Patrick Stewart Teases Big Changes to Star Trek Universe in New Picard Series

The Star Trek universe will have gone through some changes by the time fans rejoin Jean-Luc Picard for the new series coming to CBS All Access.

Patrick Stewart spoke about the new Picard series for the first time since announcing his return to Star Trek at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in 2018. He tells Yahoo that the universe has changed in the 25 years that he's been away.

"The story is great...but it references the present day at times," Stewart says. "And that's all I can say. I'm not saying we're in the present day. We're not, we're not. But the world that we find Jean-Luc Picard in is not quite the world that we left him in."

Stewart's comment may have to do with a change in the balance of power in the galaxy following the destruction of Romulus, as seen in 2009's Star Trek movie. Producer Alex Kurtzman has previously stated that the destruction of the home planet of the Romulan Empire has a big impact on Picard's life.

"Picard's life was radically altered by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire," Kurtzman said.

Stewart also stated that the show will be like a 10-episode movie and that they're hoping for multiple seasons.

Stewart announced his return to his iconic Star Trek: The Next Generation character at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in 2018.

"I was startled, stunned, and utterly disbelieving because never for one moment had I imagined this succession of audition at Paramount would ever lead to anything at all, and here, now, I was," Stewart told the crowd, reflecting on being cast as Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. "What I didn't' know either was I was on the very, very brink, the edge of something that would touch every corner of my life. Every single corner. Of course career, emotional, domestic, home, everything was going to be affected by it.

"He may not be a captain anymore. 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 also released a statement about the new series 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 Star Trek Picard series is expected to premiere on CBS All Access in late 2019.