Update: Officials from Star Trek: Mission Chicago have confirmed to CinemaBlend that they mistakenly displayed posters with Spock and M’Benga’s names that were incorrect. Both characters do have first names, though they've yet to be revealed.
Spock has been a part of the Star Trek franchise since the beginning, and that’s not an exaggeration since Leonard Nimoy’s character was the only Star Trek: The Original Series alum who appeared in the show’s original pilot, “The Cage.” While Zachary Quinto played the Kelvin timeline’s Spock in the newer Star Trek movies, Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 featured Ethan Peck a younger version of the main timeline Spock, and he’ll soon be back on Paramount+ subscribers’ screens for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Well, with just a month to go until the upcoming Star Trek TV show’s debut, some big Spock-related news has come in: he finally has a canonical first name, though it’s not new to certain segments of the Star Trek fanbase.
The Mission Chicago Star Trek convention is currently underway, and among the goodies on display are new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds character posters. The Spock one sees Ethan Peck’s character standing atop a rock within a canyon on some alien planet, and he’s named as S’Chn T’Gai Spock. See for yourself, courtesy of CinemaBlend’s own Mick Joest.
So after nearly 60 years of existence, Spock finally has a full name in the official Star Trek canon. However, the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writing team didn’t come up with S’Chn T’Gai Spock on their own. It originates from the 1985 Star Trek novel Ishmael, written by Barbara Hambly, which saw Spock traveling back to the time and place of the ABC series Here Come the Brides (i.e. 1860s Seattle). This isn’t to say that the events of Ishmael are now deemed officially canon, as that’s rarely the case for Star Trek novels and comic book series. Rather, S’Chn T’Gai Spock is simply an aspect of the story that the creative minds behind Strange New Worlds decided would be a worthy addition to the show.
Spock isn’t the only Star Trek: Strange New Worlds starring character who finally has a canonized full name. The science officer is joined by M’Benga, a doctor aboard the Enterprise who was played by Booker Bradshaw in two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series, and is now being played by Babs Olusanmokun. Per his own Strange New Worlds character poster, M’Benga’s full name is Jabilo M’Benga. That name also originates from a novel, specifically 2005’s Harbinger, the first entry in the Star Trek: Vanguard book series.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is after the events of Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, but years before James T. Kirk captained the Enterprise (although a Paul Wesley-portrayed Kirk will appear in Strange New Worlds Season 2). Instead, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike is sitting in the captain’s chair during this era, but the ship’s chief mission was still the same then (as teased in the latest Strange New Worlds trailer): to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and all that jazz. Other major Strange New Worlds characters confirmed to appear include Rebecca Romijn’s Una Chin-Riley/Number One, Celia Rose Gooding’s Nyota Uhura, Jess Bush’s Christine Chapel, Christina Chong’s La’an Noonien-Singh and Melissa Navia’s Erica Ortegas, while Bruce Horak will recur as the Aenar officer named Hemmer.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 premieres May 5 on Paramount+, and Season 2 has been filming since February. We here at CinemaBlend will pass along more big news items concerning this series and the other Star Trek shows as they trickle in.
