While the past few years have been rather rough for Star Trek fans, things are on the up and up for Gene Roddenberry’s visionary franchise. After the fourth film was unceremoniously canceled – due to Beyond‘s poor box office performance – attention slowly shifted to the series’ future on the small screen.
Earlier this year, news began circulating that Michelle Yeoh might be getting her own spinoff– where she would reprise her role as Georgiou – and back in April, filming began on Star Trek: Picard, with legendary actor Patrick Stewart returning to the role of former Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc. As a result of The Next Generation‘s enduring popularity, fans are eager to see how this one turns out – for some, the hype and anticipation have surpassed the buzz around the third season of Star Trek: Discovery.
There’s been plenty of speculation as to who specifically is working on the show, and although the questionable rumor surrounding Data’s return seems to be fading out of existence, CBS has confirmed a recent staffing change.
As detailed by Deadline, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon will be taking on the role of showrunner; a noticeable step up since he joined the writers room late last year. As a lifelong Trekkie, he’s working closely with series EP Alex Kurtzman, who’s continuing to guide the franchise’s growth.
Unless you’re a big sci-fi junkie, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Chabon, though he’s certainly no stranger to Hollywood. Not only did he provide the story for Spider-Man 2, but he also wrote the screenplay for 2012’s John Carter. Seeing as how he’s taken home Hugo, Nebula, and Ignotus awards (among others), we have no doubt that Michael Chabon will do an excellent job of bringing the appropriate level of gravits to Star Trek: Picard and we can’t wait to see what he has in store for us.