As Star Trek fans know by now, Patrick Stewart has returned to the Trek fold by agreeing to star in a new series that will focus on his iconic character of Captain Picard. The show will air on CBS All Access and will be set after the events shown in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and the associated feature films.
Now, in a recent interview, Stewart has elaborated on a few aspects of the show. First and foremost, when asked if there was a possibility of the series progressing into a feature film at any time in the future, Stewart, jovially dropped this little nugget:
“Oh lord, we are set up for possibly three years of this show, so if there is a film, it’s a long way off.”
This is not to say, of course, that the show is guaranteed to get three seasons in, but certainly if the creative team and writer’s room are preparing as such, it seems that CBS would also look in that direction as well.
One of the much-discussed aspects of the show is that of how it will address how both Picard and the universe he inhabits has progressed chronologically. On that subject, Stewart said:
“In returning to Star Trek later in the year, the one thing that will be different about this version of Star Trek is that we have simply moved the whole narrative 20 years from when I last wore Jean-Luc’s uniform [Star Trek: Nemesis]. So, everything has aged. When the series gets released you will see things are very different from what they were.”
Lastly, we were given a little bit of “fan appreciation” on Stewart’s behalf, as he spoke about Trek fans sharing with him their experiences with Picard on-screen:
“It gives me profound satisfaction to hear from people what an impact my role and the series had on their lives. I have heard truly extraordinary stories about how people were affected by it. That makes me very proud for all of us who were in it, because they were a great company – are a great company!”
Expectations are certainly high for the show, which will likely premiere on streaming service CBS All Access either later this year or early 2020. Watch the video of Stewart’s interview below.