Star Trek: Picard No Longer a Starfleet Captain In New Series

It seems that Jean-Luc Picard is no longer a Starfleet captain in the new Star Trek series headed to CBS All Access in late 2019.

Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Jonathan Frakes directed the most recent episode of Star Trek: Discovery. During an interview with Deadline, Frakes spoke about his involvement with the Picard series.

Frakes suggested that the Next Generation crew would be eager to join, but also admitted it seemed unlikely. He also suggested that Picard is no longer a Starfleet captain, having moved on to other things.

“The feeling is [the Next Generation cast] would love to be part of it,” Frakes said. “But the feeling is also that it’s Patrick [Stewart]’s show. [Laughs.] Having said that, I can’t imagine a world where there’s no reference to what happened to the rest of the Next Generation cast. Patrick isn’t playing Capt. Jean-Luc Picard this time, he’s done with [that phase of his career in] Starfleet in this show. That’s about the only thing I do know about the show. Patrick and I had a steak dinner a couple of weeks ago and this man, who I’ve known for 31 years now, is so excited about this show he’s like a little kid. It’s fabulous! He’s thrilled and excited to be invited into the writer’s room and he’s a producer on the show and he’s part of the development of the story arc. It’s terrific. I mean he is a guy who is fully engaged.”

When reached for comment on Frake’s assertion, CBS said, “The only thing we can confirm is the series will explore the next chapter of Picard’s life, which will be different, as Patrick teased in Vegas.”

Picard no longer being a captain is something that Stewart hinted at when he announced the series at Star Trek Las Vegas.

“He may not be a captain anymore,” Stewart said. “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.”

What do you think the future holds for Jean-Luc Picard? Let us know in the comments!