Picard’s final season packed a lot in, but there are obviously limits to what can be done in ten episodes. When it came to whether he’d been able to include all he hoped for going in, Matalas said, “There’s a lot of things we wanted to do that we just didn’t have the time and money to do but we’re grateful that we got to pull this off. We wish we could have brought in more Deep Space Nine characters. We wish we could have brought in Kate Mulgrew. We wish we could have brought in Soji at the end. We initially had another scene with Ro Laren at the end. There’s lots of things where it all comes down to time and money.”Matalas’ real life background, going from longtime Star Trek fan to production assistant on Star Trek: Voyager to getting his first Story credits on two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise to ultimately returning years later, with a lot more experience now under his belt, as Executive Producer and Showrunner on Picard beginning in Season 2, is well known to fans. Still, even having already been working alongside many of these actors before, did he allow himself a moment to take in the scope of the accomplishment of reuniting the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in this manner during production?
“We actually wrote a different monologue for him. We wrote a speech about a captain. A story that exists in every species and every planet about a sailor who could never find a home, who had traveled every land and every sea, but never dropped an anchor. One day, there was a storm that rose up and destroyed the boat and his crew crashed upon this island and they were stuck. But they turned this island into a home where they made fire and sang songs and made merry and rolled dice. But they never returned to sea. And on his dying days, the captain realized that it was his crew, the whole time, that was truly his home and he was forever grateful,” with Matalas noting this original speech made it “a different kind of moment.”
“There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.” – William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
Asked this question, Matalas replied, “Not until the editing room when it was scored. There’s too much terror [on set]. ‘Are we going to make our day? Did we get all the shots?’ Specifically on the Enterprise, we only have two days to shoot and we were still gluing pieces of carpet on even though we started construction for four months prior. We didn’t think we were going to pull it off. So it really wasn’t until I was putting it together with my editor, Drew Nichols, and my composers, Stephen Barton and Freddie Wiedmann that we were like, ‘Okay, yeah, we did it!’ Now I can go, ‘Holy s**t, this is what we did.’” The show’s final moments found Jean-Luc Picard and his former crewmates turned found family once more enjoying each other’s company around a poker table, even as new adventures were teased for the crew of the Enterprise-G. Matalas has made it known he’d love to see more adventures for characters like Seven of Nine, Raffi Musiker, Sidney La Forge, and Jack Crusher. And the Picard finale set this up in a big way, first by making Seven the Captain of the Enterprise-G and then in its big mid-credit scene, in which Jack is approached by none other than Q (John de Lancie), much like his father once was.Things got decidedly dire in the show’s finale for Picard, Riker, and Worf, as Picard tried to save his son, Jack, from the clutches of the Borg Queen. But though it was looking bleak, they are saved by their friends on the Enterprise-D in the nick of time. As to whether that was set in stone from the start or if actually killing off one of these beloved characters was considered, Matalas said, “I never had that in me to kill anybody. But I certainly wanted everybody to think I might. And I wanted the characters to think they might not make it through.”
Ultimately, Matalas explained, “Patrick loved the speech but didn’t really feel like he could give it justice in the way that we had intended, but he had always loved this particular Shakespearean tale, which had a different kind of connotation to it. At the end of the day, it’s not a bad thing to hear Patrick Stewart do Shakespeare one final time, so he did that speech. And we sort of retrofitted it into that moment by having Riker say ‘We are privileged to have ridden the tide with you.’”
There was a very notable unannounced guest star in the finale though, even if they didn’t appear onscreen, as we heard the voice of the President of the United Federation of Planets, Anton Chekov – with the character voiced by Walter Koenig himself, playing the son of his own legendary character, Pavel Chekov.As for The Next Generation characters, we have a pretty good idea about the lives they are returning to, but I was curious about the newly returned Data. We see he’s meeting with Troi for sessions but how else is he keeping himself busy? Does he have a new role with Starfleet?
Said Matalas, “We have ideas, I don’t want to talk about it just in case something does happen. But we definitely have ideas about Data still being part of the final frontier in a lot of ways, yes.”
But as to whether we’ll actually see a continuation of all this, Matalas could only say, “It’s up to the television gods, right? It’s up to the fans, if they want it. If they want it, they should be loud and ask for it. But right now, there’s nothing happening. There’s nothing in development for it.”
Matalas added, “They are having the conversations that they would have. ‘Thank you. It’s been an honor serving with you all’ and ‘Thank you, Will.’ That was an arc throughout the season, how much Riker put it on the line for Jean-Luc. If you didn’t feel like they could all die, those moments when the Enterprise comes and swoops in and rescues them don’t feel like a tremendous sense of relief. But no, I always knew it had to be them at the end around that poker table at the end. That felt like the right ending.”
In the final scene of the series – minus the mid-credit scene – that aforementioned poker game is preceded by Picard quoting William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar to his old friends. So how was it decided this would be his final big speech on the series? “Credit goes entirely to Patrick Stewart in that moment,” Matalas revealed.Regarding this cameo, Matalas noted, “I wanted to have him on camera and it also came down to time and money. So it ended up being a kind of voiceover thing because we just weren’t able to get him in the studio and find the shooting time to do it. But that was important to me too – to honor the Original Series actors as well. And Anton was a nod, of course, to Anton Yelchin.”I spoke to Picard Executive Producer/Showrunner Terry Matalas (who, for full disclosure’s sake, I should note I’ve known since we went to college together) about the events of the show’s finale, if the Next Gen crew were always all destined for a happy ending, bringing the Enterprise-D back, the possibility of getting a follow-up series picking up from that mid-credit scene and more.The return of the Enterprise-D at the end of Season 3’s ninth episode, as Geordi reveals he had been working to rebuild the ship – last seen in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations – was a hugely crowd pleasing and emotional moment for viewers, as we saw The Next Generation crew going on one final mission on the ship we’d first met them on back in 1987. For any detractors who felt this turn of events was going one step too far in terms of nostalgia, Matalas remarked, “I don’t know what they wanted. What did you want to see them hang out on? Just a different ship? I don’t know how to respond to somebody who doesn’t think at the end you should honor their beginning in that way. It was always a love letter to the show. Sure, you could put them on the USS Ticonderoga. Even on the Titan, we had just done seven episodes of that. I would say I’m sorry they didn’t like it but I would say the crowd did.”Star Trek: Picard has come to an end, wrapping up a final season that served as a huge reunion and proper final adventure for the entire core cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.benanderson made this fan casting suggestion on August 24, 2021. What do you think? See below to cast your vote, or click here to see all fan casting suggestions for this role.
Henry Cavill is known for his roles in Justice League, Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He has been suggested by fans for 16,059 roles on myCast, including James Bond in James Bond (reboot). Similar actors include Jon Hamm, Chris Pratt, and Richard Madden. Henry Cavill was suggested to play William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation (modern cast) by benanderson. Star Trek: The Next Generation (modern cast) has 18 roles, including Ro Laren, Wor
f, and Jean-Luc Picard.
The Federation had started a faster land grab, moving further out faster than before, their borders would be much larger, and may even include a good part of Romulan space. The border war with the Cardassians would not have been as difficult for a federation with a larger number of more advanced ships and the Cardassians likely driven off Bajor and to a smaller union than in the prime timeline. Was DS9 a Federation starbase put in place as Bajor joined the federation?Therefore while it’s possible Worf still exists in the universe he would more likely be cast as one of the recurring villains of the series and not one of the bridge crew. As a more minor character in the grand scheme of things and given the continued interest Michael Dorn has in the character the recasting of Worf in this case would be Michael Dorn as Worf.
He also has the distinction of being the only character to singlehandedly turn a Star Trek series from a little rough around the edges (season 1) to excellent through the simple act of growing a beard. In casting Commander Riker we need to take all of this into account.
That said our pick is Whoopi Goldberg, why not? She is perfect in the role, and who can say someone in their 60’s can’t play a character in their 6th century?The Romulans were less likely to launch the event of Balance of Terror against the far more advanced Starfleet, so did they ever learn that Vulcan’s and Romulans are so closely related? Since the Klingons had a much smaller fleet we can only assume they never traded ships for cloaks with the Romulans, so the Romulans would be the only ones with a fully functional cloaking device, likely pushing them further into isolation and possibly hiding the fate of their star from them for the moment. Best known to many from her role in the latest X-Men Trilogy Rose has an impressive list of credits and experience all of which add up to make her an excellent choice for the role of Doctor Crusher. Best known as con artist turned FBI Civilian Informant Neil Caffrey in White Collar, CIA Super Agent Bryce Larkin in Chuck, and of course Ken in Magic Mike. He’s got the ladies man routine down, he’s played the guy jumping into difficult situations, both physically and in terms of dialogue, he’s also played Superman, by the way, and have you seen him grow a beard?
Donald Glover has been living the dream as far as he is concerned, having had the opportunity to play several characters he has a great reverence for, including Lando Calrissian in Solo a Star Wars Story, Miles Morales in the animated Spider-man and Earnest ‘Earn’ Marks in his own series Atlanta. There is no doubt he would be game for a character like Geordi LaForge, especially when we’ve already seen how much he loves the character.So far the Kelvin timeline has inadvertently followed the same pattern, in 2009 Captain Kirk and company took to the stars again aboard the NCC-1701 on a five-year mission following a universe altering event in the attack on the USS Kelvin, with the most recent entry Star Trek Beyond taking place three years into the five-year mission and once again it has been shelved. The shelving happened to follow with an announcement of another Star Trek Animated series and we have no less than six projects on another medium (streaming).
Mark Strong would, as his name suggests, make a strong Captain Picard, he’s got an impressive resume and range. Many fans will know him from The Kingsman series in which he plays Merlin, a higher up in a secret British spy agency. The character actually seems to translate well to Captain Picard as would many of his other credits.
An accomplished diplomat, star in academics and physical education, amateur archeologist (who could have gone pro), wine maker, tactician, and team builder, Jean-Luc Picard was an essential character to the success of Star Trek The Next Generation. Landing an actor the calibre of Patrick Steward to bring him to life was a nearly unparalleled boon for the new series.
While not technically a season one character, as she first appeared in The Child during season 2, there’s no reason she couldn’t be introduced slightly earlier in a movie franchise. As for the character she’s self-described as a pretty simple to play character.
Michael B. Jordan is at this point practically a household name, his work on Creed, Black Panther and The Fantastic Four have solidified him as one of the greats of his time and it would be a boon to have him take on the role of Geordi LaForge. There is no doubt that he would be fully capable of bringing his own take on the character while maintaining the solid footing created by LeVar Burton’s original version.
It seems hard to believe when. you look at them, but Ewan McGregor is actually the same age as Patrick Stewart was when he first stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge of the Enterprise D.Best known for his role as Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy which is just one character in an impressive list of credits to his name. There’s no denying that Ewan McGregor has the talent to pull this character off, and having taken on Star Wars and come out of it asking for more there’s no doubt he could handle the Star Trek fan base. We don’t know yet if a Kelvin version of Star Trek The Next Generation is in the cards, but let’s hope Paramount does something to move the movie side of Star Trek forward soon. Though not very well-known, David Oyelowa (pronounced Oh-Yellow-Oh) is, in the finest tradition of Star Trek actors, a classically trained stage actor.
Though he has picked up some higher profile work in recent years including his most notable work as a voice actor, David was first known to me as Edward Ekubo in the 2013 movie Complicit where he plays an MI5 agent attempting to stop a terror attack similar to the London bombings in 2005.
Gal has proven herself more than capable of playing the action hero role with a certain understated softer side that would be perfect for the role of Tasha Yar.A character like this could easily have fallen into a dangerous place in the context of Star Trek, becoming somewhat of a deus ex machina in the event that the writers couldn’t solve a particular problem, however the writers managed to handle the character with a great deal of restraint, and the natural charisma of John de Lancie made the character an instant fan favourite. It’s important to bring a presence as strong as de Lancie to any reincarnation of Q.
Emma Watson, who’s played a Disney Princess in the recent Beauty & The Beast live action remake is of course best known as a veteran of the Harry Potter series where she played one of the lead characters Hermione Granger has basically grown up in front of a demanding audience, she would be more than comfortable in both an ensemble cast and with a rabid fan base.
How can you talk tough as nails security officer without mentioning Wonder Woman herself, and since we’re talking Star Trek The Next Generation as a summer blockbuster action movie the sky is the limit for casting.
He may not be a member of the bridge crew, but the moment Captain Picard set a course for Farpoint Station he was on Q’s radar, and humanity was on an ongoing trail to justify its own existence.But as a regular on the fan circuit, John de Lancie is likely up for reprising his role, he always enjoyed Star Trek and who wouldn’t love playing that role again? Brent Spiner is no longer interested in playing the character as he prefers him to be ‘the young Data’ despite the obvious route that they could follow of giving him an aging program hidden deep in his systems, much the same as with his fellow android, and mother, Juliana Tainer. Fortunately for us, we’ve already done this research in preparation for the coming Star Trek Picard series in anticipation of another actor stepping into the role in possible guest spots on the series. Yvonne Strahovski is known for her great work on The Handmaid’s Tale, as well to many fans of geek culture from the spy comedy series Chuck, in which she played Sarah Walker, the most deadly agent the CIA had to offer. That wasn’t her only time in the CIA, as she also played Kate Morgan in 24: Live Another Day. Anyone who can hold their own along side Jack Bauer has some toughness credibility, and all of her experience makes her a great choice for the role of Tasha Yar.Henry Cavill is our pick for Commander Riker, he is certainly no stranger to the ladies, and dangerous situations, after all he literally was Superman. His credits also include the Man from Uncle which is essentially a movie about an away mission during the Cold War.It’s impossible to say for sure, but we can make a few assumptions based upon what we know from the glimpses we’ve been given into the universe. The obvious are the destruction of Vulcan, the technological advantage to both the Klingons and Federation with access to the Narada and the change in Kirk’s timeline which lead to the Enterprise A coming into service decades earlier than in the original.Without the events of Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country and the subsequent massacre at Khitomer, and the cold relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire it seems highly unlikely that Worf would have become the first Klingon to join Starfleet. In fact it’s entirely possible that the son of Mogh never became an officer and that his family was never discredited,.
Noah would be another fine actor to portray the role of Wesley Crusher. He has the demonstrated ability to play a deep and complex character as demonstrated in his fantastic performance in Wonder (2017) where he played Jack Will, best friend to the main character who was born with a birth defect which gave him an unusual physical appearance, In this role Noah went from potential enemy, to best friend, to confused youth and even into a physical altercation, all of which he managed with apparent ease.
It’s fun to think about, but the real question we face today in this article is, who would be cast in these Next Generation movies set in the Kelvin Timeline? JJ Abrams concerned himself with a few things as he attempted to recast the iconic crew of the Enterprise, a small eye towards physical appearance but with the actors ability to create their own take on the characters at the forefront. The crew of the Kelvin movies do not come off as pale imitations of the actors who played the original version of the character, but instead as their own versions with a slight homage to the original version, for this article we will attempt to capture this same spirit and will not be concerned with re-imagining the characters, just with recasting them under the same terms.The star of the current Sky one series A Discovery of Witches based on the best-selling novels by Deborah Harkness, Teresa is an outstanding actress who has quietly amassed a pretty impressive resume.He may not be a member of the bridge crew, but the moment Captain Picard set a course for Farpoint Station he was on Q’s radar, and humanity was on an ongoing trail to justify its own existence.The crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 had set out on its five-year mission in 1966, however that mission was cut short when just three years in they were shelved and pulled of the air, what followed was the short-lived Star Trek The Animated Series, six projects on a different medium (movies) and finally in 1987 a return to television with the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D for Star Trek The Next Generation .
With the ability to sense emotions and deception in people she is a key character in many ways on a ship lead by an accomplished diplomat like Captain Picard and in order to be used to the best of her abilities needs to be portrayed by an actress with an equally wide range.
Best known to many from her role in the latest X-Men Trilogy Rose has an impressive list of credits and experience all of which add up to make her an excellent choice for the role of Doctor Crusher. The ships counselor, resident empath and former\/future love interest of Commander Riker, Deanna Troi is a deceptively complicated character to cast as she has a wide range to play, something even original star Marina Sirtis struggled with at times before becoming fully comfortable with the character later on. It’s impossible to say for sure, but we can make a few assumptions based upon what we know from the glimpses we’ve been given into the universe. The obvious are the destruction of Vulcan, the technological advantage to both the Klingons and Federation with access to the Narada and the change in Kirk’s timeline which lead to the Enterprise A coming into service decades earlier than in the original.
The ships counselor, resident empath and former/future love interest of Commander Riker, Deanna Troi is a deceptively complicated character to cast as she has a wide range to play, something even original star Marina Sirtis struggled with at times before becoming fully comfortable with the character later on.
Looking for someone to nurse a character that’s, been played by Patrick Stewart, back to health? How can you go wrong with Moira Mactaggert herself, Rose Byrne.The events of Yesterdays Enterprise would also have been affected, it would seem unlikely with this more aggressive timeline that the Enterprise B, and C would have come into existence as late as they did, by the time Captain Picard and his crew set a course for Farpoint Station it’s entirely possible that it was aboard the Enterprise E and that their mission may be radically different. Do the Romulans again announce their intention to return to the fray early on as they did in Star Trek The. Next Generation?
John Barrowman had a similar experience on Doctor Who where he played a slightly over the top character who instantly became a fan favourite, in Captain Jack Harkness. An immortal time agent who would go on to have his own spin-off series, Torchwood. Between that role and his role in Arrow where he played the evil at times, Malcolm Merlin John Barrowman has the ability to win over fans and play a mischievous role with the best of them. It also doesn’t hurt that he kind of looks like a younger John de Lancie.
We know he’s an accomplished actor, even though he’s ten years younger than Patrick Stewart was when he took on the role, we’d be willing to look the other way to have McAvoy continue his career path as the young Patrick Stewart.
As difficult as it is to fill his shoes, especially since he doesn’t seem to age, and is actually still playing the role in the upcoming Star Trek: Picard on CBS-All Access, we’re going to go ahead, however for this casting we’r
e breaking the mold and dropping the one pick, one honourable mention process and going with three picks.
The French Captain, with the English accent, Captain Picard is by far the hardest character in the series to recast. Looking back it’s amazing that JJ Abrams was able to cast an actor as well suited to Captain Kirk as Chris Pine, It’s actually an accomplishment, that could have gone horribly wrong.The tough as nails security chief and tactical officer with a dark past and an unfortunate, meaningless death in the prime timeline, Tasha Yar was meant to be a warrior with a tragic back story that had shaped her into the person she ultimately became. These days it’s impossible to have anyone but James McAvoy play a younger version of a Patrick Stewart character, after all even if you don’t offer it to him he’ll show up on twitter and ask for the part as he did in response to Patrick Stewart’s announcement that work on Star Trek: Picard had officially begun. Her work on her current series has shown a strong performer with a wide range as she plays a modern-day witch cut off from her powers who becomes embroiled in a conflict between witches, vampires, werewolves and demons all while trying to gain control and understanding of the power she possesses. While it’s a departure from the more grounded psychologist like character of Deanna Troi the gambit of emotions and situations lends many surprising similarities, making Teresa Palmer an excellent choice for the role.Best known as con artist turned FBI Civilian Informant Neil Caffrey in White Collar, CIA Super Agent Bryce Larkin in Chuck, and of course Ken in Magic Mike. He’s got the ladies man routine down, he’s played the guy jumping into difficult situations, both physically and in terms of dialogue, he’s also played Superman, by the way, and have you seen him grow a beard?
We know he’s an accomplished actor, even though he’s ten years younger than Patrick Stewart was when he took on the role, we’d be willing to look the other way to have McAvoy continue his career path as the young Patrick Stewart.
Geordi as a character was kind to a fault but always put business first and the needs of the ship above his own. LeVar Burton was an ideal choice to portray the character as he comes off in much the same way, and with his history in Reading Rainbow and Roots he had already earned a solid reputation. The Romulans were less likely to launch the event of Balance of Terror against the far more advanced Starfleet, so did they ever learn that Vulcan’s and Romulans are so closely related? Since the Klingons had a much smaller fleet we can only assume they never traded ships for cloaks with the Romulans, so the Romulans would be the only ones with a fully functional cloaking device, likely pushing them further into isolation and possibly hiding the fate of their star from them for the moment. Donald Glover has been living the dream as far as he is concerned, having had the opportunity to play several characters he has a great reverence for, including Lando Calrissian in Solo a Star Wars Story, Miles Morales in the animated Spider-man and Earnest ‘Earn’ Marks in his own series Atlanta. There is no doubt he would be game for a character like Geordi LaForge, especially when we’ve already seen how much he loves the character.
Sure, he’s 70 years old, but since when are God’s the territory of the young? The truth is with Q able to be anyone, any time, in any place, why couldn’t he be a few years older?
The resident ladies man of The Next Generation, Commander Riker has is a tough guy who’s never afraid to strap on a phaser and lead an away team into an extremely dangerous situation. However he’s also a budding diplomat, who only improves in that area over his years with Captain Picard. He also has a subtle confidence about him which some may mistake for arrogance, but overall he’s actually down to earth. A musician interested in jazz who’s driven in his career, yet happy to stay where he’s comfortable to improve himself as a leader.Our top pick is Tom Hiddleston, he’s proven himself as an outstanding actor, with an impressive resume and has gone from the god of mischief, Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. to a spy in The Night Manager, there’s no doubt in our minds, or I dare to say in any fan’s minds that Tom would make a great Data.
The star of the current Sky one series A Discovery of Witches based on the best-selling novels by Deborah Harkness, Teresa is an outstanding actress who has quietly amassed a pretty impressive resume.Looking for someone to nurse a character that’s, been played by Patrick Stewart, back to health? How can you go wrong with Moira Mactaggert herself, Rose Byrne.Between the over the top Fish Mooney in Gotham, the straight-laced Christina Hawthorne in Hawthorne and the more mysterious and serious Niobe in The Matrix sequels Jada Pinkett Smith has all the credentials we need to take on the role of Guinan if Whoopi is unavailable.That said our pick is Whoopi Goldberg, why not? She is perfect in the role, and who can say someone in their 60’s can’t play a character in their 6th century?
Another pick from our list of the top actors who could replace Brent Spiner as Data, is Rami Malek, best known for his role as Elliot on the series Mr. Robot.While not technically a season one character, as she first appeared in The Child during season 2, there’s no reason she couldn’t be introduced slightly earlier in a movie franchise. As for the character she’s self-described as a pretty simple to play character.
Brent Spiner is no longer interested in playing the character as he prefers him to be ‘the young Data’ despite the obvious route that they could follow of giving him an aging program hidden deep in his systems, much the same as with his fellow android, and mother, Juliana Tainer. Fortunately for us, we’ve already done this research in preparation for the coming Star Trek Picard series in anticipation of another actor stepping into the role in possible guest spots on the series.
While she is a little older than Goldberg was when she first took on the role for Star Trek The Next Generation, Jada still looks young, and regardless, is playing a character centuries older than she is, so age isn’t really a worry here.Rami Malek is a proven talent, who happens to have the look to fit right into the Sooing family. Over three seasons of Mr. Robot he has proven he has the acting ability to play the role and would be a great fit for the role of Data.
The Federation had started a faster land grab, moving further out faster than before, their borders would be much larger, and may even include a good part of Romulan space. The border war with the Cardassians would not have been as difficult for a federation with a larger number of more advanced ships and the Cardassians likely driven off Bajor and to a smaller union than in the prime timeline. Was DS9 a Federation starbase put in place as Bajor joined the federation?
Sure, he’s 70 years old, but since when are God’s the territory of the young? The truth is with Q able to be anyone, any time, in any place, why couldn’t he be a few years older?Coming from a race of omnipotent beings, in many ways filling in the Star Trek universes version of living, if not restless, gods. The Q have the power to completely rewrite the laws of nature, to change the constants of the universe and to create anything or go anywhere literally with the snap of their fingers.Though he has picked up some higher profile work in recent years including his most notable work as a voice actor, David was first known to me as Edward Ekubo in the 2013 movie Complicit where he plays an MI5 agent attempting to stop a terror attack similar to the London bombings in 2005.Coming from a race of omnipotent beings, in many ways filling in the Star Trek universes version of living, if not restless, gods. The Q have the power to completely rewrite the laws of nature, to change the constants of the universe and to create anything or go anywhere literally with the snap of their fingers.
There’s also a suggestion of some special powers or skills to the character, her personal history with Q, as well as her ability to see through a distortion in the space-time continuum during Yesterday’s Enterprise all suggest that without coming out and saying it. That’s all a part of the mystery of this character and it’s important that any actress playing the part be able to convey this properly.
The chief medical officer aboard the flagship of the Federation, Doctor Crusher is an excellent physician, she is knowledgeable in many areas, a skilled surgeon, a mother to Wesley Crusher and a potential love interest for Captain Picard, though she is also the widow of his best friend Jack Crusher who was killed on an away mission following his orders.A unique life form, the only one of his kind (that he knows of at the time), completely devoid of emotions and as a result fearless, yet his biggest wish is to become more human, more flawed. Casting Data is no easy task, Brent Spiner stepped into the role and ran with it, sure there’s a few contractions out-of-place over the years, but overall it’s hard to imagine anyone else as Data. Obviously this gives the actor a chance to somewhat reinvent the character, and we already know he’s capable of playing the strong-willed Klingon warrior so what better choice then the man who played his own grandfather in the Undiscovered Country. There’s also a suggestion of some special powers or skills to the character, her personal history with Q, as well as her ability to see through a distortion in the space-time continuum during Yesterday’s Enterprise all suggest that without coming out and saying it. That’s all a part of the mystery of this character and it’s important that any actress playing the part be able to convey this properly.Therefore while it’s possible Worf still exists in the universe he would more likely be cast as one of the recurring villains of the series and not one of the bridge crew. As a more minor character in the grand scheme of things and given the continued interest Michael Dorn has in the character the recasting of Worf in this case would be Michael Dorn as Worf.
The crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 had set out on its five-year mission in 1966, however that mission was cut short when just three years in they were shelved and pulled of the air, what followed was the short-lived Star Trek The Animated Series, six projects on a different medium (movies) and finally in 1987 a return to television with the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D for Star Trek The Next Generation .Mark Strong would, as his name suggests, make a strong Captain Picard, he’s got an impressive resume and range. Many fans will know him from The Kingsman series in which he plays Merlin, a higher up in a secret British spy agency. The character actually seems to translate well to Captain Picard as would many of his other credits. Attempting in a similar vein but with superior results to cast this, hopefully better written character, we chose actor Tom Holland, the current Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take up this role. Tom is an accomplished actor at age twenty-two he is believable in the role of the youngest member of the crew of the Enterprise. Ok, I’ll admit my first thought for this spot was actually Keegan de Lancie, who many will remember as Q (Junior) from the Star Trek Voyager episode Q2. But as it turns out Keegan decided to leave acting and is working for the US State Department. So he’s not likely available. Attempting in a similar vein but with superior results to cast this, hopefully better written character, we chose actor Tom Holland, the current Spider-man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take up this role. Tom is an accomplished actor at age twenty-two he is believable in the role of the youngest member of the crew of the Enterprise. How can you talk tough as nails security officer without mentioning Wonder Woman herself, and since we’re talking Star Trek The Next Generation as a summer blockbuster action movie the sky is the limit for casting.The resident ladies man of The Next Generation, Commander Riker has is a tough guy who’s never afraid to strap on a phaser and lead an away team into an extremely dangerous situation. However he’s also a budding diplomat, who only improves in that area over his years with Captain Picard. He also has a subtle confidence about him which some may mistake for arrogance, but overall he’s actually down to earth. A musician interested in jazz who’s driven in his career, yet happy to stay where he’s comfortable to improve himself as a leader.
Our top pick is Tom Hiddleston, he’s proven himself as an outstanding actor, with an impressive resume and has gone from the god of mischief, Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. to a spy in The Night Manager, there’s no doubt in our minds, or I dare to say in any fan’s minds that Tom would make a great Data.
But as a regular on the fan circuit, John de Lancie is likely up for reprising his role, he always enjoyed Star Trek and who wouldn’t love playing that role again?Obviously this gives the actor a chance to somewhat reinvent the character, and we already know he’s capable of playing the strong-willed Klingon warrior so what better choice then the man who played his own grandfather in the Undiscovered Country.
Geordi as a character was kind to a fault but always put business first and the needs of the ship above his own. LeVar Burton was an ideal choice to portray the character as he comes off in much the same way, and with his history in Reading Rainbow and Roots he had already earned a solid reputation.
The Klingons are a smaller presence with the destruction of a large part of their fleet at Praxis, and without the war with the Federation ever going from cold to full on there as never a dialogue, this would likely mean the Klingons never signed an official treaty with the Federation,
However these changes will cause major ripples in the future, notably the events of all of the Star Trek The Original Series movies will never happen, the 1701 wasn’t relaunching at the time of V’ger, Genesis wouldn’t have been a priority, the search for Spock was unnecessary, the crew of the Enterprise wasn’t on their way home when the whale probe attacked, Sybok may never have gone looking for God and Praxis was destroyed earlier so the Undiscovered Country never opened a dialogue between the Federation and the Klingons,
That’s a pretty tall list of attributes for anyone to handle, making it all the more impressive that Gates McFadden managed it all so well, she was nearly flawless in her portrayal of the character and it was generally well written (please, let’s just pretend the whole dead grandmother’s ghost boyfriend who lives in a candle thing never happened… please, we’ve suffered enough).
Star Trek The Next Generation’s resident wiz kid intended to bring in the younger audience by giving them a relatable character in actor Will Wheaton in the prime timeline and in many ways Gene Roddenberry’s attempt to insert a younger idealized version of himself into the series was not well received by fans. While in later years the generation of viewers who were of a similar age to Wesley has come to show a respect for the character and often times a love of the actor at the time the most popular thing he could do on the series was to be told to shut up.Having to be brave enough to jump into any situation to save lives, intelligent enough to be in her position, and complex enough to balance her child and her career around a man she loves who is ultimately responsible for the death of her husband it’s not an easy role to fill. Michelle Monaghan, however, fits the bill pretty well. Best known to most fans as Julia from the Mission Impossible movie series, she has confidently played the role which has gone from adrenaline junky, to kidnap victim, to fearless doctor on the front lines of a major outbreak. She is able to pull off an action sequence and at home with more complicated dialogue (an important part of playing a doctor on tv…. err. movies). It’s fun to think about, but the real question we face today in this article is, who would be cast in these Next Generation movies set in the Kelvin Timeline? JJ Abrams concerned himself with a few things as he attempted to recast the iconic crew of the Enterprise, a small eye towards physical appearance but with the actors ability to create their own take on the characters at the forefront. The crew of the Kelvin movies do not come off as pale imitations of the actors who played the original version of the character, but instead as their own versions with a slight homage to the original version, for this article we will attempt to capture this same spirit and will not be concerned with re-imagining the characters, just with recasting them under the same terms. Sounds simple enough to cast right? Except that we know Guinan is much, much more than that, Guinan is one of the few El-Aurian’s we’ve met in Star Trek, they’re an extremely long lived ‘race of listeners’ who travel the galaxy without much fanfare after the destruction of their home planet at the hands of the Borg. Guinan herself is known to be well over five hundred years old, and has been married 23 times. We know she was on earth in the 19th century where she rubbed elbows with Mark Twain, or at least Samuel Clemens. Coming originally from the Delta Quadrant must have taken some time so she might well be a great deal older than we think.The events of Yesterdays Enterprise would also have been affected, it would seem unlikely with this more aggressive timeline that the Enterprise B, and C would have come into existence as late as they did, by the time Captain Picard and his crew set a course for Farpoint Station it’s entirely possible that it was aboard the Enterprise E and that their mission may be radically different. Do the Romulans again announce their intention to return to the fray early on as they did in Star Trek The. Next Generation?
Best known for his role as Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy which is just one character in an impressive list of credits to his name. There’s no denying that Ewan McGregor has the talent to pull this character off, and having taken on Star Wars and come out of it asking for more there’s no doubt he could handle the Star Trek fan base.As difficult as it is to fill his shoes, especially since he doesn’t seem to age, and is actually still playing the role in the upcoming Star Trek: Picard on CBS-All Access, we’re going to go ahead, however for this casting we’re breaking the mold and dropping the one pick, one honourable mention process and going with three picks. While this is all pure coincidence as the Paramount run Kelvin series has no connections to the CBS run streaming service it is an interesting series of parallels that if continued would logically continue with a Next Generation continuation of the Kelvin Timeline,. An accomplished diplomat, star in academics and physical education, amateur archeologist (who could have gone pro), wine maker, tactician, and team builder, Jean-Luc Picard was an essential character to the success of Star Trek The Next Generation. Landing an actor the calibre of Patrick Steward to bring him to life was a nearly unparalleled boon for the new series.
As the female security chief Tasha would need to appear strong enough to handle the job, and as tactical officer intelligent enough to formulate a strategy in battle, Denise Crosby was great in the role and likely would only have gotten better as she became comfortable in the shoes of Tasha Yar, in recasting her we need to keep this mentality while also having an actress strong enough to portray the range needed for a person who grew up on a violent colony where attacks, muggings and gang rapes were a daily occurence.
Sounds simple enough to cast right? Except that we know Guinan is much, much more than that, Guinan is one of the few El-Aurian’s we’ve met in Star Trek, they’re an extremely long lived ‘race of listeners’ who travel the galaxy without much fanfare after the destruction of their home planet at the hands of the Borg. Guinan herself is known to be well over five hundred years old, and has been married 23 times. We know she was on earth in the 19th century where she rubbed elbows with Mark Twain, or at least Samuel Clemens. Coming originally from the Delta Quadrant must have taken some time so she might well be a great deal older than we think.Between the over the top Fish Mooney in Gotham, the straight-laced Christina Hawthorne in Hawthorne and the more mysterious and serious Niobe in The Matrix sequels Jada Pinkett Smith has all the credentials we need to take on the role of Guinan if Whoopi is unavailable.
Without the events of Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country and the subsequent massacre at Khitomer, and the cold relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire it seems highly unlikely that Worf would have become the first Klingon to join Starfleet. In fact it’s entirely possible that the son of Mogh never became an officer and that his family was never discredited,.
He also has the distinction of being the only character to singlehandedly turn a Star Trek series from a little rough around the edges (season 1) to excellent through the simple act of growing a beard. In casting Commander Riker we need to take all of this into account.A character like this could easily have fallen into a dangerous place in the context of Star Trek, becoming somewhat of a deus ex machina in the event that the writers couldn’t solve a particular problem, however the writers managed to handle the character with a great deal of restraint, and the natural charisma of John de Lancie made the character an instant fan favourite. It’s important to bring a presence as strong as de Lancie to any reincarnation of Q.
We don’t know yet if a Kelvin version of Star Trek The Next Generation is in the cards, but let’s hope Paramount does something to move the movie side of Star Trek forward soon.
