Jean-Luc Picard is getting some new friends, as character breakdowns for the supporting cast of the as-yet-untitled CBS All Access Star Trek series have surfaced. After Patrick Stewart made the surprise announcement at a Star Trek convention that he was returning to the franchise that made him a household name for new adventures, further details were nowhere to be found. Stewart confirmed an approximate timeframe - about 20 years after the events of the final Star Trek: The Next Generation film, Star Trek: Nemesis - and suggested Picard would be a very different man, but beyond that little was known about the project until very recently.
Executive producer Alex Kurtzman confirmed that the series will deal with the fallout of the destruction of Romulus seen in J.J. Abrams’ first alternate universe Star Trek film, giving fans their first taste of the show’s plot. It was also recently announced that Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes - Stewart’s former Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star - will be joining the show as a director, though not necessarily on-screen as Will Riker. We also know Hanelle Culpepper will helm the show’s pilot, the first woman to ever take on that task.
With the story and behind the scenes crew taking shape, we’re now getting a hint of what the on-screen crew will look like. That Hashtag Show has posted what are purportedly character breakdowns for the show’s supporting cast. Seven characters are listed, some more surprising than others. A new version of the EMH Doctor, made famous by Robert Picardo in Star Trek: Voyager - here referred to simply as Dr. Smith - appears to be among Picard’s crew, as well as a neurotic expert on positronic brains named Starton, which could very well hint at the return of the positronic brained Data.
The other characters suggest a scope that could reach beyond the usual Starfleet personnel. The show sports of a pair of duplicitous pilots, as well as a teenage Romulan boy. Allusions are made to some sort of artifact, which would line up with Picard’s well-established affinity for archeology. Perhaps the most notable information is what doesn’t show up in these breakdowns. Other than Picard himself, there’s no direct mention of any other Star Trek: The Next Generation characters, suggesting this will indeed be a very different story than Stewart’s past Star Trek adventures.
CBS All Access is betting big on Star Trek. After the success of Star Trek: Discovery - recently renewed for a third season - the burgeoning streaming service has several Star Trek projects in development, including a Section 31 spinoff starring Michelle Yeoh’s Mirror Universe Captain Georgiou, and Lower Decks, an animated comedy from Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan. That said, we’ll be seeing Picard and his new friends before any of those projects get off the ground as the series is scheduled to begin production in April. While the Picard show is still largely a mystery, it’s good to at least know a bit more about who he’s taking with him on his new frontier.
More: 10 Things Star Trek Does Better Than Star Wars
Source: That Hashtag Show
