Fans are starting to get pretty hyped up for the return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the Star Trek universe, as the beloved actor’s preparing to make his grand comeback as Jean-Luc Picard after leaving the role back in 2002. As was revealed in a rather surprising announcement in the summer, the Next Generation character will be getting his own TV series on CBS All Access at some point this year and pre-production is already underway.
We know this thanks to a photo Stewart himself shared on social media a couple of months ago which showed him working with the writers room to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, though, that’s all we’ve seen. And with shooting not having begun yet, it might be some time before we get any official stills or even a bit of footage.
Still, at least fans can rest easy knowing that Stewart intends on protecting the legacy left by The Next Generation. Speaking to Digital Spy, executive producer Alex Kurtzman revealed that it wasn’t easy to convince the legendary actor to return, as he needed to ensure that this new series was coming from the right place.
“Patrick needed to make sure that we were coming from the right place and that we wanted to protect what Next Gen means to so many people, and what his character, specifically, means to so many people. And that was really about several conversations back and forth, exploring his instincts, our instincts. Ultimately our job is to make him feel comfortable and safe and to protect the show and shield it from anything that would break it in the wrong way.”
Given that it’s still early, early days for the project, details on the plot have been hard to come by, but back at Star Trek Las Vegas, Stewart teased that when we catch back up with Captain Picard, we may not even recognize him.
“He may not be a captain anymore,” the actor said. “He may not be the Jean-Luc that you recognize and know so well. It may be a very different individual.”
That’s definitely intriguing to hear, but given that CBS has been playing this one pretty close to the vest – no title, no release window… nothing – we wouldn’t expect any firm details about Patrick Stewart’s Star Trek return until later this year. As always, though, watch this space for more.