Olatunde Osunsanmi credited the “relentless” Star Trek franchise overseer Alex Kurtzman, Aaron Baiers (the president of TV at Kurtzman’s production company, Secret Hideout) and Michelle Yeoh for Section 31 ultimately being made, saying:

In Section 31, 99 percent of those scenes belong to Michelle Yeoh’s character, Philippa Georgiou,” director Olatunde Osunsanmi, who also serves as writer and executive producer on the movie, tells Entertainment Weekly.

Star Trek has had a lot of firsts since it first debuted in 1966, but it took until 1995 for them to actually start happening. That's when Kate Mulgrew took on the role as Captain Kathryn Janeway, becoming the first woman to helm the bridge of a starshipin the franchise.