Terry Matalas was going to run the Khan television series

Terry Matalas is the showrunner for the final season of Star Trek: Picard

Terry Matalas, showrunner for Star Trek: Picard, has done a tremendous job with the series final season. By bringing back Star Trek: The Next Generation characters as well as the Changelings, old villains from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he has infused the series with a fresh take. And he’s giving legacy characters a chance to shine in what might be, but probably isn’t, their final showing.

Before coming aboard Star Trek: Picard to help executive producer Akiva Goldsman in season two, Terry Matalas had just finished editing the series finale of 12 Monkeys and heard that more Star Trek was being developed. [via DailyStarTrekNews] Matalas, who had previously written for the third season of Star Trek: Enterprise, was interested in returning to the franchise so he reached out to his agent and asked for a sitdown with the executives. That turned out to be a solid move for his career as, at the time, a Khan series was in the process of being developed.

"“I met over there and, at the time, they were developing a Khan series. Akiva (Goldsman) and I talked, and, if it went, I was going to go run that. But, instead, Picard happened… and then I got a call from Akiva saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to need some help doing Picard Season two… And then for season three, I want to hand it over to you.’ I was extremely lucky to be working with that incredible group of writers…”"

Khan might have had a serious chance had Terry Matalas been running things.

This is a matter of opinion, of course, but I think Matalas has done a phenomenal job running season three of Picard. Had he brought this talent to a Kahn show, it would have had the potential to be a serious contender in the franchise line-up of favorite shows.

Alas, Khan was pushed aside for television and will become a podcast— Star Trek: Khan: Ceti Alpha V.  This came as a big disappointment for fans, but there is one bright spot. Had the series gone forward, Matalas would have been unavailable to helm the third season of Picard. And we would have gotten a very different final season, maybe even one without The Next Generation characters. That would have been a far bigger disappointment, in my opinion.