Yesterday, Sir Patrick Stewart shared the first image of himself in the writers’ room for the unnamed new Star Trek about Jean-Luc Picard, and it got quite a reaction. Not only did Stewart fire up social media, but it was covered around the world in the mainstream press and a few Hollywood professionals took note, including one actor who has played a Patrick Stewart role before.
McAvoy is ready to fill Stewart’s shoes again
The writers’ room for the new Picard show has been up and running for weeks, and we have been covering the briefings and teases that have already been shared. But it took Sir Patrick Stewart himself to really light up the world when he posted a shot of himself along with writers and executive producers of the show on social media. The tweet has over 73,000 likes and 1,800 comments in just over a day with the Instagram post getting over 84,000 likes and over 14,000 comments.
One of the people commenting was actor James McAvoy, who played young Charles Xavier in three X-Men movies, a role originated by Sir Patrick Stewart on the big screen. The actor even shaved his head to match Stewart’s pate. And it looks like he is willing to do it again, as he responded to Stewart’s Instagram post with the question “Need a flashback guy?????” adding “Just saying … I’ve got previous experience and will work for autographs.”
Based on what Stewart has said and hints from executive producer Michael Chabon, the new Picard show will be set in the year 2399, or 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. McAvoy is currently 39 years old, or about 10 years younger than Stewart was when he originated the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
While McAvoy’s comment is somewhat in jest, it is not unreasonable to think that this new series will cover events in the life of Picard and the Federation before 2399 and possibly before his time on board the USS Enterprise-D. TNG provided a good amount of information on Picard’s backstory, including his family and upbringing in France, his time at the Academy and some of his Starfleet postings.
Younger versions of Picard have been portrayed by three other actors: David Tristan Birkin played Picard at age 12 (“Rascals,” plus he played Picard’s nephew René in “Family”), Marcus Nash portrayed Ensign Jean-Luc Picard (“Tapestry”), and Tom Hardy played his young clone and was shown as a photo of Picard from the Academy (Star Trek: Nemesis). Of course, Stewart also played his younger self in “Tapestry,” through the magic of Q.
John de Lancie and Patrick Stewart in “Tapestry”
More are ready to for Picard show
McAvoy isn’t the only one inspired by Stewart’s writers’ room reveal. Amy Berg, a writer and executive producer on sci-fi shows including Eureka, 4400 and Counterpart, responded to Stewart’s tweet with “The thing this room is missing is me.” Phil Plait, the astronomer and popular blogger, also chimed in, suggesting the show could use a science advisor.
Someone who could very well end up working with Stewart on the show is his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star Jonathan Frakes. The former Riker actor directed Stewart in a number of episodes and two feature films, and he has already directed three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, so he is clearly in the orbit of Alex Kurtzman and the other executive producers. It’s notable that Frakes was the only TNG co-star to respond to Stewart’s tweet. His message was a simple “Engage…”
Engage… https://t.co/meu0F8pU9S
— Jonathan Frakes (@jonathansfrakes) September 24, 2018
We recently reported that Stewart’s TNG co-stars Micheal Dorn, Marina Sirtis, and Gates McFadden were all in the dark about what was going on with the new series, even after a TNG reunion dinner with Stewart earlier this month. As of a couple of weeks ago, the TNG actors had not been contacted about the new show.
One Star Trek actor who did respond to the Stewart writers’ room tweet was Star Trek: Voyager’s Garrett Wang (Harry Kim). He shared the tweet with his followers with the simple message “Congratulations @SirPatStew So excited for you!” After the news of the show first broke in August, Wang answered a fan’s query saying he would love to reprise the role of Harry Kim.
Fingers crossed. I would love the chance to reprise the role of Harry Kim one more time:) https://t.co/sIn9lXrQSS
— Garrett Wang (王 以 瞻) (@GarrettRWang) August 7, 2018
Keep up with all the news on the Picard show and other upcoming Star Trek TV shows here at TrekMovie.com.
He looks the part, I cant wait to see this
Was that really a younger version of Picard in “Tapestry”? I thought Q was showing Picard where he would be if he’d played it safe, but it was the same time period as TNG.
The episode showed young Picard right after Academy graduation, played by Stewart. Check it out; it’s a good episode.
It is a good episode. The one thing it does, however, is it sorta destroys the perfect Federation society concept. Picard described “safe” Picard as a dreary man with a tedious job. Q even mocked him for doing little more than giving reports to superiors.
I don’t think that says anything about the Federation. That just says that the Picard who grew up to be an awesome starship captain wouldn’t have been happy just making analyses and reports. The alternate version of Picard who always played it safe would have been perfectly happy in his very safe position.
That’s not how I read it. I saw it as Picard would have been very very unhappy with his life had it gone down that alternate path. And that most in such a position would be “dreary”. Supposedly no one in the Federation has a “dreary” job. At least, that is implied…
But the episode earns high marks for a Q episode.
It is only at the end of the episode that you see altered Picard in the TNG timeline. Stewart plays young Picard for most of the episode, but there is a brief scene where he is watching the event that gives him his artificial heart and sees his younger self played by the other actor.
Sounds great, make it so!
“The tweet has over 73,000 likes and 1,800 comments in just over a day with the Instagram version getting over 84,000 likes and over 14,000 comments.”
Wow the world is truly excited to see Jean-Luc Picard again!
Don’t be surprised if Tom Hardy tweets in saying he should be the one to play young Picard on the show since he actually was once. Then he and McAvoy can battle it out for the role Amok Time style! You can already hear the music in your head lol.
Hardy? McAvoy? Can’t they find a GOOD actor to portray a young Picard?
SIGH.
Maybe they don’t need a young Picard at all…
Look at the outtakes from TFF to see how well it went when Nimoy ‘played’ at being Spock’s child-self. That whole experiment was catastrophically bad.
Hardy’s great, but way too old. Besides, I’m guessing that he doesn’t exactly regard NEMESIS as a career highlight he’s anxious to revisit.
Yeah but McAvoy is only two years younger than Hardy lol. And its not like they have to play a 20 year old Picard, simply one younger than Stewart is now. That can be in his 30s and 40s.
But I agree Hardy probably still wakes up with nightmares thinking about that movie. ;)
I think Hardy is man enough to have moved on from it.
He wasn’t to blame for Nemesis failure. He was mis-cast, but that is not his fault.
Nemesis failed because of its director and the script.
Whenever I think of any pic that Baird directed, I get the yawns. Going zero-for-three on decent-sized studio features — even when you have Jerry Goldsmith around to make up for your filmmaking shortcomings — means, in my eyes, you are not a director.
I also think Baird is overrated as an editor. He cut the two most overrated Bond movies of all time with the Craig films and may have helped salvage a lot of Richard Donner films, but didn’t exactly salvage a lot of the other big pics he worked on. He got NEM for ‘saving’ the first Angelina Jolie TOMB RAIDER, and yet that film is excruciating, outside of the robot and select other VFX work.
Since I don’t drink, the sole way that NEM works for me is to view it the way you would a very action movie where the action doesn’t really start till the third act … and that is to skip ahead and start watching at that point. It limits your investment of time and still delivers the modest eye candy of the ramming scene and what leads up to it, although you still wind up seeing the nonsensical unramming scene (which makes less sense scientifically than just about anything outside of TSFS and the nexus that I recall in movie TREK, since you’d need to be firing thrusters in forward and reverse simultaneously to unwedge yourself … what is ordered and seen in the film would just result in SCIMITAR dragging the E-e backwards through space, not dislodging from it.)
perhaps you should start (or go back to) drinking so you can enjoy Nemesis more
Too bad the same can’t be said about TVH. I don’t drink but I’m doubting even the powers of booze can’t make that dreary film tolerable.
I can enjoy parts of TVH, but sitting down and watching it is well-nigh impossible, at least during this century. Maybe it’ll swing back at some point, I’ve gotten so I can watch TSFS all the way through pretty much every year now (not a fan of Nimoy’s direction, but technically, it seems better in III than IV — at least III isn’t drowning in smoke.)
I believe Hardy’s on record stating Nemesis damaged and stalled his career, at the time leading to depression, drinking and apparently he even had suicidal thoughts. I’ve read this on a few online sources, but we all know how unreliable and full of hyperbole the internet can be. So, can’t imagine he’d exactly leap at the chance to reprise a Young Picard role
This is my personal opinion, but I think Nemesis would have been a much better film if both Picards had been played by Patrick Stewart. I believe this was the original intention before the director vetoed it.
That was indeed the original intent. And I, too, think that could have helped. But the Picard clone being younger wasn’t a terrible creative choice either. But the film still works overall regardless.
Well, personally this decision actually took me out of the film because I couldn’t really connect the two characters together until much later in the film. With Stewart playing both roles this connection would have been made instantly and it would have a rare opportunity for Stewart to play a bad guy in his career.
I think the only advantage would have been was it might have hammered home the nature vs nurture theme a little more than it did. However, I still believe that theme ran pretty strong in the film already.
Man, that is a bad film that doesn’t work. Parts of it work, and a recent rewatch made me think better of it than I had when I last saw it (when in theaters), but it still isn’t good.
We all have our opinions. Sorry you didn’t like it. Many share your opinion and I have yet to find specific reasons for why they didn’t. They just don’t like it as a sort of gut reaction overall. I found only one major flaw in it. But the rest was actually quite good. The nature vs nurture theme was played with with both Picard and Data seeing things differently. Data’s double would have been a ton more effective had we not gotten the gawd-awful Lore stories from the series. But that isn’t the film’s fault, really. There was a surprisingly touching scene with Data and B4. And it became obvious that Data had evolved as much as he ever was going to so it was a good idea that he sacrifice himself. Sure, there were a couple of bumps. But even Wrath of Khan wasn’t perfect. All in all, a very good send off for the ‘B’ team.
Ooh, McAvoy’s a terrific actor. Count me in.
That photo in Nemesis (Tom Hardy) of Picard at the Academy, who is apparently bald already, is ridiculous and I do wish the scene would be taken out, or for good Lord, be digitally altered to have Picard WITH HAIR. It was clearly established on multiple occasions that Picard did have hair when he was younger, perhaps well into his 20s before he began to lose all his hair.
My own father had plenty of hair up to he was well into his 20s.
That scene in Nemesis is so ridiculous and I suspect Baird is wholly to blame for it. However why nobody flagged that up to him, is any guess!
maybe Picard had simply shaved his head at that point in time when pic was taken at the Academy (then let it regrow after). Lots of balding guys shave their heads prematurely in desperation/resignation, to see how they will eventually look, or even in the hope be it will grow back stronger/thicker. then maybe they’ll let it grow out for the last remaining years of hair before they lose too much then maybe they’ll shave what’s left
Its possible. But I cannot Imagine many young people want bald heads at that stage in their life.
Unless it was a fashion trend in the 2340s.
Then to sell it they should have put Beverly or somebody else in the pic with him and have that person sporting a similar dome.
kmart,
In STAR TREK, I thought the Deltans, Ilia et al, already sold it?
I really don’t think baldness in the 24th century is an issue. They cured cancer. Picard going bald is probably more of an aesthetic choice. He could grow back his hair if he wanted. So the Picture is just young Picard experimenting with a new look, I guess.
I never took it that way. Maybe Picard just didn’t bother to have a procedure done which meant he would have hair. I’d get that. A lot of us Men can’t be bothered with things like that lol. If Picard could just grow his back without any problem I am sure we would have seen that happen at some point, logically.
I really don’t think baldness is an issue in the 21st century. It feels great.
Why not get a woman to play him in flashbacks?
Or Idris Elba perhaps
Why not? I can suspended my disbelief like a good Viewing Unit should.
I absolutely loved the interaction between McAvoy and Stewart in DOFP. That being said, hey, CBS, what about a Picard show during the TWOK-syle uniform area with McAvoy? Maybe a Stargazer show with McAvoy as Lt. Picard? I think they used the TWOK-style uniform until the 2340s and I think Picard took over command of the Stargazer in 2333? Sorry but that picture of McAvoy in that uniform…. perfect!
Sigh. Now you’ve gone and got me Jonesing for John de Lancie to show up in the Picard show.
Yes! Please! Q!
Young Picard had hair!
Star Trek Stargazer, Yes Please
The only issue would be he would *have* to lower his voice and do a Patrick Stewart vocal imitation to sell it.
I never bought Tom Hardy or McAvoy in Xmen as a younger “Patrick Stewart” not because of the visual necessarily… it was completely the timbre of the voice.
I think it was Stewart himself who said in an interview that his voice was the result of lots of smoking and alcohol. So he may well have sounded differently at a younger age.
Regarding McAvoy as younger Picard: Before we knew for sure that the new Picard show would indeed be set post-Nemesis, my personal speculation was that we might have Stewart!Picard reminiscing about the past as a framing story, and the main part of the show would actually be about Picard’s years on the Stargazer…
a great premise for a new show would be in Picards later years he draws on his young experience to solve his current dilemmas… each episode could have a flashback of a past mission with young Picard…showing the shaping of his decision making as a senior Picard… A bit like Slumdog Millionaire in a sense
So many comments over a comment obviously said with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
More like “JUST KIDDING (not really kidding…please help me)!”
Shatner as a Klingon or I’m out.
(…so… I guess I’m out, aren’t I?)
Well, if nothing else, we are getting a feel for TNG era alumni who are looking for work.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease hire me! Ensign Kim rides again!
If they went that route, who knows? He could very well have finally gotten his promotion in the last 15 years. :) Dare I say… Captain Kim?
Fifteen years later, Lieutenant Junior Grade. Good job, Mr. Kim
Patrick’s de-aged CGI version called and said he’s already signed on to do it.
Just from that still, the burgundy Starfleet jacket looks like it’s at least one size too big for Patrick Stewart.
Bill was/is a big man
Speaking of McAvoy and Stewart, i expect Disney X-men will recast Professor X. It was a great run, r.i.p. Fox x-men
This sounds mean, but I hate it when someone like Patrick Stewart, who clearly creates his own breaks, announces a project, and someone as indirectly connected as Garrett Wong leaps in, trying to get a boost in his pathetic post-Trek career. Not f’ing likely! Go read for some DTV SyFy crapfest.
Wang