Patrick Stewart wants to keep playing Captain Picard in a new Star Trek movie

Star Trek: Picard star Patrick Stewart is discussing his hopes to continue with the franchise after Picard’s triumphant third season.

I’ve said it before, but the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard was as close to a perfect season of TV as you’ll ever see. As a spin-off to the beloved Star Trek: The Next Generation, it also rectified the problem of the TNG crew not getting a good send-off. Their last appearance together was in 2002’s box office bomb Star Trek: Nemesis. Picard is the perfect place to leave that chapter of the franchise behind.

So it may seem like a mystery why Patrick Stewart is talking about continuing on with the character. Well, I have a theory. Back in 2017, Stewart was talking wistfully about the kind of project that would bring him back to the character. Picard is kinda-sorta is the project he described. And he spoke wistfully because I don’t think he ever thought it was going to happen.

He told Variety at the time that the one thing that would bring him back would be a reunion of the entire Star Trek cast from the last 50 years. Obviously, that wasn’t the one thing that would bring him back, but the grand reunion that was Picard season 3 was pretty close. It’s like the difference between a billion dollars and all the money in the world.

Patrick Stewart wants a Star Trek: Picard movie to say goodbye to fans

Patrick Stewart is close to his dream role; it’s easy to understand him not wanting to give that up, even if fans don’t really see the point of continuing to feature his character when he’s done about all he can do.

Stewart apparently sees this continuation as a film. “I think we could do a movie, a Picard-based movie. Now not necessarily at all about Picard but about all of us. And to take many of those wonderful elements, particularly from Season 3 of Picard and take out of that what I think could be an extraordinary movie.”

"I keep telling people and mentioning it, and so far there’s been no eager response, but it might well happen. And that would be, I think, a very appropriate way to say, ‘And goodbye folks.’"

So, if you too would like to see a Picard/TNG farewell movie, don’t get your hopes up. But for me, frankly, the mental image of Star Trek royalty Patrick Stewart going around dropping hints that he’d like very much to be in another movie please is almost as good.

Perhaps Patrick Stewart should turn his idea into licensed fanfic like his illustrious predecessor William Shatner did.

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