While season 2 of Star Trek: Picard is still presumably some way off due to COVID-19, there has been plenty of talk of what we could see in the series. We’ve already heard word of more Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members returning for the show, and that there’ll be a greater focus on Starfleet than the first year. One question, though, is whether the series will do longer flashbacks, possibly opening the door for a younger actor to play Patrick Stewart’s character.
Although there’s no definite news over whether this could actually happen, James McAvoy is seemingly ready and willing to join the cast as “young Picard.” The actor has recently been busy making Star Trek-style parody videos, and has previously expressed an interest in tackling the role, admittedly with his tongue firmly in his cheek.
McAvoy has now doubled down on the idea as part of an interview with Jimmy Fallon, commenting as so:
“Any other world is just an alternate reality in a bad episode of Star Trek. It’s happening. If they don’t hire me, I’m going to make it on my phone! I’m calling that right now. I’m doing the virtual lockdown equivalent of rubbing my scent all over Patrick’s face and saying, ‘This territory is mine.’ All other bald actors can f*** off. It’s me.”
Of course, McAvoy played the younger version of Stewart’s Charles Xavier in the X-Men franchise, and teamed up with his fellow actor in X-Men: Days of Future Past. In this respect, he’d likely be able to pull off the voice and mannerisms of Stewart, if nothing else. We’ve even had some fan efforts to imagine how McAvoy could look in the role, which you can see above.
Sadly for McAvoy fans though, it’s unlikely that this will be a direction that the Star Trek: Picard producers will go in, although it’s possible that we could see more flashbacks to the character’s more recent past.
What do you think of McAvoy as a younger Jean-Luc Picard, though? As always, let us know in the comments section down below.