As the world of Star Trek expands beyond CBS' Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: The Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes has suggested Captain Jean-Luc Picard might not be a captain in the upcoming Patrick Stewart-led series.
"Patrick isn’t playing Capt. Jean-Luc Picard this time," Frakes told Deadline. "He’s done with [that phase of his career in] Starfleet in this show. That’s about the only thing I do know about the show." Frakes then revealed that he'd learned the information at a dinner with Stewart.
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Stewart will serve as a producer on the show, and Frakes is set to be part of its writing team. There's little information about the Picard show other than the fact it will air on CBS All Access later this year. The notion that Picard won't be a captain suggests a scenario that picks up long after he's left his chair on the Enterprise.
Speaking about the possibility of reprising his role as William T. Riker or seeing other fan-favorites like Brent Spinner (Data), Michael Dorn (Worf) or Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Frakes remained hopeful. "The feeling is we would love to be part of it. But the feeling is also that it’s Patrick’s show," he said. "Having said that, I can’t imagine a world where there’s no reference to what happened to the rest of the Next Generation cast."
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With Stewart reportedly pushing the writers to be "new and different," it makes sense that the series won't be a simple rehash of the character's time with Starfleet. Either way, Stewart will be back in the leading role to revisit the life of Picard. Whether it's as an Admiral, Ambassador or something else entirely, the prospect of seeing Stewart return to one of his best-loved roles is sure to have Trekkies and others alike flocking to the show.
After joining Star Trek: The Next Generation back in 1987, Stewart portrayed the captain of the USS Enterprise until Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002.