Is Star Trek: Legacy only a matter of when not if?

Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher in "The Bounty" Episode 306, Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Trae Patton/Paramount+. ©2021 Viacom, International Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Sidney La Forge and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher in "The Bounty" Episode 306, Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Trae Patton/Paramount+. ©2021 Viacom, International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The fan demand for Star Trek: Legacy has been ongoing since earlier this year, and it hasn’t stopped.

Everyone who watched and enjoyed the final season of Star Trek: Picard has been championing the call for a continuation or spin-off of the series with the exploits of Captain Seven of Nine and her crew. For many of us, it’s a role we never thought Jeri Ryan’s Seven would ever see, but now that we have, we definitely want to see more.

Jonathan Frakes, who calls himself an eternal optimist, told Variety [via Slashfilm] that Paramount couldn’t deny the fan reaction to the third season of Picard. And it certainly can’t deny the ongoing push for the series that has continued almost eight months after the series finale.

"I think [Paramount] can’t deny not only the fan reaction, but the fact that the numbers put the show at the Top 10 on the streaming charts. And that season of ‘Star Trek: Picard’ was arguably among the best seasons of any ‘Star Trek’ — I think we all agree on that. I mean, ‘Star Trek’ fans are loyal. It’s not millions and millions of people, and it’s not the youngest fandom in the world. But I am an eternal optimist, and I believe in a perfect world, they will find the assets and the energy and hire Terry to put together this ‘Legacy’ show and that will, in fact, come to fruition.”"

Terry Matalas rediscovered what Star Trek fans want and could bring it into being with Star Trek: Legacy.

Though we don’t live in a perfect world, Frakes thinks that Paramount will eventually hire Terry Matalas and find what is needed to bring Legacy to the screen. And this actor/director has his hand on the pulse of Star Trek. He knows what fans want, probably even more than Paramount does.

So that begs the question: Is Legacy a matter of when not if? Could it be that even though we haven’t heard anything about a potential pick-up for the series, there is a lot more going on behind the scenes that is leading to a green light?

Paramount has a new series, Starfleet Academy, and a new movie, Section 31, moving toward production, and right now, all eyes are focused on getting those released. But once those have gotten underway, it will, inevitably, turn its attention to something new. If Frakes is right, odds are good Legacy will be that something new.