Jonathan Frakes is already confirmed to reprise William Riker after Star Trek: Picard

Jonathan Frakes is already set to return as William Riker after the end of Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard said goodbye to the folks of the Next Generation with a final season that touched a lot of fans right in their respective warp cores. The show brought together every major Next Generation character from Jean-Luc Picard all the way down to Data and gave everyone something new to do while they were around.

While future appearances could be made by the actors who portrayed everyone, or just the characters, we know that one of the former crew members of the Next Generation is already set to return to his iconic role.

Jonathan Frakes has already confirmed he’ll be returning as William Riker in an upcoming Star Trek project, but it’s not a new show, and it won’t be to advance the plot past Picard. Instead, he’ll be going back in time, with the new video game Star Trek: Resurgence.

Frakes will return to his character, with his voice being part of the game. Star Trek: Resurgence writers Dan Martin and Andrew Grant told the media (via TrekMovie.com) about how Riker’s return came about;

"AG: We took inspiration for our premise from an early The Next Generation episode ‘The Last Outpost’ that first introduced the Tkon Empire. Riker featured prominently in the episode. He has direct experience with Portal Six Three, guardian of the Tkon Empire, so including him in our narrative felt like an organic fit. And of course, we’re big fans of Jonathan Frakes!DM: We weren’t going to include Riker if we couldn’t have Jonathan Frakes return to the role. It was an absolute joy to work with him as he brought his classic Riker charm and command to our game."

William Riker won’t be the only character returning for Star Trek: Resurgence

Riker won’t be the only iconic Star Trek character returning to the franchise for Resurgence. Since the game is set during the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, Riker will be a bit younger. In fact, one now-departed character will also be around, and a bit younger, as Spock of all people will be part of the game.

This is obviously before Spock goes back in time, and in doing so, creates the Kelvin Timeline featuring Chris Pine and co.

Spock will be voiced by Piotr Michael, who will do his best to bring the classic voice of Spock to life. Of course, the original actor who Michael will be doing his best impersonation of, Leonard Nimoy, passed away well before the game ever started development.