Star Trek: Jonathan Frakes Pitched the Ultimate Q Adventure for His Movies

Star Trek is bringing back the mischievous, omnipotent alien called Q for at least a cameo in Star Trek: Lower Decks. We now know that Star Trek: The Next Generation alum Jonathan Frakes wanted to bring the character back long before now. In addition to playing Cmdr. William Riker in The Next Generation, Frakes directed eight episodes of the series and two of its movies, Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. Speaking during a Galaxy Con virtual panel, Frakes revealed that he wanted to bring actor John de Lancie back as Q for one of those movies that he helmed.

During the panel, Frakes said he pitched one of the movies as “the ultimate Q adventure.” Frakes told the panel moderator, “That was my pitch. Well, from my good fortune of getting involved with the movies. I kept saying, ‘When is our finest nemesis is going to be in the movies?’ I’m still surprised that wasn’t so.”

De Lancie was also on the panel. He revealed that he always wanted to visit the Q Continuum itself. “The place that they never got into it, which is too bad. Which was: What is the Continuum? Other than a road in the desert that goes on, and the shingle in the old gas station,” de Lancie said, referring to a version of the Q Continuum dumbed down for human understanding that appeared in the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Death Wish.”

De Lancie continued, “I actually—which I’m not going to tell people, even now—I did create a backstory on that, which would have been really interesting. But I think it’s actually someplace that would require a great deal of imagination, and I think the audience would go. So I wish that they had gone there.”

De Lancie debuted as Q in the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint.” He returned throughout the series to pester and confound Capt. Jean-Luc Picard. He later also appeared in episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager.

There’s still the chance that Frakes could have his opportunity to direct a new Q adventure. Frakes works as a director on Star Trek: Picard. Given Q’s history with Picard, it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility that de Lancie could return in the role at some point in that series, though there’s been no indication that will happen.

(h/t Trek Movie)