What could lure Patrick Stewart back as Admiral Picard

Patrick Stewart seemingly said goodbye to his role as Admiral Jean-Luc Picard on the series finale of Star Trek: Picard.

It was an emotional farewell to the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as Star Trek: Picard when the credits rolled on the finale on April 20th. Though it’s hard to consider, fans might have seen these characters for the final time. We’re not believing that, of course, because we’re still holding out hope for that Star Trek: Legacy series Picard showrunner Terry Matalas mentioned.

And if Star Trek: Legacy does happen, what are the chances we’ll ever see Picard again? Surprisingly higher than we might have thought. In an interview with Variety, Stewart was asked if he’d be interested in returning to his character, especially if Ed Speleers continues playing Jack Crusher on a new series.

"“Yes. The circumstances, as it was with “Picard,” would be the important factor in all of that. But certainly, there is a wonderful future for Ed there, I’m sure of it. And if I can occasionally crop up to offer a little bit of comedy myself, then I shall be happy to do that.”"

Patrick Stewart will always be Jean-Luc Picard.

Even though Stewart said goodbye to the character yet again, I think we can safely assume it’s more of a “farewell for now.” If there is one thing this final season of Star Trek: Picard proved it’s that Star Trek done right brings in the viewers. So it wouldn’t make sense to bring back other legacy characters to a new Star Trek series and not include Stewart. And when asked about how it felt working with his friends again and being on the Enterprise-D, Stewart had nothing but good things to say about the process.

"“Well, it’s produced a lot of comedy. I don’t think we are, as a group, sentimental about things like the bridge of the Enterprise in the way that maybe our fans are. Because, I mean, we were filming [“The Next Generation”], I spent more time on the bridge of the Enterprise than I did at home, and so it became a familiar workplace for us. That continued throughout “Picard,” even though they were not always the same ship. It gave a lot of freshness and energy to the show.One of the greatest pleasures I got watching for the first time was that everyone had investigated what would have changed in their lives and their manner and their being. I found all that intriguing. It will be the one thing that might lure me back to do another season or other episodes, simply that it was so interesting. Everyone were such good and committed actors that we were able to bring this freshness to what we were doing. We were not really the same people.”"

So it certainly sounds like Patrick Stewart didn’t say goodbye to his character, after all.

Though various series have started and gone on without the captains we grew up with, we’ll always want to see them every chance we get becaue they are more than legacy characters; they are legends. And the actors only have themselves to blame for making us love them.