'Hannibal' Creator Bryan Fuller Named Showrunner of New 'Star Trek' Series

Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller will boldly go where he’s actually gone before: Star Trek. Fuller will oversee and co-create the new Star Trek series set to air next year on CBS. Following the premiere, new episodes will release exclusively on CBS All Access, the network’s digital subscription channel.

Fuller, a longtime fan of sci-fi and Star Trek specifically, began his television career working as a staff writer on Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is currently also working to produce American Gods for Starz.

“My very first experience of Star Trek is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls. Before seeing a frame of the television series, the Star Trek universe lit my imagination on fire,” Fuller said in a statement, per Variety. “It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of Star Trek with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no Star Trek series has gone before.”

Kurtzman, whose filmography includes the new Star Trek movies and Fox’s Sleepy Hollow praised Fuller, saying: “Bringing Star Trek back to television means returning it to its roots, and for years those roots flourished under Bryan’s devoted care … His encyclopedic knowledge of Trek canon is surpassed only by his love for Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic future, a vision that continues to guide us as we explore strange new worlds.”

According to Variety, the plan for the new Star Trek show is to introduce new characters, societies, and other unchartered worlds never explored in either film or television.

The Star Trek franchise is currently enjoying its 50th anniversary, with the feature film Star Trek Beyond coming to theaters July 22.