‘Walking Dead’ star Sonequa Martin-Green lands lead role in ‘Star Trek Discovery’

The Walking Dead‘s Sonequa Martin-Green has landed the lead role of Rainsford in Star Trek: Discovery, the upcoming new series for CBS All Access, CBS’ live streaming and VOD service. She is presumed to remain a regular on TWD, but could foretell the fate of her character, Sasha Williams.

On Star Trek: Discovery, Martin-Green will play Lt. Cmdr. Rainsford, whom series co-creator and former showrunner Bryan Fuller described in August as a “sensitive her.”

No surprise that the Trek casting was seeking out a non-white actress for the role, which, after a lengthy process, led to Martin-Green. The show will also feature the first openly gay Trek character in Lt. Stamets.

She joins Doug Jones as Lt. Saru, a Starfleet Science Officer; Anthony Rapp as Lt. Stamets, an astromycologist, fungus expert, and Starfleet Science Officer; Michelle Yeoh as Starfleet captain Georgiou; and Chris Obi, Shazad Latif and Mary Chieffo as Klingons.

Martin-Green has endured on TWD since the second season so, with the shocking deaths in the current season, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Sasha finally die.

Star Trek: Discovery, set to premiere in May on CBS before relocating to CBS All Access, will feature a new ship, new characters and new missions.

The series will be distributed by Netflix in 188 countries and by Bell Media in Canada.

Star Trek: Discovery is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Alex Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, Bryan Fuller’s Living Dead Guy Productions and Roddenberry Entertainment.

Fuller, who conceived the series with Kurtzman and served as showrunner early on before his October exit, is no longer involved creatively, though he retains an executive producing credit.