Star Trek: Patrick Stewart Shares First Photo From New Picard Series

The return of Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard to the Star Trek universe is officially underway.

Stewart today tweeted out the first photo from the new series heading to CBS All Access as work begins.

“The journey has begun,” Stewart tweeted before introducing the team of writers/producers at the table. “Kirsten Beyer, Michael Chabon, Akiva Goldsman, Diandra Pendleton-Thompson, James Duff, and yours truly.”

Take a look below:

The new series was announced at Star Trek Las Vegas with a surprise appearance from Stewart and Star Trek: Discovery co-creator Alex Kurtzman. Stewart released the following statement about the return on social media.

“I will always be very proud to have been a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but when we wrapped that final movie in the spring of 2002, I truly felt my time with Star Trek had run its natural course,” Stewart wrote. “It is, therefore, 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. Seeking out new life for him, when I thought that life was over.”

The new series is expected to take place 20 years after the last time Picard and the Enterprise crew were seen in action, during the events of the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis.

“He may not be a captain anymore,” Stewart hinted when he announced Picard’s return at Star Trek Las Vegas. “He may not be the Jean-Luc that you recognize and know so well. It may be a very different individual. Someone who has been changed by his experiences. 20 years will have passed…We have no scripts as yet, we’re just talking, talking, talking storylines. It will be, I promise you, I guarantee it, something very, very different, but it will come to you with the same passion and determination and love of the material and love of our followers and our fans exactly as we had it before.”

Stewart noted then there were no scripts. The team gathered in the photo are presumably working on remedying that issue.

Stewart is back as Picard, but the rest of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise crew are likely not. A few of the cast members confirmed at a recent convention that they have not been asked to return.

Are you excited for the new Picard Star Trek series on CBS All Access? Let us know in the comments!

The new Picard Star Trek series currently in development and is tentatively expected to premiere in 2019.