Excitement continues to build around the upcoming Star Trek series starring Patrick Stewart, who will be reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

However, fans aren’t the only ones who are pumped to see the beloved character return to the screen. In an interview with the Empire Podcast, Stewart explained why he’s looking forward to the series.

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“I don’t think anything has excited me as much as the prospect of this new Star Trek series is going to do," Stewart said. "One of the reasons is for the first time ever I have a co-executive producer role and I am working with brilliant people. Akiva Goldsman – who has an Oscar for writing A Beautiful Mind, and Michael Chabon – who got a Pulitzer Prize. I am so turned on about going back to the character, but it is twenty years in the future. So, it is a very different world that we are going to encounter."

Producer Alex Kurtzman revealed recently that Picard won’t be a captain in the new series, and that it will be in a very different stage in his life. This makes sense, as the new show is reportedly set 20 years after Star Trek: Nemesis.

"Picard's life was radically altered by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire," Kurtzman said.

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The series is set to debut later this year on CBS All Access.

(via TrekMovie.com)