Now that Star Trek: Picard season 1 is behind us, we can reflect on all the ways it honored what had come before in the franchise. Mostly by bringing back a bunch of familiar faces from Trek past. So far, four The Next Generation stars outside of Sir Patrick Stewart have returned. And, ahead of season 2, we already know of one additional fan favorite who’ll be back next time, as Whoopi Goldberg has been confirmed to reprise her role as TNG‘s Guinan.
In an interview summing up season 1 and looking ahead to season 2, outgoing showrunner Michael Chabon – he’ll stay on as writer and EP, but won’t be leading the production anymore – voiced his excitement for Goldberg’s return to The Hollywood Reporter. Though he didn’t give any details away, he teased that he can’t wait to bring her back for Picard‘s sophomore run.
“It’s amazing. I’ve gone back to rewatch some of the more key Guinan episodes from Next Gen, the major Picard and Guinan moments. She’s such an amazing actor; I can’t wait.”
In a bit of a unique twist on how these things usually work, we found out about Goldberg’s Picard comeback at the same time she did. On an episode of The View back in January, Stewart was a guest and used the opportunity to ask Goldberg if she’d play Guinan on season 2. The actress seemed genuinely taken aback and gladly took him up on his offer.
.@SirPatStew officially invites @WhoopiGoldberg to join season two of #StarTrekPicard: “It was wonderful having you, and we cannot wait to have you with us again one more time.” https://t.co/f8u2wbJuik #StarTrek pic.twitter.com/mxOtyJxF63
— The View (@TheView) January 22, 2020
As fans will know, Guinan was the bartender at the Ten-Forward Lounge aboard the Enterprise back in TNG. At several hundred years old, the El-Aurian woman would often have a lot of wisdom to offer to her patrons. Debuting in season 2, Goldberg appeared in 29 episodes across the next four seasons and also appeared in two movies – Generations, the first to feature the TNG cast, and Nemesis, the last.
Star Trek: Picard season 2 should hopefully be with us next year, but we’ll have to wait and see who else will be returning alongside Goldberg.
