The huge ‘Star Trek Universe’ panel at San Diego Comic Con arrived showcasing new information on the next chapter of Star Trek, but at the crowds gathered and excitement buzzed through the infamous Hall H, all eyes were on the main event of the day: Star Trek Picard.
The Next-Next Generation
While it has been noted before, executive producer Alex Kurtzman again told the crowd that the key to Picard was ensuring it was different; that they didn’t want to repeat The Next Generation, and use Patrick Stewarts own personal take on the character to ask questions of Picard; to find wat he’s proud of, what decisions he regrets and how he feels he’s impacted the world around him in the new series.
Showrunner Michael Chabon lamented on the excitement and challenge of writing the show, noting that the differences between Picards life as Captain and his life now had to be justified in it’s existence and take his journey to a new level; thanking Stewart for his impact in the writers room as he works closely with ensuing the Picard we’ll see is still true to the Picard we knew all those years ago.
Akiva Goldsman added, that “it’s a new kind of Star Trek show made by people who love old Star Trek shows,” describing Picard as a hybrid of styles.
As expected plot and character details that we don’t already know were kept under wraps. The only insight the cast could give was that Michelle Hurd’s character was an old acquaintance of Picard; Santiago Cabrera will be in the role of a former Starfleet officer who’d since lost his way and Isa Briones’ character – featured prominently in the trailer above – plays an important role that acts as a catalyst to Picard’s next adventure.
More Data Required!
As seen in the above trailer, the big surprises were two former cast members returning to the fold. The most anticipated was Brent Spiner, reprising his role as Data. A secret he’d apparently kept for a year as he joked with the audience about asking the producers if he could play Picard! Long rumoured to be appearing, it’s uncertain how much time Data will serve in the show, or if he’ll fully be Data or his lower-quality copy B4 re-manufactured with his ‘brothers’ memories. Whatever the answer, it’ll be interesting to see what role he has to play going forward.
While Spiners return is big news, the shock tot he system came in the form of Jeri Ryan who’ll be reprising her role as Seven of Nine alongside Jonathon Del Arco, who’s returning as the disconnected Borg ‘Hugh’. Much like Spiner, Ryan pointed out that she’d kept the secret for over a year as well and was excited to be back on screen beside Del Arco!
If that wasnt enough, it was confirmed that Mr “Shields Up! Red Alert!” himself, Jonathon Frakes, wasn’t just directing, but will also appear in the series as Wil Riker alongside Mirina Sirtis as Deanna Troi!
More Questions Than Answers
Delivering just enough to keep our eyebrows raised, the panel offered more questions than answers. How dd Data survive the Scimitar? How will Mr & Mrs Troi be involved? What’s Hugh up to these days with Seven? Do they have their own Borg Cube? And most importantly of all – why haven’t we seen the new Starfleet pin yet!?
Overall it was a delight to see the new cast make their first appearance together, to see old cast members make a dramatic return and to get a sense of what Picard’s new adventures may involve.
Set twenty years after his last on-screen appearance, Star Trek Picard will see Patrick Stewart return to centre stage in his life after the Captains Chair. Long retired after a mission that seemingly went wrong, Picard must face his regrets and the weight of his actions as a Starfleet Officer as a young mysterious woman asks for help and sets him on course for a new adventure out of Starfleets reach.
Initially announced to make it’s debut this October, the SDCC panel confirmed that, as previously reported in Comms, the show will make it’s debut early 2020. The series will launch on CBS All Access in the US with UK and International fans being able to view through Amazon Prime Video.
