[1] Cantwell commented that, although the comic would be first and foremost a Star Trek work of fiction, it would not follow the space exploration theme frequent in most properties of the franchise.

He said "Whereas the new 'Star Trek' book carries forward the grand tradition of Starfleet's saga of discovery and exploration, 'Defiant' immediately sets out to break the rules of the Federation and go on a fugitive run from Starfleet with a cast of Trek's best iconoclastic heroes and ne'er-do-wells, each of them straddling worlds in their identities and calibrations in their moral compasses as they embark on a high-stakes galactic manhunt … the Prime Directive be damned".

Torres was a member of the Maquis for a brief time before being stranded in the Delta Quadrant (for the duration of the Star Trek: Voyager series) and when she returned the organization had collapsed.

[3] The TV live-action series Star Trek: Picard had been released shortly before the comic, and featured the characters of Worf, Ro Laren and Lore as well.

[3] Worf, a member of the crew of the USS Theseus, left it in disagreement with captain Benjamin Sisko on the way to deal with the threat of the Klingon emperor Kahless, who started a killing spree.

She points that all characters speak in a formal manner, even the roguish Ro Laren and the evil android Lore, and considered that Cantwell managed to balance such tone with the needs of the action scenes and the previous characterizations in the live-action series.