It's been nearly seventeen years since the release of STAR TREK: NEMESIS, which was the last time that Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard, but as we know, the actor is set to return to the role for a new Star Trek TV series. Star Trek: Picard will take place after the destruction of the Romulan Empire and find Picard's life having been radically altered by that event. The first teaser for Star Trek: Picard has been released (if the one above doesn't work for you, try this one) which gives us a small taste of the upcoming series.
Much of the teaser takes place on the Picard family vineyard, but the narration reveals that Jean-Luc has actually left Starfleet at this point in time. "Fifteen years ago today, you lead us out of the darkness. You commanded the greatest rescue armada in history — then the unimaginable. What did that cost you? Your faith? Your faith in us? Your faith in yourself? Tell us: why did you leave Starfleet, Admiral?" It's not much, but I'll take it. In addition to Patrick Stewart, the series also stars Alison Pill (The Newsroom), Harry Treadaway (Penny Dreadful), Isa Briones (American Crime Story: Versace), Santiago Cabrera (Big Little Lies), Michelle Hurd (Daredevil), and Evan Evagora (FANTASY ISLAND).Franchise producer Alex Kurtzman also teased that the series will be a more psychological show:
The mandate was to make it a more psychological show, a character study about this man in his emeritus years. There are so few shows that allow a significantly older protagonist to be the driver… It’ll be very different than ‘Discovery.’ It’ll be slower, more meditative. It speaks to the rainbow of colors we’re playing with in all these different shows. What happens when circumstances have conspired to not give him the happiest of endings? Hopefully, it’s a reinforcement of [‘Trek’ creator Gene] Roddenberry’s vision of optimism. He’s going to have to go through deep valleys to get back to the light.
Star Trek: Picard will debut on CBS All Access late 2019.