Can the folks with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds find a way to bridge the Gorn gap?
The Star Trek Strange New Worlds crew has done a great job redesigning the Gorn. Not just in their looks, but by giving them so much more than that. They’ve given them a culture, a lifestyle, and interesting nuggets that make them unique. They’ve taken what was just a bad lizard monster suit and turned it into a horror movie monster.
But in doing so, they got away from the mythos that was created in the original show. Something some fans are not happy about. While the baby Gorn are among the more interesting and horrifying creatures the franchise has ever developed, the fact is they have gotten away from what the alien was.
But that doesn’t mean that it has to stay that way. The Gorn could be brought back to center, so to speak, in at least how they look, and it wouldn’t be hard to do. While we know what an adult Gorn looks like, we only know it in the loosest of context, as the creature was only seen in a space suit.
The Strange New Worlds VFX team could design a version of the Gorn that looks more similar to the original version, while still keeping its monster-like vissage in the process.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can bridge the Gorn gap
By bringing the design of the Gorn in a bit, and making it a bit more like the original, you’ll honor the original design of the suit. Now, it shouldn’t look just like that version, but it should share some features. Maybe a slightly narrowed head and an emphasis on the eyes will bring the look closer to what we all remember.
However, there is a second option that could work; the show could avoid ever showing what the adult Gorn looks like outside of suits. Not only does this not step on the toes of how the show originally did the aliens, but it also allows them to avoid stepping on canon. They were supposed to be mysterious, with few people ever seeing what they looked like until the day James Kirk fought one.
Keeping the adults behind that wall of mystery will only help fortify the history without compromising it.