Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Reveals Role He Wants Riker to Play Picard Legacy Sequel

Jonathan Frakes reprised his Star Trek: The Next Generation role as William Riker in Star Trek: Picard's third and final season, and he's ready for more in the proposed Star Trek: Legacy sequel series. He has a pretty firm idea of what role Riker would play in the still hypothetical spinoff, and he shared that idea during an interview published in Star Trek Explorer #8 (excerpted on StarTrek.com). In talking about how Riker's story concluded in Star Trek: Picard, Frakes said that he sees Riker playing a role similar to that of Charlie in Charlie's Angels while Frakes himself directs, should Star Trek: Legacy become a reality.  

"The Rikers' marriage is back on track," Frakes says, referencing the struggles faced by Riker and his "imzadi," Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) after the death of their son, Thad. "In my mind, for the show to be able to move forward, Riker would have to be a captain and have his ship, or he would be promoted to admiral and be a liaison. I'm only half-kidding when I say it would be great for me if the show carries on and I'm like Charlie from Charlie's Angels. They'd have to come to my office one day a week for a meeting with Riker. That'd be perfect. Then I could direct a bunch of the episodes and be around the show. I suspect if it does go forward, it would be Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, and Ed Speleers, who's now in Starfleet, and Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, who played Geordi's daughter. I would also imagine Lulu Wilson, who played the Rikers' daughter in season one and was so fabulous, could be a part of it. She could come back and maybe be in Starfleet."

He continued, "It feels to me like there's a real opportunity for three of the legacy characters' children to carry on and sort of be the next Star Trek: The Next Generation. It just feels like it's laid out there. It's the blueprint for the next phase."

Will Star Trek: Picard get a sequel?

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas has been upfront about his desire to continue telling stories about the Star Trek universe's future, using Star Trek: Picard's finale as a starting point. Speaking to ComicBook.com when the finale debuted, Matalas shared some thoughts on what the sequel series, which has been unofficially referred to as Star Trek: Legacy, would be like by saying it would combine serialized and episodic storytelling.

"I think it could be a mix-and-match," Matalas said. "Again, let me be clear: there's nothing in development. It's just an exciting pie-in-the-sky idea. But it would mix and match. But I would love to go back to the spirit of Star Trek: The Next Generation quite a bit. This last season of Picard is not Season 8 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It's more Star Trek 11. It's a movie. The characters are much closer to their cinematic versions than they are Star Trek: The Next Generation versions of their characters. I would love to go back to the spirit of Star Trek: The Next Generation as much as you can, but we'd have to see if it would be possible. Who knows?"

Star Trek: Picard is streaming in its entirety on Paramount+. Paramount Home Media recently released Star Trek: Picard – The Final Season on Blu-ray and DVD. Star Trek: Picard – The Legacy Collection, collecting all of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the four TNG movies, and all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard into one package, releases in October and is up for pre-order now.