Break out your earl grey tea and flutes, because Sir Patrick Stewart is reprising his role as Captain Picard in a new Star Trek series.
The news of the return of the most British Frenchman in history broke overnight, with the official Star Trek and Patrick Stewart Twitter accounts confirming the news that he will reprise the role he made famous on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
It is an unexpected but delightful surprise to find myself excited and invigorated to be returning to Jean-Luc Picard and to explore new dimensions within him. Read my full statement in the photo. #StarTrek @cbsallaccess Photo: @shervinfoto pic.twitter.com/8Ynuj3RBNm
— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) August 4, 2018
Make it so! @SirPatStew will be returning to his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard in a new @cbsallaccess #StarTrek series that tells the story of the next chapter in Picard’s life‼️ pic.twitter.com/T5qQJ4gzU0
— Star Trek on CBS All Access (@startrekcbs) August 4, 2018
"It may not be the Jean Luc you know and love. He may be a man who has been changed by his experiences…it will be, I promise you, something different….but it will come with the same love for the universe and our fans we had before." –@SirPatStew
— Star Trek Online (@trekonlinegame) August 4, 2018
As a casual Star Trek fan and a full-fledged geek, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and do welcome the news that the Picard is returning to the Star Trek universe with happiness.
That said, Picard is more than just Picard these days. He’s an accomplished actor on theatre and television, the best friend of Sir Ian McKellen, and most importantly, PROFESOR X!
Point is, there’s someone way more deserving of a second go-around in the universe of Star Trek. And her name is Captain Kathryn Janeway.
Yep, Janeway
If there’s any single Star Trek captain that deserves the type of redemption that only a reboot could give them, it’s Janeway. At the time (and amongst some sections of the Star Trek fandom, to this day), Janeway and the series she led, Star Trek: Voyager were looked down upon as a dark point in the history of Star Trek.
Y’know, despite the fact that the real dark spot in the franchise was The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher.
The best line in Star Trek history
Janeway, as the first lead actress in a Star Trek series, was a pioneer, that arguably paved the way for the future of the Star Trek franchise and sci-fi as a whole.
Also, the actress behind Janeway was Kate Mulgrew, who today is better known as Orange Is The New Black‘s badass Red.
So while I’ll be happily watching Picard’s as-yet-unnamed series, I’m putting the call out now to CBS and Star Trek: Bring Back Janeway.