See Zoe Kravitz As Star Trek’s First Green-Skinned Orion Captain
Zoe Kravitz is imagined as a Starfleet officer in AI-generated art.
Actress, singer, and model Zoe Kravitz has had a lot on her plate lately, appearing in several installments of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, including The Batman, the Fantastic Beasts series, and Mad Max, to name a few. With such a steady stream of projects to work on, adding her to one of the most popular and distinguished science fiction franchises shouldn’t be too hard to imagine, should it? Posted to Giant Freakin Robot’s own Instagram page, we have an AI-generated look at what Zoe Kravitz in Star Trek would look like as an Orion Starfleet officer during The Original Series timeline.
Among the many races we’ve seen in the Star Trek franchise, few are as morally dubious as the Orions, famously known for their criminal activities, including slavery. Orions are portrayed as an opportunistic, cunning, and incredibly dangerous race that initially tried to keep their illicit activities a secret and attempted to appear as politically uninterested in anything of galactic importance. In The Original Series episode “Return to Babel”, that facade was broken with the murder of the Tellarite ambassador by an Orion spy disguised as an Andorian in an attempt to keep the planet Coridan from joining the Federation, so they could continue to exploit its natural resources.
Years later, the Orion Syndicate was recognized throughout the Federation as one of the most feared criminal enterprises in the Alpha quadrant, with a particular infamy directed at the trafficking of Orion slave girls. The slave girls, as commonly shown in the many Star Trek series and films, are portrayed as scantily clad sex objects that present many troubling problems both within and outside of the narrative.
Criticism of the portrayal of women in The Original Series is nothing new, and though of the time, has opened up the opportunity for a more nuanced portrayal – especially of Orion women. This image of Zoe Kravitz in a red operations division uniform is a good start in addressing a pretty gross and unflattering image in the Star Trek universe.
If you’ve never seen Star Trek Continues, a fan-created completion of The Original Series‘s five-year mission, you’re missing out on one of the best fan series out there. One episode, in particular, illuminates the Orion problem to great effect. The episode titled “Lolani”, directly addresses the moral issues surrounding an Orion survivor’s sovereignty when she is rescued by the Enterprise. The performances by all are superb (including a guest star turn from Lou Ferrigno), and this episode, in particular, showcases a maturity in the writing that is quite affecting at times. Definitely worth checking out for yourself.
This terrific rendition of a young actress who has come to be known as a performer uniquely suited to portray women of depth, strength, intelligence, and sensuality – is a refreshing visual take that deserves deeper dive. Zoe Kravitz leading a Star Trek feature, or perhaps a new series, might be just what the doctor ordered after the recent cancellation of Star Trek: Discovery, and in general, the uncertain future of Star Trek in any form.
