Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunner Has Spoken to Jason Isaacs About Return as Lorca
There may be hope for Star Trek's "Prime" Lorca yet. Jason Isaacs played Capt. Gabriel Lorca, the captain of the experimental USS Discovery, in Star Trek: Discovery's first season. However, Lorca had a secret [SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't seen that season]. He wasn't the real Lorca, but Lorca's Mirror Universe counterpart. The reveal stunned fans, who had by then become fond of the character and actor, leading to a surge of support for finding "Prime Lorca," thus providing Isaacs an opportunity to return to the show. It sounds like Isaacs is still willing to reprise the role, given a worthwhile story.
"Sure. Yeah. The story would have to be great," he tells The List (via TrekMovie) while promoting his latest film, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. "It was a fantastic storyline. All actors ever want is a secret, and I had the biggest secret of all, without spoiling it for anyone. If people haven't watched it already, it's unlikely they'll watch it now, but there is nonetheless a fantastic secret, and I had it to play, and I knew it. Iit means that when you watch it, like when you watch The Sixth Sense for a second time, there's a whole new layer of enjoyment to be had when you know what things turn out to be."
However, since Isaacs' departure, Discovery has changed. The show now takes place more than 900 years into Star Trek's future. It'd be hard for Lorca to catch up, but there's still hope as Discovery spinoff Star Trek: Strange New Worlds takes place in the same pre-Star Trek: The Original Series era as Discovery's first two seasons, providing the perfect venue for Prime Lorca to appear.
"Prime Lorca is... I'm working with Akiva Goldsman right now, who wrote and directed quite a lot of Discovery, on a Tom Holland mini-series, The Crowded Room in New York," Isaacs said. "We've talked about Prime Lorca, and it would have to be as good a story as Season 1 of Discovery. I don't want to come back just because he's a fan favorite and do some version that isn't anywhere near as good. If there's space, they have so many brilliant series up now. Strange New Worlds has been a massive hit as well, and Picard is a huge hit, but where and if there's space for a Prime Lorca arc, I'm all up for it. I don't want to come back just to squeeze into that sausage skintight suit."
Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are streaming now on Paramount+.