The Entire TNG Main Cast is Back, for Picard Season 3
While fans have been hoping for cameo appearances from his former castmates and Enterprise crew members to show up in the second season of Star Trek: Picard, today (on the much-celebrated First Contact Day) Paramount has announced that all six of Jean-Luc Picard’s senior staff will be joining Patrick Stewart for the upcoming third season of the show, which is currently in pre-production.
The returning cast members will include not only Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner, all of whom have already appeared in the series, but also Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton and Gates McFadden, for what is set to be the “concluding chapter” of Star Trek: Picard. Because his character of Data has been established as having died, Spiner will presumably instead be playing a member of the Soong family.
In a short teaser trailer for the third season, some new dialogue from the TNG main cast plays over a pensive-looking Picard. The teaser video also contains music cues from previous Star Trek productions, including Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The dialogue in the video is as follows:
PICARD: “I am not a man who needs a legacy.”
LA FORGE: “I think back on those days on the Enterprise, all that danger we rushed into…”
PICARD: “Those were the days.”
SOONG: “Evolution is not an act of preservation, it’s addition!”
WORF: “It is clear… sacrifice is required again.”
CRUSHER: “Jean-Luc, when the galaxy comes calling, you love it!”
RIKER: “Aren’t we a little overdue for a good old fashioned road trip?”
TROI: “I promise, you will not be alone.”
With both of them holding phasers at the ready, Riker then asks Picard if he’s prepared, to which Jean-Luc replies, “As ever,” and the TNG main theme music then becomes audible.
Paramount has also released a formal announcement, which reads as follows:
“STAR TREK: PICARD” WELCOMES “STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION” CAST MEMBERS ABOARD SEASON THREE
LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner Are Set to Star Alongside Patrick Stewart in the Third and Final Season of the Hit Paramount+ Original Series
April 5, 2022 – Make it so! In honor of First Contact Day, Paramount+ today revealed that Patrick Stewart’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” co-stars LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis and Brent Spiner will star alongside Stewart in season three of the service’s hit original series STAR TREK: PICARD. Season three is the concluding chapter in the STAR TREK: PICARD saga.
“I remember watching the premiere of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ almost 34 years ago with my father like it was yesterday. It was the spark that ignited my love for science fiction,” said Terry Matalas, season three showrunner and executive producer. “So, it’s most fitting that the story of Jean-Luc Picard ends honoring the beginning, with his dearest and most loyal friends from the U.S.S. Enterprise. It would be an understatement to say that giving these characters a proper send-off is an honor. The entire STAR TREK: PICARD team and I can’t wait for fans to experience this final, high-stakes, starship-bound adventure in season three!”
STAR TREK: PICARD features Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and follows this iconic character into the next chapter of his life. The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment.
For season three, Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Terry Matalas, Patrick Stewart, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry, Trevor Roth, Doug Aarniokoski and Dylan Massin serve as executive producers. Terry Matalas serves as showrunner for season three.
Check out more about this news story at the official StarTrek.com website.
Webmaster of WarpFactorTrek, Dan is an avid Star Trek fan who lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. Also known as “The Scotch Trekker”, Dan has loved Star Trek ever since discovering it in his childhood. He worked as an administrator, for six years, on the encyclopedic Star Trek website Memory Alpha, which involved studying the making of the various series and films. He has been mentioned in the official Star Trek Magazine, has qualified from a Star Trek course run at Glasgow Clyde College, and ran The Scotch Trekker YouTube channel, which regularly featured live interviews with the cast and crew of Star Trek.
I’m utterly excited for season 3, as well as anxious.