Fans can’t wait to see the return of Sir Patrick Stewart to the Star Trek universe when he makes his grand comeback as Jean-Luc Picard for the first time since 2002. As was revealed in a shocking announcement earlier this summer, the Next Generation character will lead his own show on CBS All Access in the near future.
The series is currently in the scripting stage, which we know from a snap Stewart himself shared on social media the other month, which revealed he was teaming up with the writers room to get the ball rolling on the project. Michael Chabon – the acclaimed novelist and screenwriter who’s just joined the Trek-verse in a major way, also having penned one of the Star Trek: Short Treks – is part of the team and revealed to Deadline exactly how Stewart’s involved in the process.
“That project is ongoing now and the photo was us getting started with Patrick. He was in the room for two weeks. It was fantastic. That was sort of in the preliminary writers room that we had going before it expanded to the full room that it is now with a bunch of writers in there. I’m up in Berkeley and they are down in L.A.”
Chabon went on to say that it was “wonderful” to have Stewart on board in this hands-on way, explaining that he thinks the actor’s collaborations, seeing as he’s such a literate man who knows his character inside out, will really be a huge asset to the show they’re creating.
“That time with Patrick as a resource and as a very willing and literate resource, I think its going to make the show. Plus he’s incredibly sweet and funny and charming and surprisingly humble and modest. He’s a wonderful collaborator and I can’t say enough about the amazing and unexpected benefit of the process.”
At this stage, a lid’s being kept on all story details to do with the Picard series, though Stewart’s teased that it may see the character in a very different place from when we last saw him as captain of the Enterprise-D. The Next Generation cast have also confirmed that none of them are expected to reprise their roles.
As we await Stewart’s return to Star Trek, be sure to catch Discovery season 2 when it premieres on CBS All Access this coming January.
