Patrick Stewart wants to do another Star Trek: The Next Generation movie

Star Trek fans are understandably excited for the third season of Star Trek: Picard. With the entire main cast of the original Next Generation show returning, they’re anticipating an emotional send-off for the crew of the USS Enterprise D. However, Picard actor Patrick Stewart may not be done with his iconic role just yet.

Taking questions from the audience as part of the Picard panel at San Diego Comic-Con, Stewart was asked whether he’d return to Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s role for a potential movie. The actor’s answer was somewhat surprising: “Yes is the answer to that, bluntly,” Stewart said. “I think that would be a very interesting and exciting and worthwhile thing to achieve.”

Many had assumed that the third season of Star Trek: Picard would be the final run for Picard, putting a bow on the Next Generation era. Stewart’s comment, however, suggests he is still eager to continue in the role, even though Picard season w will undoubtedly be the last for the show.

Alex Kurtzman, head of all things Star Trek TV and co-creator of Star Trek: Picard, also didn’t rule the idea out. “I think that in some ways, season 3 is that,” he said. “But of course, I mean, look, if you guys love it, let’s see what happens.”

The last Next Generation movie was 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, which was the fourth film to feature the cast. Performing below expectations, plans for more Next Generation movies were shelved after that. When the franchise returned in 2009, it was a reboot of The Original Series, with no indications that The Next Generation would ever return.

LeVar Burton teases the return of the Enterprise

Star Trek: Picard season 3 will star Patrick Stewart alongside LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, and Michelle Hurd. Having not appeared in Star Trek since Nemesis, Burton in particular is thrilled to be back.

Per TrekMovie.com, the actor spoke at the Orlando MegaCon before Comic-Con and said it was “an absolute blast” being back with the old cast.

"You guys have heard how close we are, right? When I got married, Brent was my best man; Patrick, Jonathan, and Michael were my groomsmen. We’ve seen each other through the birth of our children, through marriages, death of parents, divorces… And so the opportunity to be together again, and to be together again in spacesuits and play these characters that we all–we love these people as much as you do. Trust me. And you will see, I’m so proud of us because I think we all look pretty damn good. Not only are we aging and aging gracefully, but we’re aging appropriately. And that’s not always the case."

Burton also talked about how the USS Enterprise will return to the series, seemingly indicating that the show has rebuilt the bridge of the Enterprise D that was featured throughout The Next Generation. “We spent three days on a bridge that they built that was a replica of the Enterprise that we had during the series because we moved on from that ship soon as we got into the features,” Burton said. “We went back to our bridge. It wasn’t exactly–the ramp was a little steep, but the feeling that it invoked in us, that sense of coming home, was real. So we spent three days on this bridge, and it was magical.”

However, showrunner Terry Matalas has seemingly contradicted this claim, or at least suggested his words have been misinterpreted. He tweeted that, “There are many nods to the past, but not what people are expecting based on this. All I will say.”

It’ll be intriguing to find out how these statements can be reconciled! No matter what, it looks like the Enterprise will be back in some form when Picard returns next year.

Star Trek: Picard‘s first two seasons are streaming now on Paramount+. The third and final season will debut in 2023.

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