Part of the cinematic feeling may come from the fact that, after exploring intergalactic politics and character-driven drama for its first two seasons, “Star Trek: Picard” will now see the former Enterprise-D crew face down one Big Bad, who “Trek” franchise overseer Alex Kurtzman compared to Ricardo Montalban’s Khan at Comic-Con last summer. “We do have a singular villain this season,” the executive producer told the audience. “I won’t say too much other than to say that she is amazing.” He also called the “mind games” between Khan and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in “Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn” the “north star” when it came to creating the new villain.
Any “Star Trek” show can have a great villain, but the new season of “Star Trek: Picard” also has the Avengers-type original crew lineup to go with its cinematic arc. LeVar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, and Michael Dorn are all reprising their beloved roles this year, while Brent Spiner will reportedly once again play the villainous Lore. Jeri Ryan is also set to return as Seven of Nine.
According to Matalas, the new season will maintain the spirit of TNG and do something totally new with the characters and format. “If you’re looking to feel like these are the Next Gen characters that you grew up with, you will see them everywhere,” he told SFX Magazine. “If you’re looking for something a little new, well, you get to catch up with them in unexpected ways as well. But you will get those ‘Next Gen’ feels back for sure.”
