A delightful new Star Trek-themed photo has beamed onto the interwebs thanks to Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).
First spotted by ComicBook.com, this candid pic was initially posted to Sirtis’ personal Twitter feed, revealing most, if not all of The Next Generation cast enjoying a reunion dinner – Patrick Stewart included.
Before he was Professor X, the industry veteran was known to Trekkies as Jean-Luc Picard, and we know CBS and franchise architect Alex Kurtzman are plotting a brand new Star Trek series that explores Picard’s next steps within the Starfleet hierarchy. It’s yet to settle on a firm release window and is still gestating in the very early stages of production, so don’t hold your breath just yet.
For now, we can at least enjoy seeing Patrick Stewart back amongst the Star Trek family, including LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge), Gates McFadden (Beverly Crusher), Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Data) and Michael Dorn (Worf).
Notable by their absence? Jonathan Frakes, who so famously played William Riker throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation. It should be noted that Riker still holds a director’s slot on Discovery, which is now preparing for its crucial second season on CBS.
We say crucial because, while the show earned rave reviews after its inaugural run, the addition of Spock (Ethan Peck) has led to heightened expectations going in to Star Trek Discovery season 2, and it remains to be seen whether the show’s creative team can deliver the goods.
But after 178 episodes as the great Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart will be circling back to the Star Trek franchise in the not-so-distant future. And if that doesn’t rekindle your love of the Trek universe, we don’t know what will.
