While Star Trek: Discovery is the parent show of the ever-expanding Trek universe on TV, the most exciting element for many fans is the series built around the return of iconic The Next Generation lead Jean-Luc Picard, as played by Patrick Stewart. He was, naturally, a highlight of the Comic-Con panel about the various Trek shows, including Picard, but there was plenty of other news to share.
Prime among them was word that fellow former Next Generation actors Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Data) and Jonathan Del Arco (the Borg named Hugh) would reprise their roles alongside Jeri Ryan as former Borg Seven Of Nine. Spiner's appearance is intriguing, since Data seemed to die in Star Trek: Nemesis. "I called producers and asked if they had anybody for the role of Picard yet and they hung up on me,"" Spiner joked at the panel. "I spoke to Patrick he said there’s a possibility, would you think about coming on this show and I said, 'I don’t think could do that,' and he started crying and couldn’t take it." As for the tone? "It's slower, more gentle, more lyrical," than TNG, according to producer Akiva Goldsman. "It is certainly more character-based."
The full trailer for the show was screened, and you can find it below. No sign of the majority of the returning stars, but Spiner and Ryan do pop up, with Data seemingly a vision. Plus Stewart gets to break out "engage"! There's still no official word on an airdate, but it should show up before the end of the year. Stewart revealed that there were still three episodes left to shoot in Season 1, which will arrive in the UK on Amazon Prime Video in early 2020..
As for Discovery, among the announcements was the addition of actor David Ajala. He's playing Cleveland Booker, a brand new character on the show. Smart and capable, Ajala’s Book has a natural charisma and devil-may-care attitude that tends to get him into trouble as often as it gets him out. You can see the first image of him below.
Book will be part of the show's third season, which is set – spoiler alert in case you're not caught up – a thousand years in the future from S2 following the ship's trip through a wormhole. Executive producer Alex Kurtzman explains that this is a way to explore new stories without shattering existing canon, keeping in the established Roddenberry universe while also shaking things up a little. The likes of Spock and Pike aren't present because that would affect the regular continuity of Trek as we know it. But they will be featured in Short Treks episodes.
The one-off stories, which were popular this year, will return for six new entries, including stories about some of the characters seen in Discovery's second season (the aforementioned Pike and Spock), a couple of animated adventures and one that serves as a lead-in to Star Trek: Picard. Oh, and tribbles. And if you know anything about tribbles, lots of tribbles. Also, trouble.
Finally, we have the animated Lower Decks. We're told the tone will be funny without breaking the Trek mould, and the ship is a new one, the California class Cerritos. And the voice cast has been revealed: Tawny Newsome will play Mariner, a no-nonsense ensign who gets the job done. She’s good at what she does, but doesn’t care. Jack Quaid will be playing Boimler, the by the book ensign who constantly gets in his own way. The two are polar opposites, so they clash more often than not. In addition, Noël Wells will play ensign Tendi a huge Starfleet fan who is excited to be on a ship, while Eugene Cordero will play ensign Rutherford, an engineer who is amazing at engineering stuff, but doesn’t usually solve the problem by the end of the episode. The cast also includes Jerry O'Connell as Commander Ransom, Fred Tatasciore as Lt. Shaxs, Dawnn Lewis as Captain Freeman, Gillian Vigman as Dr. T’ana. The first 10 episodes will launch next year.