of it intact for these Martians. I also really like the heavy use of green for the Martian clothing. It also feels like an artful homage to Spock's green-blooded race. Well done, Star Trek; this was a terrific episode, with an embedded history lesson.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 is streaming now on Paramount+. New episodes drop each Thursday.
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