Star Trek is on the Rise. Might we see Jean-Luc Picard on screen again?

Breaking news. CBS are expanding from their current show Star Trek Discovery, to multiple projects, being lead by Alex Kurtzman. One of these projects may see the return of Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard.

https://trekmovie.com/2018/06/19/breaking-cbs-planning-to-expand-star-trek-television-franchise-alex-kurtzman-to-oversee/

Could this be the beginnings of a "Star Trek Cinematic Universe"?  Perhaps more accurately a Television Universe, since the rift between CBS and Paramount is only growing.
Either way, it could feel a bit like the Golden Age of Star Trek during the 90s, when we had DS9 and Voyage on TV, and TNG at the movies.

Interesting!

I'd still be surprised if Stewart went back to a regular Star Trek gig, unless maybe he's done what he wanted to elsewhere in his career and now wants to settle in to something comfy for his final years of acting.

Either way, it's pretty interesting to see all this Trek coming back!

I doubt Stewart would want to commit to a long-term regular thing, but I could see him coming back for 6-episode special, or something like that. Apparently he got very interested when Tarantino's name got attached to Trek, but of course, that's all in Paramount's backyard, which is a totally different thing.

Honestly, I hope this doesn't happen. Tell new stories with new characters! We enjoyed the old characters. They were great. Create new characters we can love and enjoy.

Nearly every intellectual property is doing this! It's a bit much. Instead of banking on nostalgia, create something new that will make us nostalgic.

One thing I like about Agents of SHIELD is that the characters exist in the same universe but, for the most part, we don't see the characters from the movies. The events are mentioned but the characters in AoS operate independently.

It's a big universe. show the size of the universe instead of limiting your stories and storytelling.

John, I do somewhat agree with you. There seems an almost over-emphasis on nostalgia at the moment, in everything. And while I do very much enjoy most of it, it does seem that fiction these days is backward-looking, when it should be forward-looking.

However. There are a couple of reasons that I'd really like to see Picard return.

* The Next Generation never really got a proper send-off. The original crew had Star Trek 6. TNG got Nemesis (cringe). It was a poor way to say goodbye to those beloved characters, with a rather bitter taste in the mouth. (I try not to speak too negatively of media, but Nemesis seems to be almost universally disliked.)
* All recent incarnations, Enterprise, Kelvin-verse and discovery have been prequels, embedded firmly in the TOS or pre-TOS time. I think something moving forward, continuing the story after the Berman-era would be welcome (and I know that brings its own issues). A torch-passing would be appropriate, and who better to represent the torch of the Berman-era of Trek than Jeean-Luc Picard?
* Star Trek was doing a shared cinematic universe decades before Marvel, yet we never really got our "Avengers Moment". A movie that brought together Picard, Sisko, Janeway, and even Kirk. The reecnt 50th anniversary would have been a great time to do something like this. Instead, we got Beyond. A okay movie, with some (heavily broken) references to Enterprise and a little nod to the original TOS cast. Let me say that I in no way expect to get this now, but, it'd be nice. Some kind of multi-captain crossover with some of the Berman-era characters. This would be a project worthy of Stewart's return. (Yes, I know I'm diving deep into the nostalgia thing we talked about, but, this is a one-off thing which I'd personally like to see)
* Well, it's Patrick Stewart! One of the greatest actors to ever work on Trek. One of the most beloved characters. Who wouldn't want to see him one last time?

I don't think we'll be getting (or even need) another Next Generation, or a full 7 seasons of Picard. Stewart isn't gonna want to do that. I think we're looking at a limited run mini-series thing. 6 to 13 episodes of something. I'd be interested in seeing Picard as something of a mentor figure to a new collection of characters.

I'm in danger of rambling now, but I guess my conclusion is that I'm ready to move into the future with you, I just want one last hurrah first. (But if they do bring back Picard, I want them to really make it count. The return of the first doctor in last year's Doctor Who Christmas special was cool, but I felt they wasted the character. So much wasted potential. They mostly used him to make fun of classic Doctor Who. "Ha ha. Look how barbarically politically incorrect Doctor Who was back in the 60s. Oh, we're so much more enlightened now. Ha ha ha.")

jorowi wrote:Honestly, I hope this doesn't happen. Tell new stories with new characters! We enjoyed the old characters. They were great. Create new characters we can love and enjoy. It's a big universe. show the size of the universe instead of limiting your stories and storytelling.

Do you mean like this?



Big Finish Productions has recently added Star Trek to their licenses. They already have a massive catalog of original Doctor Who stories and original stories from many other licenses, including Judge Dredd and Dark Shadows. They also have adapted the Pathfinder RPG adventure modules for audio - really good stuff.

This is an audiobook, single narrator, of the miniseries by Christian Humberg. If it follows their pattern, original full cast productions will follow if sales warrant.

mindspike wrote:Do you mean like this?

Ooh. How do I not know about this.
*runs off to do research*