‘Picard’ Season 3 Showrunner On TNG Sendoff, More Starships, Worf’s Makeup, And Other Star Trek Cameos – TrekMovie.com

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On Tuesday morning Paramount+ shocked the Star Trek community with the news that season three of Star Trek: Picard will feature the return of the main series cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. And for the rest of the day showrunner Terry Matalas joined in on the buzz on social media, including providing some insights into the upcoming season.

Matalas on keeping this labor of love a secret, promises Starships “galore”

Season two executive producer and co-showrunner Terry Matalas will be the sole showrunner for the third and final season of Picard. Since the announcement, he has been showing an unbridled enthusiasm for the season which wrapped production last month. He started off by talking about how he has kept this secret for almost a year. Many were surprised this announcement came before season two wrapped up, but Matalas explained that the team didn’t know how much longer their luck would hold out keeping something this big under wraps.

Matalas also made clear that season three of Picard is what he would do with a Star Trek show given free reign.

Production designer Dave Blass also confirmed that this TNG reunion on season three was something made possible by Matalas.

Matalas also made clear that this news was not about cameos, and season three would be a “proper send off to the TNG crew, and it has been a “labor of love for so long.” He also promised, “Federation starships galore.”

Worf is Worf

Klingons haven’t been been featured in Star Trek: Picard and so when a fan asked if Worf would look more like the Discovery-style Klingons, Matalas simply assured with “Worf looks like Worf.”

He also followed up by saying “Worf sounds like Worf.” and that he is “NOT merry.”

When pressed for details on where season three finds Worf on his arc following the events of Deep Space Nine and Nemesis, Matalas wouldn’t offer details except to say he worked closely with Michael Dorn on where they thought he would be after the Dominion War. Of course, Dorn has some very specific ideas about where things went for Worf after Nemesis.

The showrunner also indicated there would be some examination of how the Federation coped following the Dominion War.

Jeri welcomes the new players

With Matalas making clear the TNG cast are not just cameos for season three and how the season will be a “sendoff” for them, it remains to be revealed how the upcoming season will treat the other characters on the show. The only indication so far was a tweet (also retweeted by Matalas) from Jeri Ryan (Seven) about the TNG cast announcement with the actress saying “look who came to play for season 3!”

We are not ready for Beverly and the rest

One of the returning cast is Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, who hasn’t appeared on Picard and has only obliquely been mentioned. Responding to a fan, the showrunner promised we are “not ready” for what they have in store for Beverly in season three.

For her part, McFadden responded to the news (as reported by TrekMovie) by expressing her love for Matalas for making it happen and saying it was “Cool to make” and hoping it will be “gigantically cool to watch.”

And McFadden also said season 3 was her favorite space dream, In response to Picard writer/producer Christopher Monfette talking about what a dream it was to work with the TNG cast, and also saying they are bringing their best work, adding new layers, and promising a good villain too.

As for the return of LeVar Burton, Matalas responded to the actor’s tweet to tease how fans will find out “whatever happened to Geordi LaForge.”

Jonathan Frakes has appeared as Riker before on Star Trek: Picard and Matalas complimented the actor/director for his discretion after a fan pointed out how Frakes responded to the question about returning as Riker in his TrekMovie interview from last week.

 

Matalas didn’t have anything specific to say about Brent Spiner or Marina Sirtis, but he did retweet the actress saying “we’re baaaaaaaaack!”

Wheaton responds to questions about Wesley

One notable name not included in the announcement was Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on TNG, first as a series regular and then as a recurring character. Wheaton is still involved with the new Trek as the host of the official Star Trek after show The Ready Room. And Wheaton responded to the news in a blog post on his website which said in part…

I have been reading the Internet, as you do, and I see a lot of my fellow nerds are as excited to see the TNG cast back together as I am.

I’ve also seen a LOT of people — like, way more than I ever would have imagined –expressing dismay that Wesley isn’t part of it.

I share some of your sadness, for my own reasons, but I choose to focus instead on how special it’s going to be to see my family back together again, and how wonderful it’s going to be to talk with them about it in the Ready Room.

His blog post also included how Wheaton imagined “what would happen if Wesley DID show up?” by writing out a scene with Picard and Traveler Wesley.

As for Matalas, he only responded to one of the questions with, “Where is he? That kooky Traveler.”

Hints at more series cameos

With so much love for TNG, some fans are wondering if the final season might see some familiar faces from other Star Trek shows. The showrunner didn’t say for sure, but used a “Maybe” GIF that indicates cameos are coming. In the past, Matalas has hinted that Deep Space Nine will see some love in season three.

Behind the scenes TNG era reunion

Production designer Dave Blass also revealed that many veterans of the Next Generation era have been working on both season two and season three of Picard.

When a fan followed that up by asking what about bringing back some TNG writers, Blass assured the fans are in good hands with Matalas and his writing team.

New episodes of Star Trek: Picard season 2 premiere on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the U.S. and on Fridays where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada, it airs on CTV Sci-Fi Channel on streams on Crave on Thursdays. Picard is also available on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video around the world.



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