STLV 2019: Brent Spiner talks about the return of Data

As Star Trek Las Vegas 2019 kicks off, Brent Spiner took the stage to talk about returning to the role of Data in Star Trek: Picard.

It seems like just as the dust has begun to settle from San Diego Comic-Con the whirlwind begins all over again with Star Trek Las Vegas. The Las Vegas con, run by Creation Entertainment, is the single largest Star Trek convention in the world and has seemed to grow bigger every year.

For the first day of the convention, the organizers pulled out all the stops and had Brent Spiner close out a full day of panels. A few weeks ago this would have been a nice event for those in attendance, but after the world saw the first Star Trek: Picard trailer at SDCC, it became a must-see appearance.

As reporter by TrekMovie.com, over the course of the panel Spiner covered a lot of ground, but it was toward the end when the subject of Picard and the apparent return of Data finally came up. Spiner was elusive as far as his involvement with the series, but did drop a few hints.

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"I am delighted to be part of the show and all I am, is a part of the show…I want to make it semi-clear, because I don’t want to make it too clear, that I am not a regular on the show. Data did die at the end of Nemesis. But I am on the show. I do make appearances. Data’s story is a part of the thread of show."

And then in response to a fan question, things became even more cryptic.

"Up until this point to be honest, I have only worked with Patrick on the set."

This would all seem to indicate that the theory that the Data we see in the trailer is actually a simulation on a holodeck might be true. Of course, Spiner has notoriously misled the fans in the past, so until we actually see the series it’s tough to know who to believe.

In addition, Spiner talked at length about what brought him back to the role of Data, a role he had said previously that he felt he was done with.

"I will tell you my biggest reason for coming back: they asked me, and they were very nice about it. There are a couple of more reasons. The pedigree of the writing staff was very difficult to say no to. It was Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman – who won an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind, and the showrunner Michael Chabon, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist…And then there is the opportunity to sit across with Patrick again and share that experience with him. Patrick and I are really, really good friends. I did some little stuff with him on Blunt Talk and had a really good time with him."

Spiner’s return as Data in the Picard trailer was one of the highlights of SDCC and hopefully he will continue to be involved in the series well beyond the first season. Of course, we have our own theory about the character’s return and speculation will no doubt continue until the show makes its debut.

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Keep it here at Redshirts Always Die for all the breaking news out of Star Trek Las Vegas as it happens. Star Trek: Picard is set to arrive sometime early next year.

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