Star Trek: Discovery caused quite a stir when it unveiled its version of Klingons, deviating away from the style portrayed in The Next Generation
Season one of Discovery had bald Klingons and those that looked nothing like Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation, which didn’t go over well with fans at all. Executive Director Alex Kurtzman offered a rather weak explanation in the episode “Point of Light.” Supposedly, Klingons shave their head during times of war, and since the war with the Federation was over, they were able to grow their hair back. But that wasn’t the only problem fans had with Discovery’s depiction of Klingons. They resembled monsters more than warriors, and since Discovery was only set ten years before The Original Series, their evolution seemed to be headed in the wrong direction.
But Discovery’s portrayal of Klingons wasn’t only just a concern for the show itself, Star Trek: Picard fans, who have been wanting Michael Dorn to make an appearance as Lt. Commander Worf since the show premiered, are concerned that the actor would have to undergo a drastic change to play a Klingon again.
But Alex Kurtzman reassured fans that Worf would not be changed if he shows up on PIcard, that the Klingon would have to look the same. He went on to say that there are different-looking Romulans in Picard, depending on their territories so it would stand to reason Klingons could look different, too.
"“So I have to believe that there are different iterations of Klingons, depending on where they are from.”"
However, you’d be hard-pressed to convince a fan that Klingons differ so greatly in appearance. Sure, they looked different in The Original Series. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Worf acknowledged the differences in his appearance and The Original Series Klingons by saying it wasn’t something they (Klingons) discussed. Finally, the differences were given somewhat of an explanation in Star Trek: Enterprise when Klingons attempted to mix their DNA and human DNA to create enhanced soldiers.
Regardless of the explanations, most of us will never understand why Discovery chose to recreate Klingons in such a manner. Still, it’s a relief to know that Worf will look the same if he does visit Picard’s world.