According to Variety, Winona Ryder has joined the star-packed cast and will play the Vulcan mother of a young Spock, despite that in all previous instalments of the franchise, Spock's mother was human, not Vulcan.

As conceived by Trek mastermind Gene Rodenberry, Spock's mother was Amanda Grayson, a teacher who met and married Sarek, the Vulcan Ambassador to Earth. The two later decamped to planet Vulcan.