Production on the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently underway, and one former Star Trek cast member has an idea of how they could be brought back. John Billingsley played Dr. Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise, and although Strange New Worlds takes place a hundred years after Enterprise, he notes that nothing has been established regarding the lifespans of Denobulans.
“I was on the strike line and some of the Strange New Worlds guys were coming up and saying ‘How long do you think Denobulans live?’” Billingsley told TrekMovie. “I said ‘Long. Long, long, long. Definitely long enough to be on your show if that’s what you’re getting at.’ So who knows? I mean, I would happily come back. And I figure, hell, even if I’m dead, my son Phlox Jr. is still around, and he is the spitting image of his old pop.“
Dr. Phlox quickly became one of my favourite characters on Enterprise, so it would be great to see him return to the franchise. Billingsley also had a few thoughts about what his character might be up to in his old age. “I think he’s writing a series of very successful sex manuals. I think he’s become like the Dr. Ruth of intergalactic space, maybe got his own show. Maybe a lot of cookbooks too,” Billingsley said. “I’d like to think that he got to a point where he said, ‘You know what? I’ve done a lot. It’s time for me to have fun, and I’m going to do some cool shit.’ I’d like to think he got to enjoy some of his declining years, with his various wives and husbands, traveling around the galaxy, going to Risa, having a blast.“
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Christoper Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Ethan Peck as Spock, Jess Bush as Nurse Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La’an Noonien Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Cadet Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Lt. Erica Ortegas, and Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. M’Benga. You can check out a review of the second season from our own Alex Maidy right here.
Could you see Dr. Phlox showing up in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?