Star Trek: Picard showrunner teases return of Next Generation characters: ‘There would have to be a reason’

We might have only seen Patrick Stewart loitering on a vineyard in Star Trek: Picard teasers, but the new series won’t be entirely grounded from space.

After the debut of an official poster, showrunner Michael Chabon and executive producer Alex Kurtzman have answered some questions lingering over the new series – which sees Stewart reprise his role as Jean-Luc Picard following 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, they confirmed Picard will be returning to space ‘but not in a way that anyone expects’.

Addressing the issue, Kurtzman said: ‘Because he’s no longer in Starfleet, he no longer carries the weight of that behind him.

‘In some ways, it’s easier to be [a great man] when you’re a captain. But it’s an entirely different thing when you don’t have an army behind you. When you want to get something done and fight an injustice, how do you do that when you’re really only one man?’

He also teased how they’re aren’t ruling out appearances from other Next Generation characters, adding: ‘What we don’t want to do is just throw in cameos.

‘There would have to be an incredibly specific story reason [for them to be there].’

A trailer was released in May for the series, which will comprise of ten episodes and be released on Amazon in the UK.

In the trailer, a mysterious voiceover says: ’15 years ago today, you led us out of the darkness. You commanded the greatest rescue armada in history, then the unimaginable.

‘What did that cost you? Your faith. Your faith in us. Your faith in yourself. Tell us, why did you leave Starfleet Admiral?’

Teasing the show last year, Stewart said: ‘He may not be a captain anymore. He may not be the Jean Luc you recognise and know so well. It may be a very different individual, someone who has been changed by his experiences.’

He added: ‘It will be something, I guarantee it, something very, very different.’

The series also stars Michelle Hurd, Santiago Cabrera, Evan Evagora, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway and Isa Briones.

Star Trek: Picard will air on CBS: All Access in the US and Amazon Prime in the UK later this year.

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Source: metro.co.uk