Patrick Stewart is Pushing The Jean-Luc Picard STAR TREK Series Writers To Do Something New and Different
The most excited Star Trek project currently in development for me right now is Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard series. I never thought that I’d see Stewart back in this role, and the fact that it’s actually happening is pretty damn cool
Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon, is one of the writers on the series. In a recent interview with IGN, he was asked if there were any specific episodes or moments from Picard’s past that would inspire the new series. He didn’t go into any details about what the series would entail, but he did tease that it would be more grounded and that Stewart has been pushing the writing team to do something new and different with the character.
“I can’t think of a way to answer that question that somebody wouldn’t be able to interpret as me having given away hints or secrets! And, you know, anything I say, they’re like, ‘Oh! So it’s that!’ I guess what I would say is that the people who are working on the series are fans. And we started developing it initially with a core group of me and [Discovery writer] Kirsten Beyer and [Discovery executive producers] Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman. And, that four, that got the ball rolling initially…We all have our beloved episodes, and we all had important moments. We knew the material, we knew the character, and we talked a lot about a lot of different episodes that were…the kind of storytelling type things that might be possible ways, that might be clues for us going forward. It’s very grounded.”
He then went on to talk about how Patrick Stewart has been integral to the development of the new show and explains how he’s influencing and pushing them:
“We brought in Sir Patrick himself, and he has the kind of master grasp of the character. He has been really influential in both helping us understand the character, and also pushing us and challenging us. And I think more than anything -- and I don’t think it’s revealing anything for me to say this -- he’s really pushing us to try to do something new and different with the character. And that’s why he wants to play it, so that he can play something that honors the character, that’s true to the character. And like I said, he’s a very fierce protector of the character, but at the same time, he wants to see Jean-Luc Picard having experiences, having adventures, and be put in situations we haven’t seen before.”
Even though there are new plot or story details revealed here, it’s exciting to learn how involved Stewart is with the development of the project and that the series is going to give the character new and challenging adventures that will push him into situations that will test his mettle, even as an older experienced man.
There’s good stuff happening here in the development of this series and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
What are some adventures you’d like to see Picard embark on in the series?