Alex Kurtzman, who recently became the showrunneronStar Trek: Discoveryafter the old showrunners were ousted for reportedly being abusive towards the writing staff, has his eye on much bigger plans for the long-running franchise. According to a press release, Kurtzman’s five-year deal with CBS Television Studios includes “expanding theStar Trekfranchise for television.” Sources tellEWthat there are three differentTrekconcepts in development.
Perhaps the most intriguing possibility is a newStar Trekseries starringPatrick Stewart, who would reprise his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard. According toTHR:
The new deal comes as rumblings about another Star Trek series, featuring Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Capt. Pickard, have been heating up. Sources say Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman, who left Discovery after season one, are attached to the Stewart-led reboot. CBS TV Studios declined to confirm the Stewart project as sources say a deal is far from completed and may not happen despite the fact that the actor recently teased his potential return to the franchise.
As for the other series,Varietyreports that one would be “A series set at Starfleet Academy from creatorsStephanie SavageandJosh Schwartz,” who recently served as showrunners on Hulu’s awful adaptation ofRunaways. There would also be a limited series based on Wrath of Khan because, as we saw fromStar Trek Into Darkness(which Kurtzman co-wrote), he clearly understands Khan except for not at all and only as a name he can franchise-hump into the ground. There’s also a limited series with details being kept under wraps (this could be the Picard show) and an animated series.
On the one hand, I would love to see Stewart reprise his role as Picard, especially since his swan song for the character was the wretchedStar Trek: Nemesisand the actor and character deserve better. That being said, the problem, as it has always been, is that this franchise is in the hands of guys like Kurtzman and Goldsman, who are bad writers that don’t understandStar Trek. People I’ve talked to who likeDiscoveryeven admit that it’s a good show, but you can’t really appreciate it asStar Treksince it doesn’t really fit into canon or even have the vibe you want from aStar Trekseries. But apparently for CBS, that’s translating into “More, please.” I’m not sure if even more Picard can mitigate that.
