To many, he’s Senior Chief Petty Officer Miles O’Brien. An engineering wizard and one of the most loyal and dutiful officers aboard the Cardassian-turned Federation space station, Deep Space Nine. To the rest, he’s Colm Meaney, 67-year-old, Irish actor who made his name in entertainment aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise during Star Trek: The Next Generation before moving over to DS9 for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
He’s also a man who’s stated clearly that he’s “spent enough time in space” when previously asked about ever returning to Star Trek or not. He did specify though that he’d never rule it out completely.
For proof of that, Meaney spoke with Looper about the idea of O’Brien appearing on the Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Picard. The series has been sort of an alumni show, with famous characters from the series showing up, like Picard (obviously), Seven of Nine, Data, Will Riker, and Deanna Troi.
So why not O’Brien? When asked by Looper if he’s been contacted for the show, or what it would take to get him on the series, O’Brien said;
"If there was an opportunity for O’Brien to show up, sure. I’d be happy. I’m very fond of Patrick. It would be lovely to see him, lovely to work with him again. But no, there’s no talking [about it] that I’m aware of."
That doesn’t mean much of anything, however, as no one knows who is going to appear in season two of the series, nor would an actor who’s going to be making a surprise return be so cavalier about spoiling a big moment. So even if Meaney was going to appear in a cameo role, he certainly wouldn’t announce it ahead of a press announcement or the episode airing.
Fans would love to see the return of O’Brien and the rest of the O’Brien clan. Even if it’s not on Picard, then somewhere.