Picard-Focused ‘Star Trek’ TV Series Will Have a Connection to the 2009 Movie

Star Trek: The Next Generation
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Ever since CBS and Sir Patrick Stewart announced he’d be returning to the Star Trek universe as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in an upcoming spinoff series, fans have been dying to know every little detail.

Even though major plot lines and other characters/a villain have been kept under wraps, Stewart has been dropping vague hints via social media, like this photo he posted on Instagram:

 

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The journey has begun. Kirsten Beyer, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, Diandra Pendleton-Thompson, James Duff, and yours truly. #StarTrek

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And now, we finally know some (sort of) concrete details! Star Trek co-creator, executive producer, and writer Alex Kurtzman revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “Picard’s life was radically altered by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire.”

These events took place in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek movie, which was co-written by Kurtzman. The Picard series will take place in the aftermath of the destruction of Romulus from a supernova and deal with this new imbalance of power.

One of Picard’s previous goals was to create peace between the Romulan Empire and the Federation, so now that impossibility will be something he will have to reckon with.

He added that Stewart — who last played Picard in the 2002 movie, Star Trek: Nemesis — wouldn’t sign on to project unless this new Picard was vastly different from the character he previously played.

“[Stewart] threw down an amazing gauntlet and said, ‘If we do this, I want it to be so different, I want it to be both what people remember but also not what they’re expecting at all, otherwise why do it?'” Kurtzman explained, adding that the British actor wanted the writers/producers to create a document explaining all their ideas, no matter how big or small.

They ended up with a 34-page document, so it’s safe to say that fans will be experiencing a lot of new material. “[Stewart] walked into the room and he had a huge smile on his face and said, ‘This is wonderful,'” Kurtzman said.

The untitled series is set to begin filming in 2019 and will premiere on CBS All Access later this year.