Star Trek: Discovery is wrapping up its final season, and it doesn't take a Trekkie to know that each series is infinitely referential to the rest of the franchise. David Cronenberg is also aware of this, and it's part of why he refused to direct an episode of Discovery despite guest starring in a few episodes.
The body horror mastermind joined Starfleet as Doctor Kovich — a mysterious Federation official with a knack for Terran history. In an interview with Star Trek's official website, he was asked if he would think about directing an episode of Discovery, he immediately said, "I wouldn't consider it," claiming "it's a different kind of directing."
He continued: "It's almost a completely different modality of work because so many things are established. You come in to direct an episode of something like Star Trek, the casting's been done, the tone of the script's been done. And you're not there for months and months of CG work and post-production, including the dialogue."
Cronenberg went on to talk about how he had to do his ADR (additional dialogue recording) for the show in a closet with his iPhone due to COVID-19 precautions, which he called a "fantastic" experience that was surprisingly "doable."
"I'd never done that before, because it's never been necessary before. But that was a new thing, and in its own weird way, very Star Trek-y."
Cronenberg's involvement is only one CanCon aspect of Discovery — the show was produced out of Toronto. Its last episode will air on May 30.