San Diego Comic-Con returned to its full in-person grandeur this past weekend, as networks and studios brought their best and brightest to promote forthcoming movies and television shows. On Saturday, Paramount’s Star Trek Universe panel in Hall H had a lot to select from as the brand went through a second resurgence. As a result, cast and creatives from all three programmes were in attendance for Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, and Season 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Star Trek creators Alex Kurtzman and Rod Roddenberry, along with actors Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden, were on hand for the session hosted by actress Lea Thompson. We learnt a lot about Star Trek: Picard’s last season during the panel, and I can’t wait to share what we discovered.
Opening the panel was an exhilarating sizzle reel showcasing all of the franchise’s properties, urging the audience to look forward to a bright, hopeful future. Afterwards, Thompson quizzed Stewart on the start of Season 3; Stewart delighted the crowd by joking about how long ago they recorded the season, having done so in rapid succession following Season 2. Thompson then led the panel. As a result, Kurtzman was brought in to explain how Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard had been building towards the next season. They approached Stewart about doing the series, and he was quite clear about not wanting to redo what had previously been done on Star Trek: The Next Generation or later films, according to him, who told fans this.
According to Kurtzman, “deserved” TNG crew reunions have to be achieved first. “We truly wanted everybody to have quite big responsibilities,” Kurtzman says. According to him, spectators will feel like they’ve been welcomed back home once again when these characters make a triumphant comeback. As for how Season 3 begins, he explained that Picard’s friends and former crew members are spread around the galaxy and that we get to witness them gradually reunite for one final adventure. McFadden then added that it’s been over two decades since we’ve seen many of these characters, particularly her Beverly Crusher, and that in that time Crusher has crisscrossed the Star Trek world. By emphasising how excited it was to return to this role and to work with Stewart again, McFadden pumped up the audience. Saying, “I can’t wait to see what Terry Matalas has in store for Picard in Season 3.” “On a Star Trek programme, it’s the best material my character has ever had.
As a result, I was overjoyed.” There are a lot of unsolved issues between Picard and Crusher, she said, referring to the show’s connection between the two characters. McFadden also hinted at the nature of the relationships between the returning cast members, saying that some of them haven’t seen each other in 25 years, while others have been in near regular communication. A lot of conjecture has been generated by her statements concerning the status of these characters’ friendships – myself, I would like to believe that Deanna and Beverly are still close. In the two decades following Star Trek: Nemesis, these characters have gone through a lot of growth and development, which will be explored in the upcoming season. Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Season 3 cast was revealed in a teaser at the panel, including Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Michael Dorn as Worf, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, and Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher. Brent Spiner’s character was not included in the teaser, but Kurtzman has stated that he would appear as a “old new character” in Season 3. Each season of Picard is like an anthology series, telling its own tale with its own heroes and villains inside the 10 episodes of each season. It was revealed in Season 1 that the Romulans were facing an unknown robotic foe they had long feared, while Season 2 saw the return of the Borg Queen. In an interview, Kurtzman revealed that “she’s great” and they were highly influenced by the classic Star Trek picture, “The Wrath of Khan.” Stewart joked about carpeted carpets on the traditional Enterprise’s bridge when he said there will be numerous Enterprises in Season 3 and that they would return to “the original Enterprise,” which the audience assumed to indicate the Enterprise D.
Seven of Nine, a returning series regular who was briefly charged with taking on the job of Captain in the closing episode of Season 2, was also brought up by Thompson. Seven is back in a Starfleet uniform in the teaser, and Kurtzman says she’ll be a first officer aboard a spaceship in Season 3. However, as is typical of Seven’s experience in Starfleet, she will continue to struggle with the question of how she fits in. In response to a question concerning the idea of a spinoff featuring Seven as the Captain, Kurtzman noted that additional Star Trek series featuring female protagonists are on the horizon, and he also confirmed that Thompson will return to helm future episodes.
We might expect to see a new season of Star Trek: Picard somewhere between the years 2019 and 2019.