Sixteen years after his last appearance in the franchise back in 2002’s underwhelming Star Trek: Nemesis, the one and only Sir Patrick Stewart is returning to Star Trek as Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
The all-new series will air on CBS All Access and will run alongside the ongoing Star Trek: Discovery. This news left fans stunned over the weekend but the initial announcement didn’t contain too many specifics on what to expect. Thankfully, then, we’ve now got just that.
First of all, Stewart himself talked about the show during his appearance at Star Trek Las Vegas and revealed that it’s not reached the scripting stage yet while also theorizing about where the series might find Picard. The actor pretty much confirmed that his character would not still be Captain of the Enterprise in the new show and teased that Picard might be a changed man.
“[Picard] may not be a Captain anymore. He may be someone who has been changed by his experiences. We have no scripts as yet. We’re just talking storylines. It will be something very different, but it will come to you with the same passion.”
It’s worth mentioning that, in the Star Trek: Countdown comic book, Picard’s hinted to have moved on to become an Ambassador. It’s possible that this could be explored in the show as well, as the comic was co-written by Alex Kurtzman, all-round Trek architect and Discovery showrunner, who’s also said to be developing Picard’s comeback series.
What’s more, Kurtzman’s partners in this endeavor are James Duff, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon and Kirsten Beyer. Duff and Goldsman come as no surprise as they’re also producers on Discovery, but Beyer’s role is intriguing, as she’s in charge of keeping check on Trek as a multimedia franchise, making sure the shows fit with what’s established in the spinoff media. Perhaps this is another hint then that Picard’s new series will reflect developments in the novels and comics.
Finally, Michael Chabon’s the most eyebrow-raising of this line-up. The Pulitzer-prize winning author hasn’t had any history with Trek to date, but he’s set to write one of the Star Trek: Short Treks that’ll act as a prelude to the second season of Discovery. Presumably, this is just a warm-up act for his major role in helping craft Patrick Stewart’s return to the Star Trek universe.
That’s pretty much all we know for now, unfortunately, but we’ll keep you posted should any new info be beamed up.