Star Trek: Discovery is going to be fronted by a female Lieutenant Commander, as a homage to Majel Barrett Roddenberry’s role as Number One in the original and unaired Star Trek pilot, and producers were looking to build up as diverse a cast as possible.
It doesn’t get much more diverse in sci-fi than going “where no 54-year-old Malaysian woman has gone before.”
Since nothing is confirmed at this point concerning who Michelle Yeoh will be playing, it’s okay to do a little speculating.
Yeoh definitely has the chops to pull it off as Number One, though there’s always the chance she could be someone else within the crew, so our hopes are guarded.