Star Trek fans have long-discussed what a reboot series of The Next Generation would look like.
Star Trek 2009 turned Star Trek’s established lore on its head and split it apart from the established prime timeline. Dubbed the Kelvin Timeline, it both acts as a sequel and a prequel to the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. The entire story is centered around a young James Kirk as he ascends to the rank of captain of the Enterprise, all while Spock of the prime timeline goes back in time to help prevent the eventual destruction of Romulus.
Ever since this far-flung movie idea came to light, fans have long-talked about what Star Trek would look like if it continued on and did more alternate realities, specifically with The Next Generation.
I haven’t longed for that look at the Next Generation era of the brand, as it was never “my brand” growing up. Yet, I would be interested in seeing the TNG era of Trek get the Kelvin treatment, but only if we jump in at a specific moment in time.
A Kelvin-The Next Generation should start with the Best of Both Worlds
I’ve never been a Jean-Luc Picard fan, I find him to be suffocatingly arrogant. As do many who meet him, specifically Q. I mean, Q threw the Enterprise into the path of the Borg to humble Picard.
So, let’s take this to the logical conclusion.
During the end of season three of The Next Generation, Picard’s actor (Patrick Stewart), was waffling on returning for more seasons, so producers took the steps needed to pivot and place Wil Riker (Jonathan Frakes) as the franchise guy should Stewart depart.
They set this up by having Stewart getting abducted by the Borg and assimilated, then they had the season end with Riker giving the order to fire on and destroy Picard. That didn’t happen. But what if that did?
The appeal of the Kelvin TNG would be to see more TNG just with younger actors. I understand that, but how about we really look at an alternate history?
Have Frakes captain the Enterprise against the face of the Borg in Picard, aka Locutus of the Borg.
The subsequent film writes itself as the ship has to deal with the emotional fallout of the battle with their former captain, and you could even keep the Picard character around to do flashbacks with during the sequel.
Finally, if a third film is made, you could even think about bringing Picard back through the Kelvin-Q.
If a new version of TNG is made, making it dramatically different is a must, otherwise, what’s the point?