Following Patrick Stewart’s grand return in Picard, there’s been a growing call for other legendary Starfleet captains to come back to the Star Trek franchise, too. Sure enough, Kate Mulgrew will be reprising Kathryn Janeway for animated series Prodigy, but what about Deep Space Nine star Avery Brooks?
Fans have been suspicious that he would suit up as Benjamin Sisko again as he hasn’t acted since 2001, but one of Brooks’ former co-stars is now claiming that his disappearance from the screen wasn’t his own choice. Cirroc Lofton, who played Sisko’s young son Jake on DS9, recently chatted with The 7th Rule Podcast and when discussing Brooks’ lengthy break away from the industry, he suggested that his onscreen father has been the victim of racism. There’s “something bigger there, in which he is kind of being discriminated against,” he said, before continuing to say:
“I think it needs to be said because this is an important time we’re living in where we’re becoming very socially aware of the types of things that are regressive in society, things that are racial, sexual and all kinds of revolutions we are having in thought and acceptance of people.”
Lofton went on to clarify that it’s definitely not the case that Brooks lost interest in acting and he would be “willing” to work again if the right offers came his way.
“To say that he’s not wanting to act is actually kind of ridiculous, there’s no question that he’s willing.”
What we can extrapolate from this, then, is that Brooks would consider reprising his role as Sisko if CBS reached out to him about partnering up on a new project. A Deep Space Nine revival has been reported a couple of times now, with discussions apparently already ongoing, and after Stewart and Mulgrew, Brooks would be the next natural fan favorite to bring back into the fold. So, if he’s willing to do it, then maybe we’re in luck.
While we wait for news on the Sisko front, there’s plenty more Star Trek on the way to keep us occupied. Discovery reaches its season 3 finale this week and before long we’ll have more Lower Decks, Picard, Short Treks and new shows Strange New Worlds, Section 31 and the aforementioned Prodigy.Â
