By Alasdair Stuart

Sonequa Martin-Green will be the lead in Star Trek: Discovery. After months of auditions, she’s been chosen to play the as-yet-unnamed lieutenant commander the new show will focus on (more here).

That is honestly one of the best pieces of news we’ve heard all year. Here’s why.

First off, Martin-Green is brilliant. As Sasha, she’s far and away, along with Alana Masterson, one of The Walking Dead’s best and least-used cast members. She has natural authority and compassion, physical presence and bone-dry comic timing. We’re thrilled to see her not only take a leading role but take one this important.

Because make no mistake, this is a massive, immensely significant choice, this year more than ever. In its five-decade history, Star Trek has had one black lead Captain, one female Captain and a parade of white men. They’ve all been great but the show is at its best, in any form, when it celebrates infinite diversity in infinite combinations. The fact that this is the first show to not centre on a Captain is brilliant. The fact that this is the first show to feature an African-American female lead is both brilliant and long, LONG overdue.

Finally, there’s the small but perfectly-formed point made in EW’s piece that she’ll be staying on at The Walking Dead. That… honestly surprises us. And given her home show’s fondness for playing games in recent seasons, we’re not sure how much we believe it. Sasha has been moving more and more into the “person most likely to be heroically sacrificed” slot and we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see that happen anyway.

But that’s for another time. Right now we’re focusing on the fact that Star Trek: Discovery is shaping up to a very different and very necessary dose of Trek and we can’t wait to see it.

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