Star Trek Update: Picard Series Details, Another Animated Show & Movie Franchise Stalls
The last 48hrs have seen a number stories relating to the various ‘Star Trek’ franchises pop up around the interwebs, so rather than post a bunch of different stories, we thought we’d create a little round-up of the latest news.
We’ll kick off with the much anticipated ‘Picard’ series, which was announced towards the end of last year and sees Patrick Stewart return to the role. Speaking to THR, the new CBS Trek overlord, Alex Kurtzman, has given a few more details about where the show will fit into Trek canon. We last saw Picard in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’, as the crew of the USS Enterprise-E try to broker a peace deal in the Romulan Empire after a military coup led by Shinzon (Tom Hardy)… who happens to be his clone…
Set a few years after the events of ‘Nemesis’, the 2009 ‘Star Trek’ movie then blends the original and new timelines together, and sees original Spock/Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy), trying to save the Romulan homeworld of Romulus from a Supernova using Red Matter. He ultimately fails, and Romulus explodes. This cataclysmic event and the dissolution of the Romulan Empire has “radically altered” the life of Picard according to Kurtzman, and altered the balance of power in the galaxy. The new show will be the first time we’ve seen anything canon set in the “Prime” universe timeline post the destruction of Romulus.
However, don’t expect the ‘Picard’ series to be anything like ‘Star Trek: TNG’. When Kurtzman approached Stewart to reprise the part, he only agreed to do it if it was going to be something new and different. “He threw down an amazing gauntlet,” commented Kurtzman about his discussions with Stewart. “He 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?'”
Also in Trek tv news, it seems that the previously announced ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ animated comedy series might not be the only animated Trek show in the works. Although, whilst ‘Lower Decks’ is a comedy, the other show (or shows) may not be. “There are other animated things that we’re building that are an entirely different perspective and an entirely different tone,” Kurtzman told THR. “What’s exciting about it is not only looking at each animated series as what’s the different tone, but what’s the different technology we can apply to these things so that visually they’re entirely different.”
Over on the movie side, things aren’t looking quite so rosy. Star Trek’s 4th outing in the new universe seems to have stalled. Firstly, Chris Pine, who starred as Kirk, and Chris Hemsworth, who was due to reprise his role as Kirk’s father in the new film, both walked away due to contract issues. Now it seems SJ Clarkson, who was hired as the first female director of the movie franchise will now be helming the ‘Game Of Thrones’ prequel series. This is apparently due to her having some free time because Paramount has shelved the 4th Trek film.
Whilst the movie Treks may have stalled, you won’t be left short of Star Trek content. Along with ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Season 2, the ‘Picard’ series, ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’, and potentially, another animated show, Kurtzman already has a couple of other potential series in development. These include a Discovery spinoff starring Michelle Yeoh, and a ‘Starfleet Academy’ series from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, the duo behind ‘Marvel’s Runaways’, ‘The OC’, and ‘Gossip Girl’.
You can get your next Trek hit when ‘Star Trek: Discovery‘ Season 2 premieres in the UK on Friday, 18th January 2019 on Netflix UK.
