patrick stewart jean luc picard

Work has officially begun on CBS All Access’ new ‘Star Trek’ series starring Patrick Stewart, returning to his beloved role as Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the starship Enterprise for seven seasons on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and four theatrical movies.

Things are still in the earliest stages of development, but Stewart shared this photo on Twitter:

Here we see Stewart along with writers/producers Kirsten Beyer, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, Diandra Pendleton-Thompson and James Duff.  Though he isn’t pictured, ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ co-creator Alex Kurtzman as is Rod Roddenberry.

Earlier this year, Stewart issued the following statement on social media:

“I will always be very proud to have been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course.  It is, therefore, an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.”

Appearing at Star Trek Vegas, he teased:

“He may not be a captain anymore.  He may not be the Jean-Luc that you recognize and know so well. It may be a very different individual. Someone who has been changed by his experiences. 20 years will have passed…We have no scripts as yet, we’re just talking, talking, talking storylines. It will be, I promise you, I guarantee it, something very, very different, but it will come to you with the same passion and determination and love of the material and love of our followers and our fans exactly as we had it before.”

The new Picard series doesn’t have a name yet, but CBS All Access is hopeful that it will be ready to premiere in 2019.  Are you?