Two Star Trek series have brought in Captain Riker
At the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, Commander William T. Riker finally accepted his promotion and bid farewell to the Enterprise’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard to start his own adventures. But fans never got to see them. We’ve seen brief glimpses of the kind of captain Riker would have been when he came to Admiral Picard’s rescue on Star Trek: Picard, and Jonathan Frakes voiced his character’s return in Star Trek: Lower Decks as well.
Recently, Reddit poster in the Star Trek subreddit, yu/mtthwsmns, asked if fans would watch a show about Riker as the captain. And the response has been overwhelmingly positive with many commenters wanting a Titan show, and still others just wanting a Captain Riker show, no matter the ship.
Most fans are suggesting an animated Captain Riker series
The most pitched idea was for Riker to helm his own ship in an animated world, something similar to Lower Decks. There were, of course, some fans who prefer Star Trek to move on from the past and to focus on new shows with different people instead of relying on nostalgia to bring in viewers. Essentially, they want a show that breaks any connection to previous characters. A show with Riker as the captain couldn’t do that.
The current spate of series on the air and what is coming in the Star Trek franchise all have some connection to the either The Original Series, The Next Generation, or Voyager. And many viewers are still looking for their favorite characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to pop up on a future episode of any series.
I guess the question to be asked is would Jonathan Frakes be amenable to recreating his role on a more full-time basis? He is a busy director and doesn’t spend a lot of time in front of the camera now. But if Paramount decided to go the animated route and Frakes was open to it, perhaps it could be done Prodigy-style instead of Lower Decks. (Others might not agree with me, but I much prefer Prodigy’s animation.)
With Star Trek’s popularity, new series on the horizon, and more movies coming up, it doesn’t seem like Paramount is running out of ideas to keep the viewers entertained, but it certainly would behoove them to consider what the fans want.