Why there’s more to Picard than nostalgia

The biggest non-marvel hit of Comic-con promises to unite Star Treks old and new

“ENGAGE,” SAYS JEAN-LUC Picard towards the end of the trailer. Because of course he does. But while the line was entirely predictable, the rest of our first look at the belated Star Trek: The Next Generation sequel was anything but.

The Borg! Data! Seven Of Nine! A glimpse of the new series not only shocked with some unlikely reappearances but offered hints as to what the galaxy has endured in the two decades since Star Trek: Nemesis.

Until Comic-con, almost all of the Picard imagery had revolved around the character’s vineyard — where he retired after leaving Starfleet and hanging up his Admiral’s pips for good. Picard is lured from his bucolic dotage by the arrival of Dahj (Isa Briones), a woman with a portentous heritage (“She’s the end of the everything... She’s the destroyer”). Cue a new ship, a new crew (including Alison Pill, Evan Evagora and Harry Treadaway) and a new mission that appears to lean on both the wreckage of the Romulan Empire (destroyed ten years prior) and what remains of the Borg Collective (both a damaged Cube and some kind of Borg internment camp are shown).

Both Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are returning (as well as Jonathan Del Arco, who played Borg drone Hugh in the series), but Picard is no return to Next Gen camp. Having clearly learned from Discovery’s more cinematic style and focussed, arc-led storylines, this ten-part series feels more like a continuation of the movie canon (‘Star Trek 10.5’, if you will) and one that could herald an exciting new era for the franchise. Next up? Sisko after Deep Space Nine, please!