With the highly anticipated season 3 premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds set for July 17 on Paramount+ - Anson Mount (Captain Pike) is poised to dazzle us yet again with his James Bond-like command of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). Even SNW’s updated Star Trek theme song would be right at home as a lead into any Ian Fleming "Bond" film.
Anson arguably has the best hair in Starfleet command with that gravity-defying pompadour; however, those fabulous follicles pale compared to his acting prowess as a leading man in Hollywood. Whether Anson is strategizing battle tactics against the Gorn or risking mental trauma from knowing how he will die, from his visions from a Klingon Time Crystal, or pairing an Orion Hurricane cocktail with a perfectly grilled steak while entertaining his command staff in his quarters – his style as a leader is "just get it done", but do it with style, class, and finesse.
We haven’t seen this type of Starfleet captain since William Shatner (Captain Kirk) – who also commanded the Enterprise (NCC-1701) after Captain Pike. With that being said, in his case, there is no credence to the idiom “style over substance” when it comes to how this two-time Saturn Award nominee for Best Actor in a TV series (for SNW), delivers.
Anson took control of his career early on by producing and starring in the independent film Cook County (2009), which won several film festival awards, including at AFI Dallas and South by Southwest (SXSW). Anson is also an author with non-fiction pieces that have been published in magazines such as The Daily Beast, Cowboys & Indians, and the Calgary Herald newspaper.
Anson’s leading man range as an actor is not only evident as the Captain of the Federation’s flagship, in addition to his MCU role as Black Bolt, leader of the Inhumans in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). Anson reprised his role as Black Bolt from the short-lived TV series Inhumans (2017), as the leader of an advanced society who gained powers through the exposure of a Terrigen Mist, which manifests their latent genetic modifications as unique powers and abilities, such as Black Bolt's quasi-sonic voice, in which just a whisper can cause a massive destructive shockwave that can level entire cities.
Given the SNW season 2 cliffhanger with Captain Pike’s decision to disobey Starfleet and rescue his crew from the Gorn or to leave them stranded – sets up a dramatic season 3 opening with heart-wrenching decisions, political Federation intrigue, and a new alien enemy.
From Montgomery "Scotty" Scott's arrival (portrayed by Martin Quinn) to La’An, M’Benga, and Ortegas taken prisoner by the Gorn, to the aftermath of the USS Cayuga's destruction by the Gorn attack on the Federation colony, Parnassus Beta – Captain Pike will have to muster all of his tactical expertise and diplomatic finesse to fend with his scattered crew, the Federation, and the Gorn in a season 3 strange new adventure of warfare, romance, and survival!