For five years, through a global pandemic, Hollywood strikes, and countless plot twists aboard the USS Enterprise, Babs Olusanmokun has been the steady heartbeat of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. His Dr. Joseph M’Benga — chief medical officer, former special forces operative known as “The Ghost,” and father fighting to save his daughter — has become one of the most compelling figures in modern Star Trek. Now, with the fifth and final season already shot and the sets dismantled, Olusanmokun is grappling with what it means to say goodbye to a character he’s brought to life since the height of COVID-19.
But don’t tell him it’s over.
“The final episode is, well, maybe perhaps for me right now… I don’t see it as a final episode,” Olusanmokun says in a recent interview with IGN. “For me, it’s a continuation. For me, this person is living. He’s out there trying to find his place. And so I don’t put a finality to it. I can’t. I simply can’t. I don’t think it serves anybody.”
A Healer With a Warrior’s Past
What makes M’Benga such a fascinating character is the duality at his core. On the surface, he’s the Enterprise’s compassionate doctor, a voice of reason for Captain Pike, a mentor to Uhura and Nurse Chapel. But beneath that calm exterior lies a man with a dark history — a former Starfleet special forces operative who earned the nickname “The Ghost” for racking up the most hand-to-hand kills in the service.
“I loved it, because there is nothing more interesting than some duality, than some color, than some substance that’s not necessarily obvious,” Olusanmokun explains. When showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers first pitched him on the character, they described him as “a healer” who “used to be a man of war.” The actor’s response? “Say no more, man. Say no more.”
Key point: M’Benga is one of the few Strange New Worlds characters who actually appeared in the original 1960s Star Trek series, meaning his story has a unique connection to the franchise’s roots.
This duality came to the fore in Season 2’s “Under the Cloak of War,” which featured flashbacks to M’Benga and Chapel’s time during the Klingon War — including their use of Protocol 12, a super-soldier drug developed by the doctor himself. The episode gave Olusanmokun a chance to perform action sequences that showcased M’Benga’s lethal capabilities. When asked about those moments, the actor laughs: “Yeah, maniacs! They’re maniacs in their off time.”
Film Noir on Mat’aar XII
In the latest episode, “A Case of Chiaroscuro,” M’Benga finds himself in an entirely different kind of situation. Alongside Una Chin-Riley and Uhura, he’s dispatched to Mat’aar XII, a Klingon-controlled planet where the trio must go undercover in a film noir-inspired setting complete with 1930s/40s attire, a salon, and a cafe.
“It was beautiful. It was delicious. It was exciting,” Olusanmokun says of the episode. He praises the production team’s artistry, recalling how blown away he was on the first day of filming on the salon set. “I had to, in the early morning meeting, I had to give a shout-out to the whole production team. I’m just like, ‘This is incredible that you’ve created this space, this world for us to come into.'”
While Strange New Worlds employs AR walls — giant digital screens surrounding sets to display backgrounds — Olusanmokun emphasises the importance of physical sets in selling the illusion. “If we actually get to play in something real, that feels real, then that stuff is just an extension of it,” he explains. “We’ve never really done” pure green screen work. The cafe in this episode? “It was just a cafe. The bar was right there and there’s somebody behind the bar and there were the drinks there and the bottles and the chandelier and the pillars. It was gorgeous.”
Five Years That Whizzed By
Wrapping the show last December marked the end of a journey that began under the most chaotic of circumstances. “It was strange because then a five-year journey that was started during the pandemic, in the heart of the pandemic, really came to an end,” Olusanmokun reflects. “And it whizzed by so quickly.”
Despite the disruptions — the writers’ strike, the actors’ strike, the ongoing chaos of COVID — the cast and crew managed to create something special. “You were so focused on the work and we developed something and put together something that looks like it’s touched a number of people,” he says. “So I’m grateful for that. Just grateful for a beautiful, wonderful experience.”
The sets have been struck, some sold off to auction. The cast has moved on to other projects. But for Olusanmokun, the emotional connection to M’Benga remains unbroken.
Joseph Lives
Unlike characters such as Una or La’an Noonien-Singh, whose fates remain shrouded in mystery, we know one thing for certain about Dr. M’Benga: he survives the series finale. As a character who appeared in the original Star Trek series, his story connects directly to the Enterprise’s future. Olusanmokun says he’s “absolutely” happy with where his character winds up in that final episode.
“For me, this person is living. He’s out there trying to find his place. And so I don’t put a finality to it. I can’t. I simply can’t.”
But even that confirmation doesn’t quite capture how the actor feels. When pressed on whether M’Benga’s story truly ends, Olusanmokun’s response is immediate and heartfelt. “Joseph lives! If that sounds crazy, I’ve got no issues with that.”
For fans who’ve followed M’Benga’s journey from a mysterious doctor with a hidden past to one of the Enterprise’s most beloved crew members, that sentiment feels exactly right. The actor may have wrapped filming, but Dr. Joseph M’Benga — healer, warrior, father — is still out there somewhere, living his life. And thanks to Olusanmokun’s refusal to accept finality, he’ll continue to feel alive every time we rewatch these episodes.
Strange New Worlds Season 4 continues weekly on Paramount+, with the fifth and final season expected to air in 2027.
