Star Trek: Picard has one heck of a draw for fans, as it offers the return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the franchise for the first time in 17 years. As amazing as this is, though, we can’t help wondering if there will be any more surprise comebacks from old favorites in the show. Yes, as truly great as having ol’ Jean-Luc back is, fans would love to see him reunite with his former crew from The Next Generation.
Thankfully, exec producer Alex Kurtzman isn’t ruling out the idea of some other TNG characters appearing in Picard. Don’t expect any simple gratuitous walk-on parts, though, as the EP was keen to stress that he doesn’t want to bring back an old face for the sake of it so it becomes, as EW put it, “cheesy.”
Here’s what Kurtzman had to say on the matter to Entertainment Weekly:
“What we don’t want to do is just throw in cameos. There would have to be an incredibly specific story reason [for them to be there].”
This makes a lot of sense, and also fits with the approach Picard is taking in general in bringing the former Enterprise-D captain back in his own series. Kurtzman has previously described the show as a psychological character study and much more contemplative and less action-packed than Discovery. The fact that it also begins with Picard retired from Starfleet and living in isolation on his vineyard doesn’t particularly open the door to lots of comebacks, either.
That said, Jonathan Frakes may have teased that he’s not only directing a couple episodes of the show but could appear in front of the camera, too, as Riker. Meanwhile, LeVar “Geordi LaForge” Burton remains confident that he and the rest of the TNG gang will get their dues on Star Trek: Picard eventually. Fingers crossed, eh?