Star Trek: TNG Cast Discusses Their ‘Picard’ Season 3 Roles – And Their Desire To Do Another Movie

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The highlight of the Star Trek Universe event at New York Comic Con was the Picard panel, which reunited the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. On hand to join Picard executive producers and star Sir Patrick Stewart were Gates McFadden, LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and Michael Dorn, all of whom gave details on what we can expect from their characters in season 3. Since this is the final season of the series, there was also discussion about what could come next for this cast.

Season 3 has three villains… including Brent Spiner as Lore

Star Trek: Picard executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas said that there were three villains for season 3. The main villain is Vadic, a new alien character played by Amanda Plummer, who Matalas said: “is a bit of a mystery and has a deep-seated yet sympathetic reason for wanting vengeance against Picard and the Federation.” The second is Daniel Davis returning as Professor Moriarty. “I just had to have Moriarty back,” Matalas said.

The third villain, according to Matalas, is Lore, Data’s evil android brother, played by Brent Spiner. This may be the biggest reveal of the NYCC Picard teaser trailer given that Spiner was not part of the San Diego Comic-Con character teaser released in July—but it appears there may be more to the story than simply the return of Lore, according to Brent Spiner.

Spiner: Lore is in it in a very complicated way which I think you’ll find out ultimately when you watch the show. What else can I tell you? Really nothing because we were informed long ago—we signed these NDAs.

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Things have changed for all of the TNG characters

The actors talked a lot about their NDAs and were careful about what they could say about season 3, but each offered at least some insight into how things have changed for their characters.Marina Sirtis had this to say about returning as Deanna Troi:

Sirtis: My storyline is so wrapped up in what we can’t talk about. Troi’s back… There’s stuff that you’re going to recognize and be familiar with in what she does. But I have some very wonderful stuff with my Imzadi here [indicates Jonathan Frakes] and there’s some really great stuff that we have between the two of us. It’s different. That’s all I can say.

Jonathan Frakes talked about how Will Riker’s relationship with his former captain has changed:

Frakes: I can talk about Riker and Picard… Riker and Picard were often like brothers. Riker was always very supportive of Picard, I always thought… Now [Picard] asked me to help [him], and yet – may he rest in peace, Gene Roddenberry who hated conflict on our show, would be watching this sort of antagonistic – we had a difference of opinion, let’s say. That’s all I can say.

Showrunner Terry Matalas jumped in to add some context: “If you’re familiar with the movie Crimson Tide, then you might understand tactically, they might have a difference of opinion in this situation with Amanda Plummer [Vadic].” When pressed for which character was more like Denzel Washington’s as Lt. Cmdr. Hunter and which was like Gene Hackman’s Captain Ramsey, Matalas would only say “You have to wait and see.”

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LeVar Burton gave praise to Matalas for a change he made to Geordi LaForge:

Burton: We are blessed to have had Terry Matalas, who loves this cast… And he has righted what I thought was a longtime wrong in that Geordi was never involved in a healthy relationship with anyone. And I’m happy to report when we meet him, Geordi is not only married, he has two daughters. Both have followed him in the family tradition. One, Sydney, is played by the lovely actress Ashlei Chestnut. And Alandra, the other daughter, is played by none other than my own daughter, Mica Burton.

The trailer shows that the main story kicks off with Dr. Beverly Crusher, and Gates McFadden explained where we find Beverly at the start of the season:

McFadden: She’s been off somewhere in the universe doing a sort of new Doctors Without Borders thing… She’s been working hard trying to do good work. And she’s being hunted. And that’s all I can say. But I love everything that I get to do in this season. And I love everybody here. And I’m just so proud to be part of it.

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The trailer also showed that Worf has now adopted a new philosophy of pacifism, a big change for the character. Michael Dorn talked about the process of developing Worf.

Dorn: Worf is on a journey. He’s always been on a journey. And I was very fortunate that the producers kind of incorporated both of our ideas about where he’s going to be and where he’s going to go. There’s a lot of things that I wanted to keep, and a lot of things that they actually convinced me to change about the character. And I think that we will recognize a lot of Worf and we won’t recognize a lot of Worf. Which is wonderful. I love that in terms of as an actor.

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Jean-Luc Picard’s “bombshell” arc in TNG sendoff season

Matalas spoke about how he had similar character development conversations with all of the returning cast, which all started with convincing Stewart himself. It turns out he has another big surprise in store when it comes to the arc for Picard.

Matalas: The first conversation began with Patrick in season 2 saying, “This is where we want to go, this is where we want to end Picard’s journey.” And Patrick has a bombshell idea that has not been revealed about this season yet, but just you wait.

The showrunner talked a bit more about how he worked with the rest of the cast:

Matalas: And then it was about sitting down with all of them, because they know their characters even better than we do and the fans… As long as they were happy, that was a major part of it. And it worked out, I think it’s a pretty satisfying conclusion to these arcs.

It’s been widely discussed since before the show premiered that Patrick Stewart was initially reluctant to do the Picard series as he didn’t want to repeat himself, and he certainly didn’t want to just recreate Star Trek: The Next Generation. But the actor (and executive producer) said that what was done for season 3 turned him around.

Stewart: Yes, at the beginning I had been uneasy about it being a reunion. But as I worked with one after the other of my dear beloved colleagues, I saw how important it was and how well it was working. And so we agreed, yes, at some point, let’s being everyone back and, who knows, even everyone together.

Alex Kurtzman added to this discussion, explaining how the 10-episode structure of a season allows each character to have their own story and not get shortchanged as they might in a feature film.

Kurtzman: Terry Matalas was so in love—in the most beautiful way—with the idea of saying, “I want to see that last Next Gen movie, that movie that I never got to see.” But let’s tell that story over 10 episodes and make it one big blowout. And he really delivered on that. Because the truth is, if we had sat down and said let’s do a Next Gen movie and you’ve got two hours to introduce all these characters, then everybody would have been shortchanged. There’s no way it would have worked. And so I think the fact that we got to do it over these 10 hours with this farewell, to me, it’s a love letter to what Picard was. It’s a love letter to all fans of Star Trek and to this to the legacy of this incredible show.

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But they still want to do another movie

During the audience Q&A, a fan asked if season three will truly be the final chance to see these characters, which resulted in the following illuminating exchange:

Sirtis: Who knows?

McFadden: I would love it to go on forever. It would be fun.

Frakes: Yeah, we are not dead yet.

Sirtis: We are not dead, just old.

Patrick: And just in case… I know there are some Paramount+ people here and also from Paramount Pictures, we could still make a movie.

Frakes: I understand there is a Star Trek slot in the Paramount menu, if you will… an open slot.

Spiner: As long as Paramount+ are here, I wouldn’t mind having my own series.

Frakes’ comment about the “open slot” is referring to how Paramount Pictures recently removed their planned fourth Kelvin movie from their 2023 release calendar. This morning, Frakes—the actor and director of two Star Trek feature films—stirred the pot again when the official Paramount+ Star Trek account promoted the Picard season 3 trailer as “the final journey,” and he responded with “Maybe not final.”

Matalas and Kurtzman didn’t join in on the open lobbying for another movie (or series), but earlier in the panel when asked if season 3 “passes the baton” to a new generation, Matalas replied, “Yes, absolutely.” As we reported earlier, Kurtzman also spoke in the Prodigy section of the panel about how there was an idea under discussion about how to bring Kate Mulgrew back to play Admiral Kathryn Janeway in live-action. It’s possible this idea for Mulgrew’s Janeway could bring back some or all of the TNG characters as well.

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More Star Trek from NYCC

The panel is over but there is more coverage to come, so keep coming back to TrekMovie.com for all the latest from NYCC 2022. And click here for all of our NYCC coverage.


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Unfortunately, I think they just spoiled that the cast survives the third season. I’m glad to hear it, but I’d have preferred to go into season three not knowing this. If they’re available to do another movie, it means they’re still around when the season ends.

It’s probably a mis-direct so Picard’s death will be a surprise.

Picard died in S1.

Okay, Picard’s total annihilation leaving no hope of a return.
Is that better?

As they showed with Data, they can always create some nonsense to bring back someone who was literally vaporized just to kill them again.

Agreed, but since this is the last season killing Picard off once and for all seems the thing to do.

Ya. This is Star Trek after all. The one and only character no one seems to know how to bring back is Kirk.

He will come back as a Force Ghost.

Not necessarily. Could be misdirection.

I’d agree with that observation. But all this exchange was was this cast spitballing that, yeah, if asked, they’d be up for another movie. Shatner will tell you he’s up for one, even though it’s wildly obvious he isn’t.

Well there are rumors the final scene is an homage to the ending of The Wild Bunch, so.

And where are these rumors exactly?

5th TNG movie: Star Trek Into the Multiverse – TNG/7 encountering (some) of the JJ cast (depending on $ for a 90m P+ movie). But unlike Kelvin ‘ST4’ the main emphasis would be on TNG and it being the belated 5th TNG movie (them either going into the kelvinverse or encountering JJ Ent coming into prime).. either way it’d be Trek XIV (also apoearences from Janeway and Shatner Kirk bc why not)

Honestly I hope whatever comes they leave Shatner out of it. Heck I wish he never did Generations. ST VI was such a perfect send off and they totally wrecked it. Nothing good can come of bringing him back yet again.

Nothing good came of dragging Stewart back but that didn’t stop them.

Exactly my point. Why repeat the mistake.

I don’t blame Stewart all that much. Once again reading between the lines the real story here was:

Secret Hideout: Obviously Picard S1 & 2 did not go as well as we would like. People only responded to the Riker Troi episode. So we need to ‘get the band back together’ for S3.

Stewart: I didn’t want to do the same thing again. I made that clear when we started this.

SH: Yes, but will this truck with bags of money change your mind?

Stewart: I think we can make this work.

I think if it was up to Kurtzman and Paramount, Picard would’ve just started as a TNG revival show from the very beginning but knew Patrick Stewart had to be involved more than anything. They obviously had to talk him into doing it for the third season. But obviously knew it was all the episodes that the TNG characters showed up in the first season of Picard that fans responded to the most. But now that they did, hopefully it worth the wait.

As far as a TNG movie, I can see one happening IF it’s geared more to Paramount+ and with a smaller budget. Yeah it can’t be a $150 million movie like the Kelvin movies lol. But I feel the Kelvin movies can no longer cost that either and probably why they keep getting cancelled over and over again. But if they did a movie around $80-90 million to keep it aligned with the former TNG movie budgets its feasible. It would still play in theaters just geared more to America and other western speaking countries. But it will mostly be a way to add more content for Paramount+ and for fans who are not invested in the new shows. In reality, I think the chances of another TNG movie are zilch to none. But I felt the exact same way over the idea of them returning to TV a few years ago, so you never know!

And if Paramount is desperate enough for another movie…

Even 80-90 is too high. No chance they’d make a TNG movie. That’s 2.0-2.5 hours and it wouldn’t make sense for Paramount Plus to make a profit from it.

If they did make a TNG movie to cap off Picard/TNG crew, and it seems pretty remote, although perhaps not impossible, I’d think it would be budgeted at something like 50-60million.

Frakes recently tweeting it may not be the end at least increases the odds maybe it just might happen. I’d love to see one more TNG movie. If only to somehow give them a crisp, high budgeted, well deserved final send-off in the franchise. But only if they actually have a genuine good story. If they really don’t have any ideas then I think it best to not bother. I think any TNG movie will also be going straight to Para+ and won’t be going to theatres.

Well Nemesis budgeted at $60 million and that was 20 years ago now. But truthfully a lot of that was cast salaries and they wouldn’t make as much as they did back then obviously.

But you’re probably not wrong and that’s the problem with the Star Trek films in general. They can’t be too cheap, not in 2022 certainly but they can’t be too expensive. I think in reality the sweet spot is probably around $90-120 million for ANY Trek films just based on what the Kelvin movies did if they want a real profit and not just break even which those movies most did.

Now if they made a TNG film and put on Paramount+ only then yeah I think $50-60 million is more realistic. But I’m so cynical about the movie side of things right now I’m convinced they really should just gear the next movie for Paramount+, TNG or not. Paramount wants another Top Gun Maverick or at least a movie with that potential once you have budgets of its size. Star Trek will sadly never be that. So I say make a movie with a more modest budget and for the fans and not too focused on putting it on IMAX or China. Maybe a modest run for a few weeks but it’s mainly for Paramout+ since they already said they plan to make movies for that site.

I think it would be great if they made smaller Star Trek films every year for Paramount+. They could use the TNG and Kelvin crew if they can keep it a more modest budget and that’s probably harder for the Kelvin cast.

I’d love to see Para+ Star Trek movies too.

I guess the issue is how do Paramount make a decent profit if they budgeted them at 90-100 million a piece?

The TV shows are released ep-to-ep weekly and that’s obviously to keep people subscribed (I guess?).

Truth be told I’ve no idea how this works. For example once all episodes of said TV shows are aired they are all then available long term and then it’s a case of hoping fans keep subscribing again and again when they are in the mood for Trek again. I’d think for a Star Trek movie they may charge an extra fee to access the movie in the ‘premier’ period or whatever they called it. Then say after 10 weeks or so, it gets released as part of the Para+ Trek library under the standard subscription.

I doubt the extra fee. I mean even Top Gun Maverick is free with the cost of the service.

I won’t lie I don’t really know how it works all that much either lol. To most of us the thinking is why spend so much on a movie to bring people to a streaming service when a TV show can be cheaper and keep people viewing more. But I think the idea is that it brings more people to subscribe to the site who doesn’t have it already and hopefully stick around?

But movies are made for streaming sites all the time. Netflix, of course, makes the most of them and some are just as expensive as any big budget movie you will see in a theater. The Gray Man is the perfect example since it was released not to long ago and had a $200 million budget. It did so well, they already greenlit a sequel for it. So it must have both gotten plenty of views but also more subscribers that month to the point they want to make more of them.

As for Star Trek movies on P+, it probably won’t be streaming only films, at least anytime soon. I think they will always go to the theaters just so fans can watch them that way, but the main drive would ultimately be for Paramount+ for everyone else who skips it in the theaters. But regardless these will probably be smaller films. I think the days of Paramount spending $200 million Star Trek films are done because they just don’t earn enough and they can’t seem to pull the trigger on another movie six years later. I would definitely be open to a TNG movie if the Kelvin movies are officially done. But if that’s not really in the cards either, then they should just put them on the back burner for a few years until they come up with a new idea and direction that will make a real profit and a more realistic budget for Star Trek.

In the meantime, just keep making more shows. That seems to be working. ;)

Exactly this (I know I say that too often lol). Kelvin is just way too expensive when you know you are not going to be pulling in Marvel or Star Wars returns. The TNG cast besides possibly Stewart are way cheaper and you don’t really need blockbuster level effects. Wrath of Khan was WAY cheaper than TMP and looked how that turned out. What you really need, all you have ever really needed, is the story.

I’m sure at the very least someone is mulling over the possibility. And as you said if Picard season 3 becomes a huge success, one that surpasses the expectations of what they are hoping it will do, then I can imagine them thinking about a movie, even if a smaller one. To me, the TNG cast coming back seems way more of a popular idea than the Kelvin cast doing another movie. Of course it’s not a shock when you have been with these characters for over 30 years now and first time they are all back in 20 years (I feel so old when I type this stuff lol).

NOW, all that said, it doesn’t mean it’s going to transfer into a huge film because as we are well aware, the fanbase is not big enough on its own to make a movie a huge hit, at least not in the likes of Marvel and Star Wars. And that was OK until we got the Kelvin movies because then they really wanted that audience too and never got them as they hoped.

My gut feeling is it won’t happen but we can never say never. But it’s a question of does Paramount want to make a TNG movie with a modest budget and a modest profit like the old days? Or do they only care about tentpole blockbudget IPs and billion dollar potential franchises? Sadly I do think it’s the latter. It’s no longer the 80s and 90s anymore, movies are just bigger these days because they have a bigger audience to sell their films to.

And while I wouldn’t mind another TNG movie, I would prefer something completely new overall. Move away from TOS and TNG characters completely and try something that’s actually original for a change. But there is probably the fear being original will not market as well and most likely why the movies have stalled altogether. I’m guessing it will stay that way for a few more years at least.

Sadly, it’s def the latter. But they have Tom Cruise for that. No studio is ONLY going to make blockbuster summer movies. Trek has always performed best with a modest budget and in theaters around Christmas. That’s what they need to aim for again. Stop shooting for the stars for summer blockbuster movie money with Trek because it’s just not going to happen. I love Star Trek and I wish it was as popular as Star Wars and Marvel but it’s just not and Paramount needs to wake up and accept that.

I would love something completely new as well. but you know why that won’t happen right? There is no built in audience for it. Like we have been saying over and over, even with the built in audience for TOS and TNG they can hardly get asses in the seats. How are they going to do that with a whole new story with untested characters that no one knows? They will never ever try that.

I completely agree with you, but we’re fans, we just want another movie!

And it’s not like Paramount doesn’t do any low budget movies. They made 2 in the last year, A Quiet Place 2 and Scream 5. I don’t think those even cost $30 million. Difference is those are horror genre films and are notorious for being cheap. And they make a lot of money for what they cost.

So I don’t think the problem is just making a cheaper movie in general. I think it’s the TYPE of genre and property mostly. Star Trek is considered a bonafide global franchise like all the others. So there is an expectation for it to do bigger business. And after 30 years and 13 films, I understand it. But I think now or at least since 2009 the mentality is that you don’t make cheap movies with your big franchises anymore.

That seems to be the direction of every studio today. Go big or go home. Now that could change. Paramount now have a new regime that obviously has no idea what they’re doing lol. But maybe they will decide to pivot and just make a cheaper Star Trek film if they feel they just need more movies on their plate. If that’s the case, then a TNG film could be a little more feasible but I just don’t see it yet.

But we agree, Paramount has to wake up and just work with the franchise they have. I just can’t believe they can put 5 Star Trek shows on the air, many that are pretty up there for a TV budget but having such a hard time to make one film. But Beyond probably did more damage than anyone realized at the time. Not as bad as Nemesis but clearly bad enough.

And also agree about them not using a new cast but we did get close with Noah Hawley’s movie. That was suppose to be brand new characters. I think the movie was partly cancelled because they got cold feet in doing it, but it could happen again.

I just think what I been saying since 2019, they just have no clue where to take the movies next. My guess is probably everything is on the table but nothing close to being acceptable. You can’t announce and cancel five movies and pretend like they have a game plan lol.

I agree with much of this. One point people tend to overlook is that the cost of digital FX has come down dramatically and they are much better. If the TV division makes the movie it can be done well and at a reasonable cost. Look at Wrath of Khan; the TV division made it with an $11 million budget as opposed to TMP which cost $45 million. Star Trek doesn’t have to be an FX laden extravaganza like the JJ movies. A well-written character driven story with FX where needed could be a smash success.

Never say never. Lets see how S3 plays out. IMO Strange New Worlds has given Trek the shot in the arm that discovery never did and Picard season 3 might just benefit from that. And if the ratings and the season are really that good, they’d be kinda crazy not to do a movie. Because, lets face it, another Kelvin movie with its A-List cast is just way too expensive to do for Trek like profits.

Ya I think that is fairly obvious that everyone wanted a TNG V2 but the only way to get Stewart back was to do it his way. But after 2 luke warm at best seasons of Picard they finally convinced him we have to do this for the send off I think.

Yeah just like Discovery probably should’ve been in a post-Nemesis setting on day one, this probably should’ve just been a TNG revival on day one as well. But unlike Discovery, I was completely open to everything they did with Picard in the first season. I don’t think I complained about one thing before it started. For me, I just wanted to be back in that era again. If the show starred Quark, I would’ve still been just as excited lol.

But it just didn’t work well IMO. And season 2 made that more clear when they couldn’t even figure out how to use half the characters.. And now most of them are gone. It’s not the actors fault but yeah.

If it wasn’t for the TNG cast coming back, I think a lot of fans would be shrugging about next season, me included.

Honestly the first 1/2 of Picard season 1 was fine with me. It was when they went off the rails with killing icheb and hugh and Picard (yes he is in fact dead) and everything that they jumped the shark in my book. And for 2 seasons in a row now they had season finales that set up a story that isn’t finished and never will be. Like, where is the Federation and Borg armada going at the end of season 2? I will bet any amount of money will will not find out the answer in season 3 and that is just messed up!

The way Matalas talks about season 3, I don’t think he even remembers what happened in season 2 lol. I don’t want to rant but it’s sooo frustrating they set up these seasons with BIG stakes. HUGE! But then when we get to the ending, they skip over every fundamental plot point,throw in random things (Seven and Raffi are both gay and a couple now? Ooook? So Seven is now in Starfleet because she took command of a ship for 2 minutes and Picard knighted her to be an officer? Um…apparently.).

There are SO many things that bothers me about both seasons. Season one ended, we never hear about the X-Bs again. Are we still allies with the Romulans or officially at war with them for wiping out Mars?? Nothin. Season two ends and apparently we’re not going to hear about these new Borg either. And that whole artificial transwarp conduit someone just set up and the Borg showed up to warn Picard about, is that just over too? Based on the trailers for season 3, yep!

It just so odd. It’s obvious they come up with these grand ideas but really have no real idea how to wrap them up properly. Season 2 spent the entire time protecting Renee Picard so she can get an organism that will somehow save Earth but doesn’t explain how it does that and avoids the fact Earth is going to bomb itself into an oblivion in a few years time, so how does that help Earth when 600 million people are now dead, every major city is destroyed and radiation is everywhere??

A lot of ideas, not many logical conclusions to most of them.

Here is another good one for you!

They spent all of season 2 setting up this idea Picard needs to find love again and that Lari’s was the one for him (ignore they killed her husband off screen to put them together). Picard supposedly decides Lari’s is it in the last minute of season 2. Awwww…

Season 3 shows up and chick is nowhere to be found! 😂

She hasn’t been in any trailers or part of interviews, her name hasn’t been brought up by anybody and Picard looks like he ditched her again to hang with his buddies. Is that just dropped too?? Like WTF was the point of all of that then?

Maybe we’ll learn in episode 1 that ten minutes after she saw Picard she fell into a sink hole and that was that! 😁

Picard will have grieved for a few hours until he get the message from Beverly and forgot all about what her face to save the real woman he loves.

Be OK with that but this show is a complete mess.

I won’t lie to you, but I completely forgot about Laris until you mentioned her lol. I haven’t thought about her in months. But because like you said, she’s been completely missing from all the promotion in season 3 so far.

I do think she is in the season, but probably just the first episode. A poster who I haven’t seen in awhile said she wrote on her Instagram page she worked a few days for the third season or something like that. It’s probably just to wrap up her arc in some way and will probably disappear after the first episode. Maybe she does fall into a sink hole lol.

But another disappointing thing about this show. Laris had so much potential. They gave both her and Zhaban a really interesting and cool backstory and proceeded to do nothing with it. My guess is she probably would’ve had a bigger role in season 3 if they didn’t bring the TNG cast back. They said they couldn’t afford keeping everyone when it was decided they were returning and she was probably a victim like all the others and so was cut. Oh well.

The thing the showrunner says about the Plummer character having a good reason for her attitude makes me ever so slightly hopeful … that she could be somebody whose planet couldn’t get ‘elevated’ due to the Prime Directive, and instead they fell back into savagery or blew themselves up. Omen, the antagonist in the much hated (but not by me) PRICE OF THE PHOENIX/ FATE OF THE PHOENIX novels from Bantam was somebody whose planet and people got poleaxed in some way due to his at-the-time embrace of the PD, which he then came to blame for everything wrong in the verse (sort of how I feel about it most of the time, since it doesn’t seem to protect against anybody else outside the Fed coming in and mucking with said planet. TOS had an abandoned script, HE WALKED AMONG US, started by Norman Spinrad but apparently wrecked by the usually reliable Gene Coon, in which some charlatan type to be played by Milton Berle was going from planet to planet passing himself off as a deity — that’s pretty anti-PD, doncha think?

Anyway, an Omne-like oppoinent would make for an antagonist of moral or ethical stature, and that’d be of interest. Tho based on the trailer, she is doing a lot of gloating and raving that seem OTT or out of place if you had such a scenario, so this is all just wishful thinking I guess.

some charlatan type to be played by Milton Berle was going from planet to planet passing himself off as a deity”

Sounds like that script was reused for the TNG ep with that fake Devil woman.

I had read a synopsis of DEVIL’S DUE in an unauthorized book about phase 2 over 30 years back and had a similar thought, but none of the players are the same. The p2 writer had no connection to Coon or Spinrad, and whoever rewrote it for TNG wouldn’t have either. Spinrad apparently went to GR and asked him to kill the story rather than let it go to film.

This is a little off topic but I was just thinking how nothing ever really dies in Star Trek anymore. This really hit me when I looked at the front page of TM and the topics of the last week alone involved TNG, VOY, DS9 and ENT. Three of four of these shows have now all come back in some form. And that obviously includes TOS thanks to SNW (but with new actors for obvious reasons). I’m mainly discussing legacy actors, not just the characters. And Enterprise has current producers and writers openly saying they want to bring those characters back too, they just don’t know how to do it quite yet.

A decade ago, I don’t know if we would be discussing all these old shows as we are doing now. Yes part of that had to do with the fact no current Trek shows were on at the time but even I thought if and when a new Star Trek show did return, it would go farther in the future, ie mid-25th or 26th century or something. I thought they would want to just start completely over with new characters and situations, but as we know that didn’t quite happen. It happened somewhat with Discovery going into the future, but under different circumstances.

Instead they opted to put all the new shows in the periods of all the OLD shows and here we are today. Maybe we won’t get a Janeway show, another TNG movie or a DS9 revival but I don’t think any of these characters are going away anytime soon either. The fanboy side of me is very happy to see them all back and all the talk about the future seems to be with these legacy characters. But another part of me would be happy to turn the page on all of it and start anew the way TNG did.

But regardless, I think Johnathan Frakes Twiter response said it all, nothing is final for any of these characters and probably for at least another decade.

Agreed!

It’s all about $$$$ man. They know people want to see all these characters back and will get people to subscribe. For me I like new characters but I want to see Janeway, Dax, Worf, Seven, The Doctor, Kira, Paris, Riker and on and on.

That’s my Star Trek!

I do love Lower Decks, SNW and Prodigy because they are good shows but also because they are bringing back a lot of the old characters. The LDS episode going back to DS9 will probably be one of my favorite episodes for years to come. But another DS9 show would be even better. 😎

I hope the next show is either a Janeway or Seven of Nine show. Either one will be really popular. Or just put them in the same show, add one or two TNG characters you got a hit show, as long as it’s good.

Hell, it doesn’t even have to be good and still be a big hit like Picard! 🙄

That proves the point right there. Because we’re going to all watch it anyway, especially with characters we all grew up with. Easy $$$$.

I’d pay good money to see how they would bring Dax back when Dax the symbiote didn’t even die lol

I hear you bro. It could show up in the 32nd century although I would like it to show up in the 25th century.

I personally would also like to see a 25th century show. Fresh characters and the Strange New Worlds format. Self contained episodes maybe a two parter.

Without a doubt, we are getting a 25th century show 100%. Matalas stated the last season is basically setting up the next show and why so many seem to think (or at least want) Seven of Nine as the lead. And I too hope it’s more in the SNW or LDS episodic format. It’s funny how few people references LDS as being episodic and season 3 feels more episodic than the first two seasons.

But I doubt we will get all new characters. What I mean is there will probably be new characters but the main lead will probably be a legacy character like Seven of Nine as mentioned. I don’t want to overthink it, but I think whatever new characters are introduced in third season will most likely show up in the new show.

I think TPTB has decided any new show going forward will probably be at least one legacy character to anchor it as we got in both Picard and Prodigy because it’s just so much easier to market a show that way. I could be wrong but you see how much people drooled over Picard, Pike and Janeway were all coming back for these new shows.

But they could add the rest as new characters and be introduced this upcoming season. But then I remember (and it wasn’t that long ago lol) most of us thought season 2 of Picard was basically transforming into the Rios Stargazer show and basically everyone would just end up on that ship somehow by the end of season 3 since they threw most of the characters back into Starfleet. Didn’t quite work out that way, so who knows? Maybe Seven dies at the end of season 3 and it becomes the Riker and Troi show. ;)

I don’t think we need all new characters – Raffi, Elnor, Soji and Queen Agnes are right there and still need development (Elnor and Soji especially). Give me a crew with Seven, Raffi, and Elnor, and I’ll be fine with whatever mix of TNG/DS9/VOY crew they want to throw in besides.

Yeah it’s still possible those can all come back of course. Again, I thought that was the reason they put Elnor in Starfleet Academy in the first place, because they planned to really develop him the next two seasons and then by the time season 3 rolled around he would’ve graduated and could be an ensign on whatever the new show was. Didn’t quite happen to say the least, but nothing stops them from saying he did exactly that if he did show up in the new show.

Soji I’m a little more in doubt. They tossed her aside so fast in season 2 what was the point of even having her?? Again I thought now that her and Picard were Synths, that relationship would build even more and even be a symbolic representation of Data. I thought she was going to replace him in a way going forward. But it felt like her entire existence was an afterthought by season 2.

Agnes can show up in the future but I don’t see an alternate Borg Queen hanging around week to week. But I would like to see that version of the Borg again. Which AGAIN, I thought at least season 3 would carry that story line only to find out later we won’t see them.

So we’ll have to see where season 3 goes but I have a feeling they want to move on from earlier characters or more of them would at least have cameos next season or something. I’m convinced the only reason Raffi is still around is because they put her in a relationship with Seven and it would probably look bad to just break them. If not for that, I don’t even think she would be in next season.

The Agnes queen is really confusing me TBH. Like if she has been around for like 400 years in the Delta quadrant, how did no one, esp the ACTUAL Borg, run across them?

I have no idea lol. The whole thing is weird especially if they been going around assimilating planets too for centuries. I can understand if the Federation doesn’t know about them if they only stayed in the Delta Quadrant until now, but I would think the original Borg would know who they are.

If SNW has taught us anything, it’s that TPTB are in fact listening. They don’t always get it right when they do, but at least they are paying attention. And at least we know that Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd are up for it.

Exactly! And while I have not loved everything with these new shows you have to give Kurtzman credit, because he does listen to the fanbase. I say that all the time.

Fans were begging for a post-Nemesis show, we didn’t just get one of them but now four!

Fans were unhappy about Discovery conflicting with TOS canon, so they moved the show into its own time period.

Fans were begging for a Pike show after Discovery and they got that. And not only that, they were also begging for the show to be more episodic like TOS again and they got that too!

Fans were unhappy with the Discovery Klingons, those were gone after season 2 of that show and we’ve seen only the traditional ones in the other shows since including now Worf (but we may still see more DIS Klingons in the future).

Fans wanted to see more of the TNG characters on Picard and now we got the entire gang back together.

As far as I can tell, every time there has been some huge outrage about something or what people wanted more of, they have tried do deliver it. Now fans are begging for a Janeway or Seven of Nine show and he has said too he’s heard them and probably a reason they are discussing it. I don’t think it’s a question of Janeway returning to live action, that feels like a given now. It’s more about will it be her own vehicle again or will she just show up in something from time to time? And there is a good chance they may just put Janeway and Seven on the same show to feel like another Voyager spin off show. And it’s even easier now that Seven is officially part of Starfleet (and maybe why they made her part of it ;)).

Some people want to treat the guy like he’s Satan but he is bending over backwards to give the fanbase what it wants. What else can he do at this point? I’m very excited about the future and see where it’s all going. I’m only this excited because Star Trek is in a place where anyone can pop up at any time or it can exist in any century. It’s more complex now than it was back in the 90s. in terms of canon and world building. It’s never been as wide open as it is today.

Now we need to beg him for a new movie, TNG meets Kelvin please!

Also a series set in the TOS movie eras

Unfortunately he has no control over the movies.

Giving the fan base what they want is the problem.

Not if they keep subscribing Kevin. That’s the difference between doing something because you think it’s right even though you are bleeding viewers or doing something that keeps you on the air. I think most will choose the latter unless the changes just fundamentally go against the nature of the show.

SNW mostly exists due to fan demands. My guess is we probably would’ve never got it or if we did, it would’ve went the way Discovery did in its first season instead of the fun optimistic show we have now. Or even a better example, that the Section 31 show would be currently running instead. We didn’t get that yet probably because most fans moaned over the idea every time it came up. We may still get it, but someone clearly listened. Just my opinion, but I have no idea how it’s a ‘problem’ if it got people a better show out of it?

Now I will say on the OTHER end, no one was asking for a Star Trek animated comedy either. I certainly wasn’t. In fact I wasn’t sure if I could even like it. Well LDS came around obviously and I ended up being in love with it. I probably like it a tad more than SNW because how experimental it feels and just a lot of fun while keeping faithful to canon I haven’t seen since the old shows. It still may alienate some fans but people seem to be coming around to it season by season.

So yeah, you have plenty of examples someone decided to go against the grain and it really paid off IMO. But if it failed and failed hard, that would probably be the end of comedic Star Trek shows, like, ever lol.

That was exactly my thoughts on LDS too. What a comedy??? And a cartoon?? This is not my Star Trek. I will give it until episode 5 before it’s cancelled! Trekkies are going to freak.

Now it’s my favorite show in NuTrek! 😂😂

I love it so much. It’s pure fun and oddly feels more like Star Trek to me than those crap JJ verse movies with the pew pew pew everywhere and just super juvenile writing. I would happily want a Lower Decks movie instead of more Kelvin movie nonsense and another supervillain. Zzzzzz

Lower Decks is where it’s at! 🖖😎

Well the way the things are going on the movie side of things, you could very well get your wish lol.

I been pushing for seven seasons and a movie already! I mean if nothing else, a LDS movie has to be much cheaper than another live action CGI spectacle.

Nothing ever really dies in Star Trek… Except Kirk. When Kirk dies, my God he stays dead.

1995:
Shatner: Hey Rick I’ve figured out how to bring Kirk back in a really cool way, you see the borg..

10years later:
Shatner: they want me to guest star in the new series as the Mirror Kirk! Now this will be fun! hope they can afford me lol *phone rings*.. Hi Bill Shatner speaking .. wait you want me to play the Chef?

2007:
Shatner: Oh wow! they’re bringing back my Trek on the big screen in a huge movie biggest since the first one that was directed by Bob Wise . Leonards going to be in it, and I hear I might be too!.. hope its not just a 30 second cameo at the end, they’ll know I don’t do cameos lol..

2014:
Shatner: at last! They want me in the new movie for the anniversary! Now that just makes all kinds of business sense! Smart man that JJ, I like smart men! I’ll be the star this time! bigger and more lines than Leonards role plus they gonna deage me! Its about time! haha

It would’ve been nice to have seen Shatner again in one of these movies and putting him in the last one just seemed like a no-brainer being the 50th anniversary and all. Paramount was against it, they gave us Beyond instead and now the movie franchise is still dead due to it. And of course going with a story that while it actually felt like a Trek story this time and not Star Wars, went with another uber-villain out to destroy the Federation tired trope these movies tripled down on but I’m ranting now lol.

Short sighted to say the least. It may not have became a high grossing film but I have to think having Shatner would’ve made it more than Beyond did and maybe got it around $400 million…maybe.

Shatner having 3m followers on twitter should’ve been reason alone to do Orci’s script and include him in a sizable role lol non stop twitter promotion for about a year, alerting old school trekkies to get up out their homes to see the movie as OG Kirk’s finally back!.

having him in it would’ve also forced Paramount to have the anniversary be prominent in trailers and general promotion (as opposed to quietly releasing it hoping audiences would think its a new Marvel space action movie and not notice its a nerdy ‘star trek’ movie)

Definitely onboard for another TNG movie!! 👍

Maybe if the last season of Picard hits big with them all back it’s possible! It’s really the only movie I would be excited to watch right now.

I’m sure you would be into a voyager movie to LOL

Yep you know me so well!! 😂😂😂

But I don’t really need any movies in general. The shows has always been what I care about. But if they did a TNG movie of course I will see it. Although ironically I skipped watching Nemesis because how bad I heard it was. 🙄

But if they made a GOOD movie yeah would go. Sadly the last good movie Star Trek has made for me was First Contact. The rest has only got worse and worse. Star Trek is just not great at making moves for some reason.

For me First Contact was the last great Trek film too although I grown to like Insurrection more (but never hated it) and never had a huge problem with the Kelvin movies, but more so-so on those. I think those are really solid action movies which was obviously the point, but yeah badly written Star Trek films overall. But badly written Trek films are not what the Kelvin movies share alone. For years, Generations was hands down for me the worst written film in the franchise and I generally like the movie. But there are so many logical leaps in that movie doesn’t make sense and yes most of it took place around the Nexus, probably the biggest plot device in Star Trek history. I knew for sure nothing could be written worse than that movie.

And then STID came along and replaced it with that honor lol. I don’t have the same vile many fans seem to have with that movie but the writing is sooo ridiculous on so many levels I don’t even understand how it got approved?

But I agree, for some reason they have a tougher time making great films. I liked more of them than I didn’t like, but only 3-4 I would consider great out of 13. Most of them are entertaining to watch though (minus TMP, I can barely get through the first 20 minutes before I feel sleepy) but even the movies I thought were the worst like TFF and NEM I can still watch. NEM is my worst film and yet I somehow seen it 8 times lol. So while it’s the worst film for me, I obviously don’t hate it and it’s (slightly) grown on me over the years. It’s still really bad but like every movie, there are good elements in it.

I don’t know if or when we will see another film again and we are probably in for another 3-5 year wait now. But I hope WHATEVER they do next, it feels a bit closer to Star Trek and don’t just stuff action in it for action sake. It doesn’t have to be all philosophical and talky either or we could get another TMP. But you can still make a thoughtful film without an explosion or phaser fight every 20 minutes. That seem to be the issue with a lot off these movies and certainly was the case with the TNG and Kelvin movies IMO.

The first two seasons of Picard were lackluster. I hope that the “final” season reedem the series once and for all

Another TNG movie. Only if its like TNG. Not action trek space revenge villain. This is like extending Nemesis. One bad movie into a trilogy.

“It’s the end, the final chapter, this is it, the story ends, no more…”

That’s until the cheque book comes out.

NO to a movie, this should be the end of it. It’s time to more forwards and for everyone to let go of their comfort blankets.

YEAAAAAHHHHH, DO ANOTHER TNG MOVIEEEEE.. But for me it MUST have DATA also!!!!!

Just download him into the ships mainframe. Problem solved.

I’m calling it now: one of those two new shows, with a female lead, is going to be Seven as captain (or first officer) of the enterprise f.

Riker and Janeway will return in recurring roles, and Mica Burton will be a cast member as a young lieutenant.

Plausible.

The trailer also showed that Worf has now adopted a new philosophy of pacifism

That’s…quite an unexpected twist. Typical Worf, always the contrarian ;) No doubt it places him at considerable odds (to say the least) with mainstream Klingon warrior culture, not to mention the House of Martok itself.

Also reminds me of that TNG episode where a very young Alexander shouts “I don’t *want* to be a warrior!”, to Worf’s understandable consternation.

Speaking of Alexander, if the showrunners are thinking about a Klingon-focused spinoff/sequel, a show with Alexander as the lead character and depicting his rise to power in the Empire is an obvious option. Isn’t he supposed to be in his mid/late-30s during the PIC timeframe? Pretty much the perfect age for this kind of story. My original choice for the role would have been Joe Manganiello, but agewise and in all other aspects I’m thinking House of the Dragon’s Ryan Corr could be a great fit. (The charismatic Corr recently played Ser Harwin Strong on HotD — the deep-voiced, long-haired, bearded aristocrat who was having an affair with a certain blonde princess and was later “accidentally” burned alive in his fortress).

Of course they’d be interested in another movie. Ask any random group of actorsif they’d be interested, the answer is always going to be yes.
Ms. Sirtis provided the right level of snark: We are not dead, just old. God bless her….

Well, if nothing else, you can probably get your TNG movie out of Picard. Just a very long movie.

Why not do a crossover movie between the Next Generation and the Kelvin Universe?

The Kelvan Generation?

WAY too expensive.

Because: $$$$$

People keep throwing out big crossover movie ideas but the problem is every actor you bring in can add a lot more to the budget depending how long they stick around in it. I know some fans even want an Avengers type of crossover but that would also require Avengers type of money and expectations.

The last film had already cost $185 million with JUST the Kelvin actors in it. You include the TNG actors too, you’re adding on even more. Now it doesn’t mean the movie will automatically cost more but they have to find a way to balance all those salaries with a budget they think is reasonable that will give them a big enough profit. And as much as we all love Star Trek and these characters, the reality is it probably won’t attract enough people outside of Star Trek fans and that’s probably the issue making any film right now. I’m not ruling out a crossover film at all, but they still have to find a way to do one with a more modest budget. But I will admit a TNG/Kelvin crossover does market itself and would probably draw out the fans who probably sat out on the last Kelvin movie or want more of the prime universe again in the movies. But I still don’t think it would be enough of them for Paramount to green light one; especially if they are spending more for it.

The problem Paramount has learned with the Kelvin films, as hard as they try, the casual audience for Star Trek is still on the smaller side compared to the bigger franchises and why the TOS/TNG movies were more modest. They tried the big tentpole budget route and ultimately it didn’t work. I don’t think making a big tentpole crossover movie will either, not for a company who is looking for billion dollar movies or at least movies that can earn more than what they have been.

Initially I thought a TNG/Kelvin crossover would be the way to go for another TNG movie that would obviously have to up the stakes and be more of an event than PIC s3 even (but would likely be a 90m P+ movie with limited theatre release) but thinking about it it’d be more likely to be TNG (with various DS9/VOY characters) encountering NX01 Enterprise which would be a major deal in fandom like a celebration crossover of the 90s/00s Berman era (probably along the lines of what the Star Trek ‘Avengers’ Nemesis sequel would’ve been in 00s). The Kelvin actors are probably just too big/expensive and busy in current movies to be in a ‘lesser’ P+ type movie that would be crossover with TNG (Pine Pegg and Saldana anyway) and it might be abit too contrived crossing over with Kelvinverse anyway, and might be best to keep the kelvin trilogy unto itself for now TDK style idk

Again, I don’t get this idea that Pine is some major movie star. He hasn’t made a single movie that’s done over $150 million in a decade that doesn’t have the name Wonder Woman or Star Trek in the title. But yes they keep trying…and trying.

And I just think you can do a crossover but don’t go too crazy with it until you at least know you have an audience for it. So I think it’s best to just have one or two shows crossing over in a film. You can still include the Kelvin characters, you don’t need ALL of them, that’s the beauty of a crossover, you can just take 1 or 2 characters from a series. Especially if you want to keep the budget down. But if you include every TNG/Kelvin/DS9 actor and so on that gets things much higher.

Frankly I think they should just focus the next film with one crew, regardless who it is. See how that does and if people respond then the next one can have characters from other shows/era/universes/etc and they can go a bit bigger with the budget. At the rate things are going now, it will have at least be 9-10 years since Beyond before another movie shows up. Since it’s obvious no film is coming in 2023 or 2024, then 2025 is the next feasible year if they can somehow get their #$%# together by sometime next year and either go with the current movie idea they have or just start completely anew (I’m guessing it will be the latter).

But 9 years is a long time. So they probably have to start from scratch in a way and either build up a new crew with the story or remind people of the old one bringing the team back together. That’s the problem, whatever the next film is will basically have to be a restart in some way even if they use the Kelvin crew again. They can’t pretend like it’s a year later after Beyond and everything is status quo like the first three films. Sulu is now in his 50s.

But I know, you love this idea of a crossover. I think you have posted 30 different ideas in the last year lol. I think in all reality though more crossovers will happen in the TV side more than the movie side because they have 5 TV shows and endless amount of legacy characters to put on them; like how they did the LDS/DS9 crossover or the upcoming LDS/SNW crossover. They should be aiming for ideas like that first. And in the future there might be a big event between multiple shows since they have the resources to make it happen and not on life support like the films have become. And nothing stops them from bringing a few Kelvin characters on Discovery, SNW, the Picard spin off etc if the movies are really dead for a long time.

If its 2025 the next feasible year they may as well wait for 26 and the 60th anniversary, maybe they’d actually want to celebrate it this time lol

If it was to be like a crossover say a TNG movie meets Kelvin then yeah maybe just a couple of kelvin cast (e.g. Quinto, Cho) or if more a Kelvin oriented movie then the kelvin cast and just a few TNG cast (Stewart,Dorn?). There’s just all ways it couid be done , but there’s only ever been one proper crossover Trek movie coming up for 30y ago.. Time for another! (esp in this team up crossover multiverse movie era)

Matalas: The first conversation began with Patrick in season 2 saying, “This is where we want to go, this is where we want to end Picard’s journey.” And Patrick has a bombshell idea that has not been revealed about this season yet, but just you wait.

Its probably stupid. I’m sure he had ideas for S2 and look what happened. He also had input on Insurrection and Nemesis. How’d that work out for the franchise?

The back story of Picard’s family was Stewart’s idea IIRC

I’m so happy Gates McFadden is finally getting the meaty role she deserves.

It’s an expensive business bringing the TNG cast back together. I remember Dorn’s asking price for a cameo, on DSC, as an ancestor of Mogh, was astronomical. Armin Shimmerman says/jokes (not really) that he’ll come back to do short term live action “if they pay me what they pay Dorn”.

They broke the bank for getting the cast back together for S3, which is why S2 was pretty much terrestrial LA.

Unlikely there’ll be more TNG ensemble stuff after this, only legacy appearances in other shows, on an individual basis.

They’ve no chance of doing a new movie. I’m even surprised they’ve been dragged out of deep retirement for this nonsense.

They are all still working actors. None of them are retired. Frakes has been with all these new shows since Discovery first season in front of and behind the camera.

And they know you and millions of others are going to watch this ‘nonsense’, that’s why they’re back. ;)

lol ”deep retirement”

As Marina said they are not dead yet just old. I think they can push for a movie. They are hinting quite strongly lately of doing another one. I don’t see why not, they all still look good.

One thing that surprised me when they all came on the stage at NYCC is how slim and fit all these guys are lol. Some put on a little weight, but normal for their ages. Dorn still looks as fit as he did 20 years ago. Frakes used to be the ‘fat’ one and even he’s slimmed way down lately. It’s impressive.

Maybe they all have a gym membership together and that’s how they all keep in touch. ;)

lol with the gym membership, with these guys it a possibility. It’s just sooo good to see these guys in one place again that’s all I know.

They must’ve all been busy getting in shape for their “Force Awakens”. PStews always been in great shape tho (the FC gunshow)

It’s so true. These guys all look amazing. I would hope to look to be in that good of shape in my 60s and 70s. 👍

Couple of things…

I found it odd that Frakes said Riker was like a brother when that was absolutely not how it appeared on screen. It Riker always seemed more in awe of Picard than anything else. Borderline worship, even. I found it an odd characteristic.

And more features with this group? I really hope not. Their time has already come and gone. Trek needs to move on. If anything I could see a reboot like Trek ’09 with new actors in the roles but even that I think would be a mistake. The problem is Kurtzman’s involvement. He just cant be if there is to be decent Trek. I think the last 5 years have shown that clearly.

I am cautiously excited, it’s hard not to be shell-shocked from Season 1-2, but I am surprised to hear Stewart asking for more! It’s a little weird to see the cast up there lobbying for a TNG movie, although I absolutely love it! But the spidey sense in the back of my head feels like this is a coordinated mis-direct because it’s been brought up several times in recent interviews and in social media posts. More notably, they seem to be intentionally pushing back on the “Final Mission” promotions from Paramount+. So I can’t tell if this is just a genuine lobbying effort to get more, or simply a cruel trick. I sure hope it’s not the later, I doubt the actors would treat the fans that way so I’m pretty convinced that everybody survives and that they genuinely want to do more. It also tells me that they are very pleased with the outcome of the season.

So when Terry Matalas teases that safety is not guaranteed, I suppose he could be referring to Seven and Raffi, but it would be cruel to kill Seven off on a TNG show since she really belongs to Voyager, and their story may not be over.

Please, no more TNG movies. This should be the send-off, period